I Hate the Internet
by Jarett Kobek
(Serpent’s Tail, £12.99)

DON’T be put off by the title. I Hate the Internet suggests a crude novelty publication about disastrous interactions on social media but Jarett Kobek’s new book is a compelling investigation of 21st-century capitalism and its invasion of every aspect of life and thought.

Kobek’s first full-length work of fiction, a postmodern “antinovel,” has a fragmented structure, focuses on big ideas rather than character development and undermines its own authority with self-critical sideswipes. “The plot, like life, resolves into nothing and features emotional suffering without meaning,” it tells us.

But despite the self-deprecation, this is an important book. Through the episodically presented misadventures of Adeline, a semi-famous comic-book artist, the novel examines the commodification of our creative and emotional lives and the corporate appropriation of personal relationships.

Adeline becomes a YouTube sensation and the subject of an internet hate storm when her views on celebrity worship are shared online and cause offence to fans of Beyonce and Rihanna.

Her story is interrupted by reflections on racism, sexism, online narcissism and the degeneration of popular culture.

There’s also a sharp critique of the history of venture capital and its destructive influence on society.

Kobek interweaves a number of elements — factual, fictional, historical, tragic and absurd, an example being the diatribe on the corrosion of intellectual property rights which is illustrated through the comic-book industry’s wretched treatment of Jack Kirby, creator of Captain America and co-creator of the X-Men.

We see the deep-seated hypocrisy in capitalism’s pursuit of obscene wealth — and complete disregard for those who produce it — through the story of individualist writer Ayn Rand, “the billionaire’s best friend.”

Then there’s the heartbreaking tale of Ellen, a young woman from rural New Mexico whose life is torn apart by the publication of sex photographs online. She has no commodity to market, so when her images generate additional advertising revenue the only beneficiary is the internet giant Google.

Some of the book’s running gags grate after a few iterations, with the author highlighting the inherent racism of capitalism through repeated use of the phrase “eumelanin in the basal cell layer of [her] epidermis.” But that’s a minor quibble because restless, entertaining and thought-provoking, I Hate the Internet sheds light on complex ideas with seriousness rather than solemnity.

It’s one of the few works of fiction to highlight the non-neutrality of information technology, with its corrupt and uncaring culture which creates tools that damage people.

Review by Andy Hedgecock