COLIN WINNETTE’s books include Coyote, Haints Stay, and The Job of the Wasp, which was an American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next Pick. Winnette’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Playboy, McSweeney’s, The Believer, and The Paris Review Daily. A former bookseller in Texas, Vermont, New York, and California, he is now a writer living in San Francisco.
Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
Nylon, A Must-Read Book of the Month
The New Yorker, A Best Book We Read This Week
Elle, A Most Anticipated Title of the Year
The Millions, A Most Anticipated Read
"Told in refreshingly unadorned prose that lets Winnette’s
characters and ideas shine . . . Users is not only a book for today
or a warning about tomorrow, but a timeless and moving story about
fatherhood and one man’s yearning for a more meaningful life."
—Jessamine Chan, The New York Times Book Review
“A perceptive, subtly moving novel . . . Winnette’s thoughtful
depiction gives [Miles] a heart that’s not beyond redemption.”
—Kevin Canfield, San Francisco Chronicle
"The juxtaposition of its folktale-dark tone with the gleaming,
upper-class world of consumer technology it sends up leaves a
lasting impression—as does Winnette’s talent for leaving the reader
to imagine the horrors just outside the story’s edges, as a good
campfire yarn-spinner should." —Derek Robertson, Washington
Examiner
"Users asks its readers to wonder what lurks in the depths of any
given person’s mind—or, more alarming, what technology and the
Internet may have inserted there—and whether those depths are,
perhaps, shallower than they used to be . . . Among the novel’s
strengths is Winnette’s ability to capture the dissatisfaction that
life online generates . . . Miles's downward spiral is an effective
and upsetting reminder that there’s more to lose on the Internet
than just time and money." —Lily Meyer, The Nation
"This book brings the suspense and dread of Severance to the life
of a VR game developer. I finished it in about two days (a record
for me in a year of infrequent reading)." —Jordan McMahon, New York
Magazine
"Gripping, clever, and terrifying, Users sucks you in just like a
video game." —Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire
"[A] sharp, Charlie Kauffman-esque thriller." —Leah Greenblatt,
Entertainment Weekly
"Fans of Apple TV+'s Severance will enjoy this workplace novel."
—Milan Polk, Men's Health
"A speculative marvel as well as a work of entertaining fiction . .
. Haunting, real, and at times funny, Users is a downwards comedy
of errors of disastrous proportions." —Sam Franzini, Our Culture
Mag
"A thoughtful exploration of parasocial relationships or the way
real ones can turn into odd hauntings." —Megan Crouse, Den of
Geek
"This one is a mind-boggling ride . . . breathtaking and mind
opening and more original than anything being produced for a semi
large audience . . . The story will force you to consider the
meaning of authentic experience, and it might punch you in the
gut." —Mark Dago, Big Shiny Robot
"A disquieting cautionary tale for an age of virtual spaces."
—Kirkus Reviews
"An engaging story of a virtual reality designer stuck in a rut . .
. In Winnette’s hands, the dangerous blur between the virtual and
reality provides both a warning and a thrill." —Publishers
Weekly
“A surreal puzzle box and page-turner from which the reader may
never recover, full of the unique absurdity, dark humor, and
character insight that make Colin Winnette’s work such a joy.”
—Jeff Vandermeer, New York Times bestselling author of the Southern
Reach Trilogy and Hummingbird Salamander
“Users is the best kind of book: both thrillingly old-fashioned,
and utterly, daringly timely. Winnette captures the anxiety and
paranoia of the current age in a tale that will have you ripping
through the pages. Haunting, clever, witty, terrifying, moving;
reader, I loved it.” —Andrew Sean Greer, winner of the 2018
Pulitzer Prize for Less
"Users creeps upon the reader like the well-designed programs it
describes, disguising itself as a tome about the future, virtual
reality, the tech world, and what tantalizing dangers it wreaks.
But what is truly frightening about this extraordinary book is the
center of its futuristic shell—an unsettling look at marriage,
parenting, and relationships that will lurk in the reader's mind
long after the final page. Colin Winnette has written a delicious
nightmare. Welcome to its open maw.” —Esmé Weijun Wang, author of
The Collected Schizophrenias
"In gripping prose and disturbingly sharp focus, Colin Winnette
presents us with a not-too-distant future where technology and
selfhood have become completely entangled. Users shows how we can
become addicted to our customizable versions of reality, both on
and offline—and how tenuous the boundary between these two realms
can be. I kept thinking about this novel long after I put it down."
—Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, author of In the Distance
and Trust
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