WilmU Book Club

October 2022  |  The Candy House

Wednesday, October 26, 2022
12:00pm ET

Register for the Zoom link


BookClub-Oct2022-graphic-wide-rectangle.png  


Please join the WilmU Online Book Club for a discussion of The Candy House by Jennifer EganThe Candy House follows a number of characters as they grapple with Bix Bouton's revolutionary technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—a device that allows people to upload and share their memories.

Students, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni are all welcome!
Register to join the conversation on Zoom

Borrow the book/ebook from a Delaware library or through your local library! Search Now


ABOUT THE BOOK

The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is “one of those tech demi-gods with whom we’re all on a first name basis.” Bix is forty, with four kids, restless, and desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing” memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—which allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share your memories in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes.

In the world of Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters” who track and exploit desires and there are “eluders,” those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House. Egan introduces these characters in an astonishing array of narrative styles—from omniscient to first person plural to a duet of voices, an epistolary chapter, and a chapter of tweets. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also a moving testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for connection, family, privacy, and love.

Upcoming Events

November 30, 2022 | Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island
December 14, 2022 | A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons
January 25, 2023 | Gamer Nation: Video Games and American Culture
February 22, 2023 | Walking Gentry Home: A Memoir of My Foremothers in Verse

Previous Events