A BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK
One of the New York Times' Nonfiction Books to Read This Spring

When Vauhini Vara was fourteen, her sister was diagnosed with cancer. Too terrified to discuss it with a human, Vara instead turned to the fledgling internet with her questions. Those seminal early experiences influenced her decision to become a technology reporter; decades later, she used a predecessor to ChatGPT to help her write about her sister's death.

In this provocative, timely and highly personal account of our interdependent relationship with technology, she examines the early days of the internet, the encroachment of social media into our lives and how we might work with AI in the future. Brimming with candour, humour and a probing, roving intelligence, Searches anoints Vara, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, as an essential voice for our moment.

"Searches is as discomfiting as it is entertaining, with Vara exercising playful technique as a writer while also laying down dire warnings about a tech-dominated future. It's also a clear reminder that, at least for now, nothing can make language sing like a gifted human mind" - San Francisco Chronicle

"A thought-provoking investigation into personal history, creativity, and technology, elements that make us all" - Alta

"Vara is an appealing narrator - smart, funny, honest and a little neurotic. She harbours ambivalence about her reliance on technology products, but she doesn't beat herself up about it. She is thoughtful but not too heady; principled but not preachy" - New Yorker

"Thought-provoking, accessible and compelling . . . Will have you questioning what you thought you knew about technology in the 21st century" - Ms. Magazine

"A must-read for anyone interested in technology and artificial intelligence; will also be engaging for memoir lovers" - Library Journal (starred review)

"Readers will be profoundly moved by this remarkable meditation." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Beautifully written and profoundly researched" - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Provocative, challenging and concerning, Vara's clever, eye-opening approach brings home the often uneasy confluence of individual desire, social benefits and corporate ambition" - Booklist (starred review)