Feed by M.T. Anderson

The language of this book spews like a rapper and slams into you as if you've taken a left turn into a mosh pit, but the profound messages are clearly cautionary. It is a cautionary tale of the future that will make you wonder if our obsession with the internet, will lead to something like what Anderson imagines. Often as writers we are cautioned not to use coloquilisms, especially ones that no one would understand, but Anderson seems to ignore this completely and uses words such as null, unit, decision flux, upcar, meg, etc. Although this narrative style could distance some readers, it also sets a tone for the story in an original way. The story itself reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, another cautionary tale of rampant consumerism. The most interesting part of the book for me was how Anderson chose to end the story. As is the case with much science fiction, the author is dealing with ethical problems facing humanity and technology, and he chooses to end the book with the caution but no hope in sight. Did the characters learn anything from this or is it enough that the readers did? Although Anderson is not the first nor will he be the last person to create an open ended story, I did feel that the story lost some of its power by not show how the events in the book changed the characters’ lives.