M. T. Anderson (1) (1968–)

Retelling: As Lily becomes more involved in the lives of her friends' science fiction novels, her mother experiences the foreboding realization that her own role in the stories might be a grim one. Mothers in books, after all, tend not to have the best outcomes. She packs up her bags and travels to a town where she believes she will be safe as they have the lowest death rate. As it turns out, they can't die because they are already ghosts and zombies. In a series of surprising twists and turns, the crazy crew of young people that attempt to save her implement a dangerous plan to exorcise the quirky ghost of a Hollywood has-been and it frequently fails in delightfully funny ways.

Thoughts and feelings: The BEST chapter in this book is the one where the author breaks the forth wall to explain how he came up with the names of designer clothing to support the fashionista character, Madigan, Katie's upper-west side cousin. SO FUNNY. You must read this author.

If an M.T. Anderson book makes you laugh out loud in no one is around to hear it, is it still funny?… (more)

This isn't a nerdy book in the sense that it requires much prerequisite knowledge in order to understand and be entertained by its plot. But I think it's especially delightful to people who can tell by the cover that it's about capitalism and who have some knowledge of artistic techniques like atmospheric perspective. While it was definitely a YA book, reading it made me feel smart.
I didn't appreciate the excessive swearing, and the chronic diarrhea issue was understandably unpleasant. The conflicts and resolutions aren't super compelling. But it does manage to be a teen dystopian novel that's not quite like any others I've read. I have a lot of difficulty imagining what the vuvv are like, but the consequences of their presence on earth are completely believable.… (more)

A Young Adult futuristic-dystopic science fiction novel featuring a society where large corporations hold the power, and the majority of citizens get implanted as babies with devices that provide Internet like audio-visual interaction with their thoughts. Have a question about how something works? It’s answered almost before it’s asked. Thinking about what it’d be like to own an “up-car” (they fly and can be put on auto-pilot) here comes the barrage of commercials for all the options. Then too, there’s no need for phones, because this implant allows you to “chat”, speaking to whoever you please mentally, no matter where they are, but one can put themselves on busy, and refuse the chat. The book takes some getting used to, with new slang—but it’s easy enough to figure out, and some things never change, as apparently the F**** word is still around in a couple of hundred years. 😊… (more)