Transmission Author:Hari Kunzru In a networked world, anything can change in an instant, and sometimes everything does Transmission, Hari Kunzrus new novel of love and lunacy, immigration and immunity, introduces a daydreaming Indian computer geek whose luxurious fantasies about life in America are shaken when he accepts a California job offer. Lonely and ... more »naïve, Arjun Mehta bides his time as a lowly assistant virus tester, pining away for his free-spirited colleague Christine. Despite building digital creatures in a feeble attempt to enhance his job security, Arjun gets laid-off like so many of his Silicon Valley peers. In an act of desperation to keep his job, he releases a mischievous but destructive virus around the globe that has major unintended consequences. As world order unravels, so does Arjuns sanity, in a rollicking cataclysm that reaches Bollywood and, not so coincidentally, the glamorous star of Arjuns favorite Indian movie. Award-winning novelist Hari Kunzru was hailed as a "modern-day Kipling," for his best-selling debut, The Impressionist. And now, with his exuberant follow-up, Transmission, Kunzru takes an ultracontemporary turn in a stylish, playful, and wicked exploration of life at the click of a mouse.« less
Along the lines of Vonnegut, but Kunzru's style is a little slow for my tastes. Excellent story, though, about a displaced Indian programmer who ends up a little over his head.