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Meanwhile in Dopamine City

Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2020
3.01 goodreads logo

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( 348 ratings, 66 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Meanwhile in Dopamine City by DBC Pierre explores the challenges of parenting in the digital age through the story of a widower named Lonnie, who struggles to maintain control over his daughter while navigating the pervasive influence of technology. Set in a whimsical and surreal world, the novel offers a wry, satirical take on modern society's addiction to smartphones and digital connectivity, blending humour with a critique of our tech-obsessed culture.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're intrigued by sharp social satire and enjoy narratives that examine the impact of technology on society and personal relationships. The story unfolds through the eyes of a father trying to navigate a digital world, offering a humorous yet thought-provoking critique of modern life. Fans of quirky, character-driven tales will likely find it particularly engaging.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of Vernon God Little, a humane, deeply empathetic starburst of a satire; the most moving and entertaining exaggeration of the fearful nightmare of trying to raise a kid now.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Vernon God Little

Pierre's high-risk prose explores and expands the cartoonish, taboo-busting outer edges of literary possibility. - Independent

It's a big bad world out there, in Dopamine City.

All Lonnie Cush wants is to keep his kids safe.

But Shelby-Ann - his little girl, the maddening apple of his eye - has other ideas: Shelby-Ann wants her first smartphone.

So new realities are rocketing their way to 37 Palisade Row, where everything will change, every day, and at mortal speed. Until Lonnie finds himself in a stitch: he'll have to join this new world, or wither in it. Or can he mastermind a vanishing act?

The story of a hapless father's love and loss, and a speedball, starburst satire, Meanwhile in Dopamine City is a passionate, freewheeling work from the winner of the Booker Prize: a riotous cry for the soul and the flesh and the heart in the cooling bathwater of our automatic times.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571228959

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 May 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 330g

Pages: 400

About the Author

DBC Pierre is author of the novels Vernon God Little, Ludmila's Broken English and Lights Out In Wonderland, plus the picture book for distracted adults Petit Mal and the Hammer novella Breakfast With The Borgias. The novel Vernon God Little sold in 43 territories and won the Man Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel, the Bollinger Wodehouse Everyman Award and the James Joyce Award from University College Dublin. In 2016 Faber & Faber launched Release the Bats, a memoir and practical guide to breaking through in fiction without killing yourself. Pierre is a regular contributor to New Philosopher magazine and divides his time between the UK and Ireland.

Also by DBC Pierre

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  • Ludmila's Broken English
    Ludmila's Broken English, DBC Pierre's second novel, charts the unlikely meeting between East and West that follows Ludmila Derev's appearance on a Russian brides website. Determined to save her family from starvation in the face of marauding Gnez troops, Ludmila's journey into the world and womanhood is an odyssey of sour wit, even sourer vodka, and a Soviet tractor probably...
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  • Release the Bats
    Part biography, part reflection and part practical guide, Release the Bats explores the mysteries of why and how we tell stories, and the craft of writing fiction. DBC Pierre reveals everything he learned the hard way.
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  • Big Snake Little Snake
    Big Snake Little Snake is a cascade of true stories by DBC Pierre, recorded while on his way to make a short film with a parrot in Trinidad. It not only examines the nature of gambling, the love affair between gambler and game, and the mindset of obsessive practitioners, but also aims to shed light on the invisible odds and...
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  • Vernon God Little
    News of the tragedy serves as an open invitation to the media, and soon the quirky backwater of Martirio is flooded with wannabe CNN hacks, all too keen to lay the blame for the killings at Vernon's feet. Eulalio Ledesma, in particular, sniffs out his opportunity to make good at Vernon's expense, and soon Vernon finds himself drawn into a...
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