Published: 06/01/2022
A powerful meditation on the value of human connection, poet Patricia Lockwood’s mordantly funny debut novel explores the pitfalls of social media in an entirely original fashion.
Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2022.
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021
A woman known for her viral social media posts travels the world speaking to her adoring fans, her entire existence overwhelmed by the internet - or what she terms 'the portal'.
Are we in hell? the people of the portal ask themselves. Are we all just going to keep doing this until we die?
Suddenly, two texts from her mother pierce the fray: 'Something has gone wrong,' and 'How soon can you get here?'
As real life and its stakes collide with the increasing absurdity of the portal, the woman confronts a world that seems to contain both an abundance of proof that there is goodness, empathy and justice in the universe, and a deluge of evidence to the contrary.
Irreverent and sincere, poignant and delightfully profane, No One Is Talking About This is at once a love letter to the infinite scroll and a meditation on love, language and human connection from one of the most original of our time.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526629777
Number of pages: 224
Weight: 160 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'A formidably gifted writer who can do pretty much anything she pleases.' - New York Times Book Review
'Reading Patricia Lockwood feels like looking through a kaleidoscope built by a mischievous sorcerer - the world is suddenly rearranged in fragments that are cosmic, wondrous, humiliating, and profane. No One Is Talking About This is a furiously original novel, alive and unstable; the book builds to a reminder of how devastation and connection produce each other, endlessly and surprisingly, both on the internet and in human places that our shared digital consciousness can never reach' - Jia Tolentino
'I really admire and love this book. Patricia Lockwood is a completely singular talent and this is her best, funniest, weirdest, most affecting work yet.' - Sally Rooney
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“A great novel for the internet age”
I attended Patricia Lockwood's lecture at the British Museum for the LRB last year, which is both referred to as an event in the book and the contents of the talk make up a good section of the first half. It was... More
“Confusing and irritating”
I was looking forward to reading this book which sounded quirky and original. It was both, but I also found it confusing and at times just as if the author had written a string of words for no particular reason. From... More
“Surprising and brilliant”
Patricia Lockwood's No One is Talking About This was one of those books I expected to be clever, witty and quotable. It is all of those things and also heartbreaking. I certainly didn't expect to be sobbing... More
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