Mike Rosenthal

Well written but just oppressively depressing, bleak, and claustrophobic.

Would've been a 3 or less right up until the last chapter, which gave me a bit more respect for it overall.

great concepts, but really not a great writer. the core idea here is that in order to thrive as a business in a world of infinitely replicable goods, we take the prisoner's dilemma (where game theory states its always in our best interest to work solely in our personal best interest) and factor in the good of society in our decision making. if we can benefit society with our business model, AND monetize the new value that the pirates have discovered, then theres hope for a new type of business to emerge. Some big gaping flaws, but all around a worthwhile read.

Franzen tends to spend the first 200-300 pages making you hate every one of his characters, only to finally make you then care enough about them to finish the damn thing. he is a fantastic writer, but i would not describe his books as enjoyable to read. his characters make you hate parts of yourself you generally don't acknowledge you have.

if you want to read a 750pg historical fiction novel about the french revolution, this is probably the one you should read, but i dunno. spolier, they all die in the end.