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The Candy House

A Novel

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The Candy House

Written by: Jennifer Egan
Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Nicole Lewis, Thomas Sadoski, Colin Donnell, Griffin Newman, Rebecca Lowman, Jackie Sanders, Lucy Liu, Christian Barillas, Tara Lynne Barr, Alex Allwine, Emily Tremaine, Kyle Beltran, Dan Bittner, Chris Henry Coffey
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About this listen

 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE of the TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR by THE NEW YORK TIMES * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * SLATE* THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER *

Also named one of the BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by Vanity Fair, Time, NPR, The Guardian, Oprah Daily, Self, Vogue, The New Yorker, BBC, Vulture, and many more!

OLIVIA WILDE to direct A24's TV adaptation of THE CANDY HOUSE and A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD!

From one of the most celebrated writers of our time comes an “inventive, effervescent” (Oprah Daily) novel about the memory and quest for authenticity and human connection.

The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is “one of those tech demi-gods with whom we’re all on a first name basis.” Bix is forty, with four kids, restless, and desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing” memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—which allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share your memories in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes.

In the world of Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters” who track and exploit desires and there are “eluders,” those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House. Egan introduces these characters in an astonishing array of narrative styles—from omniscient to first person plural to a duet of voices, an epistolary chapter, and a chapter of tweets. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also a moving, speculative fiction testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for connection, family, privacy, and love.

“A beautiful exploration of loss, memory, and history” (San Francisco Chronicle), “this is minimalist maximalism. It’s as if Egan compressed a big 19th-century novel onto a flash drive” (The New York Times). Fiction Genre Fiction Hard Science Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Science Fiction Thought-Provoking

What the critics say

"The ensemble performance of this novel is exceptional. Michael Boatman narrates the opening chapter at the right pace with the right intonation. He captures the interior life of the enigmatic Bix Boughton, a social media genius who invents the world-altering technology “Own Your Unconscious,” which is crucial to the plot. Alex Allwine delivers a haunting automaton-like second-person narration of the chapter titled “Lulu the Spy, 2032,” Tyra Lynne Barr emulates the chirpy sound of 13-year-old Molly in “The Perimeter After-Molly,” and Dan Bittner supplies sharply insightful tone as Ames, whose life story ends this imaginative tour de force. The time-traveling chapters reprise some of the characters from Egan’s award-winning VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, but this novel has a wider timeframe, a greater trajectory, and a more complex plot."

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the performances are amazing. I really enjoyed getting into the heads of all the different characters. also the kind of mystery it created, you always trying to piece everything together. the way everything's loosely connected. also just some interesting thoughts to chew on. so fun. going to relisten for sure

very engaging. I listened to this so quickly.

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Jennifer Egan is my new favourite writer. This and Goon Squad are engaging and originally told from beginning to end.

Brilliant!

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The breadcrumb trail of plot progression through the chapters is thrilling. Listening rather than reading is an excellent challenge in aural comprehension. No looking back to see who is who and how they connect. The voices make the experience all the more intimate. Well done performers, crew, recording engineers, and of course, Jennifer Egan.

Superb breadcrumbing

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Awesome! Absolutely loved this and Goon Squad. I love the way the stories interconnect. There is no main plot, which some people might dislike. It’s a series of interconnecting short stories. You get glimpses into people’s lives and no real follow through on any of it. Some stories I loved and others I didn’t, and then the breadcrumbs left in other stories about those characters made me rethink the stories I didn’t like. Loved this book. If you’re looking for deep and short insight into characters, this is for you. If you’re looking for a central plot line to follow through to the end, this book really isn’t for you. 10/10 from me

Amazing (if you like this kind of book)

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This was a really interesting book, though I feel like it was more a collection of short stories. All of them were such interesting insight into different characters minds and perspectives. I kept waiting for the stories to intersect and/or some kind of resolution that never happened. Still worth listening to with an open mind though. A great book about connection.

Really enjoyed this book

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