Dear Dystopia

It took me two weeks to read Gary Shtenygart's "Super Sad True Love Story," and at times I couldn't figure out why. It is fast-paced, funny, witty. But it is also very depressing. Set in a dystopian society of the future, Shtenygart describes a world we dread, militant and repressed, where American principles no longer exist, where the treasured fields left are Media and Credit. I sometimes didn't know if what I was reading was satire or science fiction - it is so vividly imagined that it could be never, or tomorrow at the same time. And then to use that as a backdrop for a love story that you knew would not just end well underscores the perfect melancholy of the story. But it is never sappy, nor sentimental. These characters are intelligent, never foolish, but make mistakes and all end up in places where you don't want them to be. I cannot say that I *enjoyed* reading this book, but it certainly made me stop, and ponder about the world we live in right now.

BC-28