Touch

"A warm-hearted tale of a woman reconfiguring her priorities."—O Magazine

NPR, "Best Books of 2017"
Belletrist's Book Pick for June
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The Huffington Post, "24 Incredible Books You Should Read This Summer"
BuzzFeed, "22 Exciting Books You Need to Read This Summer"
Refinery29, "The Best Reads of May Are Right Here"
Electric Literature, "25 Best Novels of 2017"
The Millions, "A Year in Reading"

The novel we need right now: from the author of the acclaimed I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You comes a satirical and moving story about a New York City trend forecaster who finds herself wanting to overturn her own predictions and reclaim her heart.

Sloane Jacobsen is one of the world's most powerful trend forecasters, with global companies paying to hear her opinions about the future. Her recent forecasts on the family are unwavering: The world is overpopulated, and with unemployment, college costs, and food prices all on the rise, having children is an extravagant indulgence. Her partner, Roman Bellard, agrees—he is about to publish a postsexual treatise which instantly goes viral.

So it's no surprise when the tech giant Mammoth hires Sloane to lead its groundbreaking conference that celebrates the voluntarily childless. But not far into her contract, she's struggling with the fact that her predictions are hopelessly out of sync with her employer's mission and that her closest personal relationship is with her self-driving car. She begins to sense the signs of a movement that will see people embracing compassion and "in-personism" again. Despite the risks to her professional reputation, Sloane is nevertheless convinced that her instincts are the right ones, and she goes on a quest to defend real-life human interaction while finally allowing in the love and connectedness she's long been denying herself.

A poignant and amusing call to arms that showcases her signature biting wit and keen eye, celebrated novelist Courtney Maum's latest book is a moving investigation into what it means to be an individual in a globalized world.