Scorch

by A.D. Nauman

In the future world of Scorch, America is run by a “corporacracy.” Three conglomerates have taken control not by force but by manipulating common beliefs and values through the media, and particularly by playing on Americans’ fears of Big Brother. Consumerism and privatization have run amok in this landscape of flashing screens and subtle brainwashing, a world where even city streets and public schools are run by big business. This is a darkly comic first novel of a dystopian future, with echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.

250 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2001

About the author

A.D. Nauman is a literary author and educator in Chicago whose second novel, Down the Steep, will be released in October 2023. Her short fiction has appeared in Chicago Quarterly Review, Willow Springs, TriQuarterly, Roanoke Review, and many other journals. Nauman’s work has been recognized in Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize anthology, produced by Stories on Stage, broadcast on NPR, and granted an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award. Her first novel, Scorch, was recently re-released in an ebook StoryBundle. Now a Midwesterner, Nauman grew up mostly in Tidewater, Virginia.

Visit her at adnauman.com. Order DOWN THE STEEP at https://regal-house-publishing.mybigc...

Reviews

[Kerry]

Fairly completely realised imagination of a dystopian USA future; somewhat disconcerting to read in the context of the recent past performance of US politics and international policy, especially the introduction and ongoing dissemination of the "Patriot Act", and the ongoing "War to dominate the World's resources while we bankrupt our own economy and oops! the rest of the global market", aka the 'war on terror'.

One can postulate that total domination of the internal population, by using fear and terror aligned to compulsive over-consumption, is a goal the USA has already accomplished - but this tale does take a few steps beyond here-and-now.

Admittedly, it was published in 2001, so I'll give the author some credence for imagination, not merely regurgitating that which is already in the daily papers!

[Brady Dale]

This book got lost in the shuffle of SOFT SKULL's crazy time. It merits a revival.

[Brady Dale]

One of my favorite underground sci-fi books of all time. You'll hate the cover. You'll love the protagonists. She takes two steps back for every three steps forward, and you'll find yourself screaming every time she gives in to the "mainstream," but that's also why you'll love her.

This books is great. Too bad the author has not been given more opportunities. She deserves them.

[jeremy]

engaging more for its themes than its prose.

[Colleen]

very slow and not exciting; no happy ending

[D Coulombe]

Read for free online at Wowio.com (http://www.wowio.com/users/product.as...).

Not particularly imaginative.

[Kittymeow]

I'd rate this a 3.5 if I could. Good writing, and a scary dystopian concept. I really enjoyed it.

[Jon Carlos]

A silly, vapid fantasy that fancies itself a dystopian possibility while coming across like a satire of the Marxist worldview.