About This Book:
National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization. When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth — but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the vuvv generously offered free advanced technology and cures for every illness imaginable? As it turns out, yes. With his parents’ jobs replaced by alien tech and no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv’s miraculous medicine, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have to get creative to survive. And since the vuvv crave anything they deem “classic” Earth culture (doo-wop music, still-life paintings of fruit, true love), recording 1950s-style dates for the vuvv to watch in a pay-per-minute format seems like a brilliant idea. But it’s hard for Adam and Chloe to sell true love when they hate each other more with every passing episode. Soon enough, Adam must decide how far he’s willing to go — and what he’s willing to sacrifice — to give the vuvv what they want.
*Review Contributed by Connie Reid, Site Manager*
I have enjoyed MT Anderson’s past books, Feed and The Tales of Octavian Nothing, so I was excited to receive a copy of Landscape with Invisible Hand. The title and cover made me a little reluctant to try the book because it did not catch my eye. However, there is a new movie based on the book coming out and once I understood that our main character, Adam, is an artist and that his fortune could change if he wins an art contest the title made more sense.
This Science Fiction dystopia turned out to be thought-provoking and to hold many truths about colonization and the implications of our past dealings with indigenous people. The Vuuv are an alien species that offer medicine, technology, and knowledge advancement and welcome Earth into their coalition for prosperity. Yet, the dirty underbelly of the deal is only the richest of the rich prospered, and with the automation of everything no one else could find jobs. As AI ramps up in our own society this offers good insight into the trajectory we could potentially experience.
Before the Vuuv arrived, Adam had a wonderful middle-class upbringing. As jobs became unattainable no matter how willing everyone was to do even the most menial labor it was interesting to see how everyone broke. Some people abandoned their families, others their former lives, and some tried to assimilate to be like the Vuuv, or perform for the Vuuv trying to be noticed. These behaviors hold the potential for many discussions on colonization and the impact on indigenous people and how they have coped over time.
Adam’s mother is forced to bring in tenants to live with them, among them is a teenage daughter Chloe. It is not long before Adam and Chloe are dating. With infatuation comes the amazing idea to sell per-minute episodes of their dating to Vuuv audiences. It is a wonderful idea that puts food on the table yet being on display sours the actual relationship. This has great potential for discussion about our current social media and reality TV. Many take these formats as truth but they are often highly staged and guided for maximum dramatic effect.
Adam suffers from a disgusting gastrointestinal disease that happened from bad water as a result of the Vuuv arrival and ensuing neglect of anyone not able to ascend to orbital housing. It could also be easily cured with Vuuv medicine which is too expensive to ever attain. As his condition worsens, he has an epiphany. I do not want to spoil the book by revealing it, but his answer to their problems is both a sad reflection on society, truthful and would likely work quite well.
Overall, this ended up being another great book by MT Anderson that has many literary merits and commentary on the past, present, and future of our society. This is ripe for a book club or school discussions on topics such as Social Media, AI, Economy, Hierarchy of Power, Colonization, and historical events to name a few. I do wish the book was longer to develop the characters and the Vuuv more, but it serves the purpose it was created for.
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