Friday 15 August 2014

Meatspace review

Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla

Meatspace

Kitab is an author with one book to his name, greeted lukewarmly by the literati. He’s supposed to be working on a second book but is slowly frittering away his inheritance whilst spending so much time on social media his girlfriend dumps him. When he gets a friend request from someone with the same name as him his life takes an odd turn. This is a funny book that makes you think, a hard trick to pull off. Shukla’s voice shines through the prose and he’s a funny guy. It’s a meditation on identity, identity theft and the Facebook generation. But, you know, in a funny way. There’s an extra level of meaning for someone who hangs around the lit scene in the city and frequents readings. It’s often self-referential and finger on the pulse but what Shukla achieves with the core theme is always engaging and the pages just fly by. Interspersed with the main story are extracts from a blog about Kitab’s brother going to New York which is like a shaggy dog story and just as entertaining, if not more so, as the main story.
                                                                                                                                                     

Overall – highly enjoyable second novel about a guy writing his second novel. Recommended 

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