No One Is Talking About This

A Novel

Hardcover, 224 pages

English language

Published Feb. 15, 2021 by Riverhead Books.

ISBN:
978-0-593-18958-0
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4 stars (51 reviews)

As this urgent, genre-defying book opens, a woman who has recently been elevated to prominence for her social media posts travels around the world to meet her adoring fans.

She is overwhelmed by navigating the new language and etiquette of what she terms "the portal," where she grapples with an unshakable conviction that a vast chorus of voices is now dictating her thoughts.

When existential threats — from climate change and economic precariousness to the rise of an unnamed dictator and an epidemic of loneliness — begin to loom, she posts her way deeper into the portal's void. An avalanche of images, details, and references accumulate to form a landscape that is post-sense, post-irony, post-everything.

“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 …

10 editions

Review of 'No One Is Talking About This' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Pierwsze 100 stron jest błyskotliwe i napisane z ciętością. Ale potem jest tylko gorzej. Jakby wszystkiego było za dużo, a autorka chce poruszyć wszystkie zagadnienia związanie internetem na raz. Wychodzi z tego wszystkiego intensywna literatura, ale dużo w niej papki i grafomani. A może miało tak być, bo internet tak wygląda wg autorki?

Hilarious and heartbreaking

4 stars

I don't think any book has ever made me laugh more than the first half of this one did. Lockwood has mastered the one-two punch of comedy + tragedy that makes the tonal shift of the latter half hit all that much harder (see also: Catch-22, that one episode of Futurama about Fry's dog). So many choice quotes. A masterful depiction of the inner life of someone who's way too online, and what it feels like when the IRL world forces us to log off.

No One Is Talking About This

No rating

Somebody cracks wise on the Internet (I know, I know, but stay with it, it’s fiction after all), and it goes viral. Interviews, guest lectures, panel discussions and world travel ensue until... Until something terrible happens, and everything collapses to the point of disruption. In Ohio, so you know it’s serious. Then, maybe, we see what matters in this big ol’ world of ours.

That’s mostly the story; as you read along, that’s what you’re reading. The story’s written in two parts: the happy part and the sad part. The happy part is happy, jouncing along with one-liners, wry observations and winsome meditations, a bit like a Steven Wright routine, except more Internetty. The sad part is sad, and, unlike the happy part, is capable of being spoiled, which cramps the review a little. It’s probably safe to point out if you’re familiar with Oscar Wilde’s (alleged!) comment about little …

Review of 'No One Is Talking About This' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book wasn't what I expected. I was imagining something along the lines of "The Circle," where the emphasis was on technology, social media and how our relationships have become increasingly virtual/artificial. Instead, I found a story about life, family, women's rights and human rights, and the inexplicable bonds we form with others. The author knows how to pack a punch with precise words, and I found myself laughing at some of her phrasing. In many ways this was a bleak book, and yet I want to describe it as delightful.

Review of 'No One Is Talking About This' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Stream of consciousness social media snarkiness meets the Proteus syndrome.

What happens when you are caught up in a world of self-important snarky social media memes, and then you run into something that challenges all you've ever thought about the meaning of life?

This is a powerful story, at times a little uneven, well work the read, especially for people that spend a lot of time online.

Review of 'No One Is Talking About This' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

The sentences and snippets clever and slippery, chock full of erudite snark. But, like a dense rich lasagna, I felt gorged too soon and could only poke over time. Her essays are rave worthy, so perhaps I’ll stick there.

Review of 'No One Is Talking about This' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Jeg er virkelig usikker. Dette har vært en unormalt krevende konsentrasjonsøvelsue på tross av korte avsnitt og ganske så enkelt, lyrisk og elokvent språk. Jeg vet at det handler om livet i en portal, og om hvordan det er å leve i nærheten av noen som har barn med proteus-syndrom, et syndrom jeg aldri har betegnelsen på før, men som jeg har sett i den strålende filmen "Elefantmannen" med Anthony Hopkins. Det litterære dilemmaet skal være gåten skjerm/virkelig liv og jeg forstår det gjennom konsentrasjon. Samtidig blir det springende, språklige hopp og sprett som jeg ofte liker hos andre forfattere, men som i denne innpakningen gjør at jeg mister nerven, det som skaper det dype engasjementet for hovedpersonene - helt til del to, hvor småbarnet med proteussyndromet tar over plassen som hovedperson - og da forstår jeg hvorfor andre liker dette så godt. For min egen del ble det nok …

Review of 'No One Is Talking About This' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

You have to give this book a chance. The book is short and the writing is beautiful, so that makes it easier, but there were several moments where I was thinking - “Come on…if there is no plot, I at least need some character development.” But the book gets to its heart about halfway through. And it is worth it.

Review of 'No One Is Talking About This' on 'GoodReads'

2 stars

TW: mentioned rape, pregnancy complications/birth defect, death of infant
2.5

This book is.... hardly a book. It's hard to talk about, because it sort of feels like trying to retell someone else's stream of consciousness. Basically- social media, right?

What I liked about this book was the writing, the style sometimes was a bit much for me, but it worked more often than it didn't. And it does feel very true to the time that we've been through, and are currently going through. And when the emotion comes through to lance the story, it does so very vivdly.

However, a lot of this just did not feel like art or a story to me. This book feels like being trapped in someone's brain during quarantine, which makes sense and does ring true, but, well... I was already trapped in my own brain during quarantine, not to mention very online the …

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