The Echo Chamber: John Boyne

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I also felt the book could have been shorter, at 500+ pages it could have been edited down and it would have still had the same impact. He lands himself in some hot water after deadnaming and misgendering a trans receptionist, Nadia and congratulating her on social media on her transition. They wend their way through the usual pop-culture targets – reality TV, influencers, affairs, anxiety, and as they each land themselves in ever deeper trouble, their stories cross over and loop back on one another. I don't always read the blurb when I trust the author but I did with this novel and the premise sounded intriguing - very timely for today's world. At the same time, he has an apparent sex addiction - having sex with anything that moves, including her children (adult children).

Still, he’s at his most persuasive when he remembers to pull back a little and dissect the real culprits: “I blame Steve Jobs. There is not alot of room to really get your point across in a Tweet but that does not stop them from trying. Mr Boyne uses his writing skills to appeal to our reason, not our hearts, as he mocks modern wokeness and the addiction to social media. Savage but compelling' Ian Rankin 'Funny, rumbustious, unstinting and wonderfully Hogarthian' The Observer' Sharp, funny, and beautifully written.

I was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Echo chambers can create misinformation and distort a person’s perspective so they have difficulty considering opposing viewpoints and discussing complicated topics. Beverley is a famous best-selling author who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and has an affair with her Ukrainian dance partner Pylyp. The FT review says: ‘Skilfully skewers the cruelties of social media and the absurdities of wokeness… a brave and timely foray into the contemporary culture wars.

This is just so funny - a state-of-the-nation satire, poking fun at people’s reliance on social media platforms for personal affirmation or mischief-making. This small piece of plastic and computer circuitry sitting before her had taken control over her life. I think this book will divide opinion, and while it has a lot of clever and witty dialogue, it seems to be so constant on adverse events and people that we lose the contrast in the narrative. I have no idea if the unusual names that crop up mean anything or are perhaps some kind of anagrams.The Cleverly Family are made up of Dad, George, a ‘national treasure’, known to the country for his long-running TV chat-show.