Meatspace

In this novel, Shukla (Coconut Unlimited) skillfully guides readers on a journey through meatspace—the physical world of face-to-face interactions—and cyberworld. The novel follows young writer Kitab Balasubramanyam in his struggle to find happiness, new love, and human interaction among family and friends in a world where virtual and transient interactions abound. While Kitab’s brother, Aziz, flees England for the U.S. in search of his Internet doppelganger, Kitab stays in London to begin his second novel. When approached at a reading by a Facebook friend with the same name, Kitab must confront the thin line between the Internet and reality. What follows is a story of misplaced identity, virtual catastrophe, and unexpected connections. Throughout the novel, Shukla successfully replicates the 21st-century experience of existing online; the book is brimming with tweets, Facebook activity, comments sections, Google search histories, and chapter-long blog posts about Aziz’s U.S. adventures. In this culturally relevant novel, Shukla provides a peek into the hyperconnected and lonely world we inhabit. (Sept.)