The ten percent thief

Lakshminarayan's captivating debut, originally published in India as Analog/Virtual, takes readers into an authoritarian "meritocratic technocracy." A series of vignettes detail the everyday lives of the citizens of Apex City, once Bangalore but now a city-state governed by Bell Corp. Though initially jarring and seemingly unconnected, these glimpses into the struggles of a girl learning the piano, a former businessman in a retirement home, and three women preparing for an awards show delicately interweave to create a provocative exploration of thought policing in a society where success is defined by productivity ratings mapped on the bell curve algorithm. The Virtuals, or the top 20% of society, enjoy stunning privileges, but deviation from accepted productivity and social standards can send a Virtual into the bottom 10% of society, stripped of their humanity and deported to live as Analogs outside the climate-controlled city in a township without basic amenities. Lakshminarayan's nuanced dystopian future will leave readers questioning their own relationship with technology and social media as they follow the cookie crumb trail of conformity and dissent through multiple character perspectives. The result is as satisfying as it is clever. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary. (Mar.)