The Echo Chamber

"His joy is contagious," TimesThe best book I've read in a long time. Ian Rankin called it "savage but compelling."The Observer is a hilarious, boisterous, unreserved, and incredibly Hogarthian work.A sharp, humorous, and masterfully written reflection on the world we currently live in. Cannon Joanna_______________What an amazing device a cell phone is. Six ounces of glass, plastic, and metal combined to create a costly, lustrous, and elegant piece. It is simultaneously a doorway to other worlds and, in the hands of the careless, unsuspecting, and unskilled, a deadly weapon.The Cleverley family leads an opulent existence, unaware of how fleeting their status is and how one tweet might spell ruin. The patriarch, George, is a television interviewing veteran and a "national treasure," according to him. His wife, Beverley, is a recognized novelist, if not as much as she would want, and their children, Nelson, Elizabeth, and Achilles, are all sorts of disaster waiting to happen.Together, they will embark on a discovery voyage through the Hogarthian jungle of the contemporary world, where carefully cultivated reputations can be quickly destroyed and past assumptions have no bearing. They will discover along the journey just how erratic, angry, and merciless the world can be when you deviate from the accepted course.Driven by the distinct wit and astute observation of John Boyne, The Echo Chamber is a satirical roller coaster that deviates from reality, balancing between absurdity, comedy, and oblivion. Errors are perhaps part of being human, but all it takes to truly mess things up is a phone.Water, John Boyne's newest book, is currently available for preorder.