{"product_id":"2940172138171","title":"After On : A Novel of Silicon Valley","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe definitive novel of today's Silicon Valley, \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e flash-captures our cultural and technological moment with up-to-the-instant savvy. Matters of privacy and government intrusion, post-Tinder romance, nihilistic terrorism, artificial consciousness, synthetic biology, and much more are tackled with authority and brash playfulness by \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Rob Reid.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Meet Phluttramp;mdash;a diabolically addictive new social network and a villainess, heroine, enemy, and\/or bestie to millions. Phluttr has ingested every fact and message ever sent to, from, and about her innumerable users. Her capabilities astound her makersamp;mdash;and they don't even know the tenth of it.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e But what's the purpose of this stunning creation? Is it a front for something even darker and more powerful than the NSA? A bid to create a trillion-dollar market by becoming \"The UberX of Sex\"? Or a reckless experiment that could spawn the digital equivalent of a middle-school mean girl with enough charisma, dirt, and cunning to bend the entire planet to her will?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Phluttr has it in her to become the greatest gossip, flirt, or matchmaker in history. Or she could cure cancer, bring back \u003ci\u003eSeinfeld,\u003c\/i\u003e then start a nuclear war. Whatever she does, it's not up to us. But a motley band of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and engineers might be able to influence her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e achieves the literary singularityamp;mdash;fusing speculative satire and astonishing reality into a sharp-witted, ferociously believable, IMAX-wide view of our digital age.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNarrated by Sean Kenin and January LaVoy, with:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eFelicia Day: \u003c\/b\u003eNETGRRRL.COM\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePatrick Rothfuss:\u003c\/b\u003e Special Field Operative Brock Hogan\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eJohn Hodgman: \u003c\/b\u003eCharles Henry Higgensworth III\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eTom Merritt: \u003c\/b\u003evoice of The\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eNew York Times\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eJesse Cox:\u003c\/b\u003e  Whistle Blowings Blog\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eLeo Laporte: \u003c\/b\u003evoice of the San Francisco Chronicle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdvance praise for \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Enter a near-future Silicon Valley that is hilariously, creepily, mind-bogglingly fantastic, yet at the same time all too believable. It might turn out this way. No, really, it might! Along with \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e's diabolically ingenious plot, there are crazy-plausible web startups, delicious parodies of social media, and a surprisingly convincing theory of human consciousness.\"\u003cb\u003eamp;mdash;Chris Anderson, head of TED\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Reading \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e is like attending a master class in nearly every major issue haunting not only the tech industry but society itself. Only the professor is also a stand-up comic with a perfect ear for the foibles of Silicon Valley's most sacred cows. Part AI thriller, part arch social commentary, and part rollicking farce, \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e will leave you smarter about just about everything the human species needs to work on if we're going to outlive our own creationsamp;mdash;and our obsessions with them.\"\u003cb\u003eamp;mdash;John Battelle, co-founder, NewCo, Federated Media, and \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"The future is already hereamp;mdash;it's just for those who read Reid!\"\u003cb\u003eamp;mdash;Steve Jurvetson, venture capitalist, Draper Fisher Jurvetson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Rob Reid doesn't write science fiction; he writes future history. \u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e is the best account I've read of how superintelligence will arrive and what it will mean for all of us. Hilarious, frightening, believable, and marvelously constructedamp;mdash;\u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e has it all.\"\u003cb\u003eamp;mdash;Hugh Howey, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWool\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eAfter On\u003c\/i\u003e is smart, hilarious, and properly cynical about our connected world. The story unfolds in surprising and fiendish ways, and while you¿re laughing you¿ll learn enough to confound a wily MBA, manipulate a board of directors, and maybe even outfox a superintelligence.¿¿Ken Fisher, founder and editor in chief, Ars Technica","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47179861360880,"sku":"2940172138171","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940172138171_p0.jpg?v=1763753947","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940172138171","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}