{"product_id":"users-9781593767693","title":"Users","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarrying the philosophical absurdities of life, technology, start-up culture, and family, \u003ci\u003eUsers\u003c\/i\u003e is for readers of Ling Ma, Dave Eggers's \u003ci\u003eThe Circle\u003c\/i\u003e, and viewers of the hit Apple TV+ original series \u003ci\u003eSeverance\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMiles, a lead creative at a midsize virtual reality company known for its \"original experiences,\" has engineered a new product called The Ghost Lover. Wildly popular from the outset, the \"game\" is simple: a user's simulated life is almost identical to their reality, except they're haunted by the ghost of an ex-lover. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHowever, when a shift in the company's strategic vision puts The Ghost Lover at the center of a platform-wide controversy, Miles becomes the target of user outrage, and starts receiving a series of anonymous death threats. Typed notes sealed in envelopes with no postage or return address, these persistent threats push Miles into a paranoid panic, blurring his own sense of reality, catalyzing the collapse of his career, his marriage, and his relationship with his children. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe once-promising road to success becomes a narrow set of choices for Miles, who, in a last ditch effort to save his job, pitches his masterpiece, a revolutionary device code-named the Egg, which will transform the company. The consequences for Miles seal him inside the walls of his life as what was once anxiety explodes into devastating absoluteness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn a world rife with the unchecked power and ambition of tech, \u003ci\u003eUsers\u003c\/i\u003e investigates--with both humor and creeping dread--how interpersonal experiences and private decisions influence the hasty developments that have the power to permanently alter the landscape of human experience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCOLIN WINNETTE's\u003c\/b\u003e books include \u003ci\u003eCoyote\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHaints Stay\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Job of the Wasp\u003c\/i\u003e, which was an American Booksellers Association's Indie Next Pick. Winnette's writing has appeared in numerous publications, including \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMcSweeney's\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Believer\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review Daily\u003c\/i\u003e. A former bookseller in Texas, Vermont, New York, and California, he is now a writer living in San Francisco.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Soft Skull","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50608148250898,"sku":"9781593767693","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8ce32325-09ea-4b61-af61-a543c6cde1e8.jpg?v=1732318406","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/users-9781593767693","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}