These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.

Critically acclaimed writer Patricia Lockwood has made her highly anticipated foray into fiction with a debut novel that only she—the so-called “poet laureate of Twitter”—could write. Her unnamed narrator is, like Lockwood, a writer and social media darling who’s gone through the cycle of public praise and contempt many times over. Her rise to prominence in literary circles earns her speaking engagements around the world, and as she travels and meets with fans and others who imagine an intimate understanding of who she is, she tries to articulate what it’s like to exist and communicate within “the portal.” What is real and what is artificial when our physical and virtual lives collide? The result reads like a flowing prose poem, evocative and surreal.

Buy Now: No One Is Talking About This on Bookshop | Amazon

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

EDIT POST