Thank you to Regalo Press for sending me a copy of The Distractions in exchange for an honest review.
The Distractions by Liza Monroy
In The Distractions by Liza Monroy, the world burns as people pay more attention to social media influencers than the problems just out of view. At times, it’s a little hard to tell the difference between the novel and reality.
But while the story at times felt all too real, at other times, it seemed to overlook certain defining aspects of our social media era. Nevertheless, the book is filled with thought-provoking material that will linger after you’ve finished reading.
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The More Things Change
Two quotes open The Distractions. One of them is taken from David Foster Wallace’s posthumously completed and published final novel, The Pale King (2011). I thought this was an interesting choice because, in many ways, The Distractions reminded me more of 1996’s Infinite Jest.
In Infinite Jest, Wallace put forth a vision of the near future that, in some ways, looks more like the world outside our window every year. Anticipating aspects of the streaming era and the rise of a corporate-sponsored federal government, there are parts of Infinite Jest that are too close to reality for comfort.
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With The Distractions, Monroy proposes a similar near-future, this one defined by social media and governed by artificial intelligences. According to the author’s postscripts, The Distractions had a 12-year incubation period. This demonstrates how prescient Monroy’s prose proves to be since many of the ideas included have indeed already come to pass.
It isn’t limited to the computerized elements of the narrative, either. In the novel, Los Angeles perpetually burns due to climate change-induced wildfires. On the morning I finished reading the book, I stepped outside my Southern California home to smell smoke in the air. This is not a novel to read to “get away from it all.” Or at least not certain aspects of it.
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After the quotations, The Distractions moves on to a five-page glossary of terms. On the one hand, this helps establish the world in which the novel is set. But on the other hand, I do question whether or not it was really necessary. As in 1962’s A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, I think the meaning of the specialized terms would have become clear to the reader before more than a few dozen pages had passed. Sure, “Reel” has replaced Twitter and other social media sites in the future. However, the meaning of the terms is clear enough from the context.
Meanwhile, I wish other aspects of the world had been a bit more thoroughly explored. Trolls (or “ReelElves”) are alluded to a few times. However, they are never given much development. Likewise, the mechanisms and ownership behind Reel are given a few passing references but not much examination.
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While some aspects of the book felt very “of our time,” not casting an eye toward the fascist egomaniacs who run many of our contemporary social media sites seems like an oversight. But perhaps the relatively recent revelations about some of those individuals are part of why they aren’t included in the long-gestating novel’s purview.
And anyway, while my personal preferences may run towards wider worldbuilding, The Distractions is more a novel about the perceptions of a small handful of characters. These characters are largely defined by their inability to look beyond themselves, even as they are obsessed with other people. So, maybe it was most appropriate for the book to keep a more narrow aperture. And maybe it was best for me to read something that didn’t cater directly to my personal preferences, anyway.
The Distractions Is Available Now
There is one other interesting aspect of the novel that I wanted to mention. While gender (and gendered roles) are not extinct in the novel, gendered pronouns are. Every character in the world of The Distractions uses “they/them” pronouns. This was another aspect of the novel that I would have liked to see more backstory about. But it’s worth noting that, even with every character using “they/them,” it wasn’t ever difficult to follow the story or discern the author’s meaning. And it was an interesting experiment to see a story where every character used the same gender-neutral pronouns.
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While I did find it rather readable, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about The Distractions as I worked my way through it. However, the picture that resolved at the end wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. And ultimately, I think the novel was greater than the sum of its parts. Like I alluded to above, there is lots of thought-provoking material here. The Distractions will serve as great fodder for book club discussions.
The Distractions is available at a local bookstore and/or public library near you.
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