![]() ![]() ![]() Disconnected from his wife and children, fearful that he may never have another brilliant idea, Bix is feeling nostalgic for the early ‘90s when the Internet was new and he was in the “thrall of his Vision, which burned with hypnotic clarity.” Then, he “could feel the vibrations of an invisible web of connection forcing its way through the familiar world like cracks in a windshield.” student in NYU’s engineering lab,” Bix has become an immensely wealthy tech guru who’s developed a social media company called Mandala. “The Candy House” begins in 2010 from the perspective of Bix Bouton, who was an NYU classmate of “Goon Squad” character Sasha. Even more structurally experimental than its predecessor, the novel unfolds from a slew of perspectives and in a wide range of styles as it ruminates on the allure and perils of technology and social media, bids for intimacy and threats to privacy, the fragility of identity, and the yearning for authenticity in a world of pretenders and simulacra. Jennifer Egan’s new book, “ The Candy House,” which she’s called a “sibling novel” to her Pulitzer Prize-winning “ A Visit From the Goon Squad,” is a dizzying and dazzling work that should end up on many Best of the Year lists. ![]()
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