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Plastic: A Novel
For fans of Interior Chinatown and American War, a surreal, hilarious, and sneakily profound debut novel that casts our current climate of gun violence and environmental destruction in a surprising new mold.
Erin is a plastic girl living in a plastic world. Every day she eats a breakfast of boiled chicken, then conveys her articulated body to Tablet Town, where she sells other figurines wearable tech that allows full, physical immersion in a virtual world, a refuge from real life’s brutal wars, oppressive governmental monitoring, and omnipresent eco-terrorist insurgency. If you cut her, she will not bleed—but she and her fellow figurines can still be cracked or blown apart by gunfire or bombs, or crumble away from nuclear fallout. Erin, who's lost her father, sister, and the love of her life, certainly knows plenty about death.
An attack at her place of work brings Erin another too-intimate experience, but it also brings her a blind figurine whom she comforts in the aftermath, and with whom she feels an almost instant connection. For the first time in years, Erin begins to experience hope—hope that until now she's only gleaned from watching her favorite TV show, the surrealist retro sitcom “Nuclear Family.” Exploring the wild wonders of the virtual reality landscape together, it seems that possibly, slowly, Erin and Jacob may have a chance at healing from their trauma. But then secrets from Erin's family's past begin to invade her carefully constructed reality, and cracks in the facade she's constructed around her life threaten to reveal everything vulnerable beneath.
Both a crypto-comedic dystopian fantasy and a deadly serious dissection of our own farcical pre-apocalypse, Scott Guild’s debut novel is an achingly beautiful, disarmingly welcoming, and fabulously inventive look at the hollow core of modern American society—and a guide to how we might reanimate all its broken plastic pieces.
Erin is a plastic girl living in a plastic world. Every day she eats a breakfast of boiled chicken, then conveys her articulated body to Tablet Town, where she sells other figurines wearable tech that allows full, physical immersion in a virtual world, a refuge from real life’s brutal wars, oppressive governmental monitoring, and omnipresent eco-terrorist insurgency. If you cut her, she will not bleed—but she and her fellow figurines can still be cracked or blown apart by gunfire or bombs, or crumble away from nuclear fallout. Erin, who's lost her father, sister, and the love of her life, certainly knows plenty about death.
An attack at her place of work brings Erin another too-intimate experience, but it also brings her a blind figurine whom she comforts in the aftermath, and with whom she feels an almost instant connection. For the first time in years, Erin begins to experience hope—hope that until now she's only gleaned from watching her favorite TV show, the surrealist retro sitcom “Nuclear Family.” Exploring the wild wonders of the virtual reality landscape together, it seems that possibly, slowly, Erin and Jacob may have a chance at healing from their trauma. But then secrets from Erin's family's past begin to invade her carefully constructed reality, and cracks in the facade she's constructed around her life threaten to reveal everything vulnerable beneath.
Both a crypto-comedic dystopian fantasy and a deadly serious dissection of our own farcical pre-apocalypse, Scott Guild’s debut novel is an achingly beautiful, disarmingly welcoming, and fabulously inventive look at the hollow core of modern American society—and a guide to how we might reanimate all its broken plastic pieces.
11 pages, Audible Audio
First published February 13, 2024
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March 18, 20242024 reads, #17. DID NOT FINISH. This book was just absolutely not for me in any way whatsoever, a Postmodernist fairytale from a former hipster indie-rocker with a [rolls eyes] PhD in creative writing, in which he comments in a disappointedly on-the-nose way on the ugliness and darkness of modern life through the filter of a Netflix-style streaming series about plastic dolls come to life, full of cutesy little twee details like all of them talking in the truncated, deliberately silly style of doge memes (“Forget eat lunch. Big hungry. Chicken look wow wow”), and everything in their world having cutesy little twee generic names, like Nuclear Family for the name of this plastic society’s most popular television show. Then if this wasn’t enough hipster tweeness for you, he then tells the story itself not through a regular omniscient narrator but by literally describing every scene out loud, as if he’s watching the show on Netflix and we’re on the other end of a phone and he’s just literally telling us everything that’s happening on the screen as it’s happening. (“And then the next scene opens with the plastic girl driving her car, and then...”) Ugh, contemporary literature really is dead, isn’t it?
Like always with books I give up on, I went ahead and read everyone else’s reviews before writing mine, just in case something happens later in the book that’s so compelling that it inspires me to pick the book back up again (which, you know, has happened before); but when I did this with Plastic, I was suddenly confronted over and over with what I consider the scourge of online artistic criticism these days, review after review that said, “This made me cry! FIVE STARS!” That’s not a fucking critical review, people; I could punch you in the face and make you cry too, but that doesn’t deserve five stars either. It’s books like these that make me glad I’m entirely out of the indie-lit game now myself, and it’s also books like these that make me realize why I’ve been gravitating more and more in the 21st century towards good solid genre novels like crime, science-fiction and romance; and that’s because the only contemporary human-interest novels that can seemingly even get published anymore is silly little gimmicky easily-marketed MFA/NPR nonsense like this, where the author not only has nothing but a facile and obvious point to make, but then beats you over the head with this facile and obvious point, seemingly all their sins washed away because they wrote it in a cutesy style that makes for good Facebook updates. (“This made me cry! FIVE STARS!!!!!!!1!!!”) If you’re a fellow grown-up who weeps for the lack of good, solid contemporary human-interest novels for grown-ups anymore, avoid this one like the plague.
Like always with books I give up on, I went ahead and read everyone else’s reviews before writing mine, just in case something happens later in the book that’s so compelling that it inspires me to pick the book back up again (which, you know, has happened before); but when I did this with Plastic, I was suddenly confronted over and over with what I consider the scourge of online artistic criticism these days, review after review that said, “This made me cry! FIVE STARS!” That’s not a fucking critical review, people; I could punch you in the face and make you cry too, but that doesn’t deserve five stars either. It’s books like these that make me glad I’m entirely out of the indie-lit game now myself, and it’s also books like these that make me realize why I’ve been gravitating more and more in the 21st century towards good solid genre novels like crime, science-fiction and romance; and that’s because the only contemporary human-interest novels that can seemingly even get published anymore is silly little gimmicky easily-marketed MFA/NPR nonsense like this, where the author not only has nothing but a facile and obvious point to make, but then beats you over the head with this facile and obvious point, seemingly all their sins washed away because they wrote it in a cutesy style that makes for good Facebook updates. (“This made me cry! FIVE STARS!!!!!!!1!!!”) If you’re a fellow grown-up who weeps for the lack of good, solid contemporary human-interest novels for grown-ups anymore, avoid this one like the plague.
abandoned
March 21, 2024The dialogue makes me want to poke my eyeballs with a fork.
September 26, 2024
The style was a little tedious at times. I liked some of the ideas and what the author did with the show the main character is watching throughout the book which was the only part where the author managed to make me feel something, however fleetingly, but it wasn't enough to make the book particularly memorable for more than the style which as I said before got kind of tedious.
February 23, 2024
Currently experiencing an emotional hangover — I never thought I would have so many feelings reading about plastic people!
This book is so many things — Original. Thought-provoking. Sad. Funny. Absurd. Mysterious.
To properly set the scene for this, I’m going to need you to temporarily suspend disbelief…
In ‘Plastic’ by Scott Guild, we are in a dystopia where instead of humans, everyone is plastic [think Barbie movie minus the light-heartness]. People can transport themselves to other virtual worlds through Smartbodies, suffer from illnesses called Brad Pitt disease, are under intense government surveillance/oppression, and are facing constant eco-terrorist attacks.
The story centers on Erin as she experiences a terror attack at work. Responding to a Good Samaritan act of service, she meets Jacob, legally blind, who realizes his mother has been killed in the attack. This traumatic meeting plants the seeds for their connection but Erin faces difficulty opening up as she has many secrets about her past including her connection to these terrorist attacks.
“Oh God, I pray, don’t let the rage consume me. Don’t let it smother the love that I have left.”
This story will require your focus but it is worth the pay-off. I had my doubts if I would be able to fully connect to this story but the level of detachment you feel from the characters physically [cause they are plastic] and their language [which is chipped and a bit robotic] is compensated in the emotional connections.
I loved the split between Erin’s life and the chapters that were scenes from the TV sitcom where Erin escapes. This distant world felt very familiar, making me sad and laugh and self-reflect. They find ways to survive grief, anxiety, and fear. They cope with their traumas by escaping through TV, religion, medication, and alcohol. Many suffer in silence not wanting to burden others.
The serious topics don’t force you to conclude any specific opinions which I appreciated. Just a mirror into a world, that is not too far from the one we’re living in.
Memorable debut! Thank you, Pantheon for the gifted copy! You will now find me staring into a wall.
This book is so many things — Original. Thought-provoking. Sad. Funny. Absurd. Mysterious.
To properly set the scene for this, I’m going to need you to temporarily suspend disbelief…
In ‘Plastic’ by Scott Guild, we are in a dystopia where instead of humans, everyone is plastic [think Barbie movie minus the light-heartness]. People can transport themselves to other virtual worlds through Smartbodies, suffer from illnesses called Brad Pitt disease, are under intense government surveillance/oppression, and are facing constant eco-terrorist attacks.
The story centers on Erin as she experiences a terror attack at work. Responding to a Good Samaritan act of service, she meets Jacob, legally blind, who realizes his mother has been killed in the attack. This traumatic meeting plants the seeds for their connection but Erin faces difficulty opening up as she has many secrets about her past including her connection to these terrorist attacks.
“Oh God, I pray, don’t let the rage consume me. Don’t let it smother the love that I have left.”
This story will require your focus but it is worth the pay-off. I had my doubts if I would be able to fully connect to this story but the level of detachment you feel from the characters physically [cause they are plastic] and their language [which is chipped and a bit robotic] is compensated in the emotional connections.
I loved the split between Erin’s life and the chapters that were scenes from the TV sitcom where Erin escapes. This distant world felt very familiar, making me sad and laugh and self-reflect. They find ways to survive grief, anxiety, and fear. They cope with their traumas by escaping through TV, religion, medication, and alcohol. Many suffer in silence not wanting to burden others.
The serious topics don’t force you to conclude any specific opinions which I appreciated. Just a mirror into a world, that is not too far from the one we’re living in.
Memorable debut! Thank you, Pantheon for the gifted copy! You will now find me staring into a wall.
October 14, 2023
Definitely not at all what I expected but an excellently written and considered book. I think that the description fails to capture what this book is like - which would be quite difficult to do in that limited space. However, whoever decided to use “hilarious” to start that description maybe hadn’t read the book… I would recommend for fans of Kurt Vonnegut or Angela Carter (considering in particular Harrison Bergeron or The Passion of New Eve).
An excellent book that I think anyone might get something out of reading, yet that I think will get little readership because of the disparity between its advertising copy and its actual content. For a debut writer, it takes on the issues of terrorism, environmentalism, extremism, and others with surety despite its unconventional setting. I’m excited to follow Scott Guild from here on out.
An excellent book that I think anyone might get something out of reading, yet that I think will get little readership because of the disparity between its advertising copy and its actual content. For a debut writer, it takes on the issues of terrorism, environmentalism, extremism, and others with surety despite its unconventional setting. I’m excited to follow Scott Guild from here on out.
February 16, 2024
This book was so odd...
I am a huge fan of what other people would consider "weird" books but this one was just too much. Having to read from these non-human characters with intentional broken English throughout the ENTIRE book was, to put it simply, insufferable. Would have been less annoying if there was less dialogue, but there was A TON of dialogue. The plot was also just not interesting to me and felt so disconnected, especially with the changes in narrative.
The only reason I am giving this 2 stars instead of a 1 star rating is because of originality. I commend Scott Guild for writing something unlike anything I have ever read before, however I am not sure it paid off in the end unfortunately.
I am a huge fan of what other people would consider "weird" books but this one was just too much. Having to read from these non-human characters with intentional broken English throughout the ENTIRE book was, to put it simply, insufferable. Would have been less annoying if there was less dialogue, but there was A TON of dialogue. The plot was also just not interesting to me and felt so disconnected, especially with the changes in narrative.
The only reason I am giving this 2 stars instead of a 1 star rating is because of originality. I commend Scott Guild for writing something unlike anything I have ever read before, however I am not sure it paid off in the end unfortunately.
March 19, 2024
What would you get if you wrote a novelization of a knock-off of the 2023 Barbie film?
This. You'd get this.
Plastic is a satire of modern life. All of the characters are plastic dolls. The author describes the settings and action as if it was a screenplay: "The episode opens on a plastic woman driving home from work. The camera follows her from outside the car..." (5) Occasionally, a character watches episodes of an in-universe show called Nuclear Family, and the reader is treated to a chapter following those characters. It's all very meta. Oh, and every now and then a character will break into song. A blurb on the inside of the back cover says that there's a musical version of the novel that readers can access by scanning a QR code.
The plot involves terrorism, ecological devastation and doomed romance, but I just couldn't get past the fact that...
The characters talk in broken English. Example: "I keep mean ask you, Jacob says. Where you live in town? Apartment like me?" (82) Apparently, this is a reference to some meme from the internets. It's obnoxious to read. I'm old enough to remember Tonto from the original Lone Ranger TV series, and that the character talked like this. The dialogue felt like a racist joke that would not end.
There was also a running gag about Christianity in the Nuclear Family show-within-a-show. Max, the main character of that show has a crucifix he talks to for advice. The corpus on the cross (whose name is Morris, not Jesus) jumps down from the cross several times to assist Max and one time, to sing a song extolling the awesomeness of divorce.
I can take religious satire, but this is just crude and rude for no point. Couple that with the broken-English dialogue and I just quit.
Skip this novel. It's unreadable.
This. You'd get this.
Plastic is a satire of modern life. All of the characters are plastic dolls. The author describes the settings and action as if it was a screenplay: "The episode opens on a plastic woman driving home from work. The camera follows her from outside the car..." (5) Occasionally, a character watches episodes of an in-universe show called Nuclear Family, and the reader is treated to a chapter following those characters. It's all very meta. Oh, and every now and then a character will break into song. A blurb on the inside of the back cover says that there's a musical version of the novel that readers can access by scanning a QR code.
The plot involves terrorism, ecological devastation and doomed romance, but I just couldn't get past the fact that...
The characters talk in broken English. Example: "I keep mean ask you, Jacob says. Where you live in town? Apartment like me?" (82) Apparently, this is a reference to some meme from the internets. It's obnoxious to read. I'm old enough to remember Tonto from the original Lone Ranger TV series, and that the character talked like this. The dialogue felt like a racist joke that would not end.
There was also a running gag about Christianity in the Nuclear Family show-within-a-show. Max, the main character of that show has a crucifix he talks to for advice. The corpus on the cross (whose name is Morris, not Jesus) jumps down from the cross several times to assist Max and one time, to sing a song extolling the awesomeness of divorce.
I can take religious satire, but this is just crude and rude for no point. Couple that with the broken-English dialogue and I just quit.
Skip this novel. It's unreadable.
December 28, 2023
Plastic has a promising premise and start. It follows Erin, a plastic girl in a plastic world that she resides in alone. Her father is dead, her sister is an eco-terrorist, and the only guy she's ever thought of romantically is also dead. It's a pretty bleak set-up, and that bleakness and sense of grief and hopelessness was very well-written, and made the hope and love Erin feels later on in the novel even more lovely.
However, I had a lot of trouble following the plot and understanding what the author was trying to do here. There are a lot of threads that are laid out, including a line of thinking on eco-terrorism, a TV show called Nuclear Family that seems partially imagined, a virtual world that can be entered through SmartBodies, and a mysterious ending that confused me all over again. I don't mind a little ambiguity in books, but nothing seemed to connect in a satisfying way. I could give you lots of theories about the world that Scott Guild created here, but none of them really make sense given the details provided in the book.
Overall, I felt pretty indifferent about this one. It definitely has some promising writing and some interesting concepts woven in there, but ultimately, Plastic was too scattered for me to really get a hold of.
However, I had a lot of trouble following the plot and understanding what the author was trying to do here. There are a lot of threads that are laid out, including a line of thinking on eco-terrorism, a TV show called Nuclear Family that seems partially imagined, a virtual world that can be entered through SmartBodies, and a mysterious ending that confused me all over again. I don't mind a little ambiguity in books, but nothing seemed to connect in a satisfying way. I could give you lots of theories about the world that Scott Guild created here, but none of them really make sense given the details provided in the book.
Overall, I felt pretty indifferent about this one. It definitely has some promising writing and some interesting concepts woven in there, but ultimately, Plastic was too scattered for me to really get a hold of.
April 28, 2024
reading this feels like being thrust into a post-apocalyptic dystopia set within the Sims universe and you can barely understand Simlish but still have to listen to everyone’s existential despair
September 20, 2023
WOW This book will turn your brain inside out! (In a good way).
I can't help but compare it a bit to the Barbie Movie set up. In Plastic, Erin is a plastic girl living in a plastic world. She is still recovering from a terrorist attack that killed her first love. The death of her father not too soon after and the disappearance of her sister has left her virtually alone.
She continues to work in Tablet Town, where she works for Smartbodies - a technology that allows entrance into a completely virtual world. When she meets Jacob on a dating app, she is hopeful for a new chapter in her life. But the horrors of the past and the secrets she is keeping are seeping into her everyday life. Can she move on from the past? Should she? Set in a surreal dystopia with snippets of a retro comedy show called "Nuclear Family," Scott Guild has created a masterwork on society today.
#Knopf #Pantheon #Plastic #ScottGuild
I can't help but compare it a bit to the Barbie Movie set up. In Plastic, Erin is a plastic girl living in a plastic world. She is still recovering from a terrorist attack that killed her first love. The death of her father not too soon after and the disappearance of her sister has left her virtually alone.
She continues to work in Tablet Town, where she works for Smartbodies - a technology that allows entrance into a completely virtual world. When she meets Jacob on a dating app, she is hopeful for a new chapter in her life. But the horrors of the past and the secrets she is keeping are seeping into her everyday life. Can she move on from the past? Should she? Set in a surreal dystopia with snippets of a retro comedy show called "Nuclear Family," Scott Guild has created a masterwork on society today.
#Knopf #Pantheon #Plastic #ScottGuild
August 22, 2024
The plastic people in a plastic world; plastic problems. In a world so fake issues don’t really disappear. Wars, population problems. Short discussion in pregnancy and abortion, very little on the value of life although the and abortion (full term) would have zero pain yet vanity plays a big role in decisions. Education means everything and appearance. Which is odd because, the plastic figures have very basic vocabulary and the ways they communicate is odd, almost simple.
This book is unlike anything I have read before. To be honest it’s a bit high brow for me. I would need to reread the book in a few months to get an entire perspective or better understanding on a book like this.
I will likely revise my review with deeper thought’s. If I am vastly off on my perception of the book I would love others opinions and thoughts. 💭 Again I am entirely new to a book like this.
This book is unlike anything I have read before. To be honest it’s a bit high brow for me. I would need to reread the book in a few months to get an entire perspective or better understanding on a book like this.
I will likely revise my review with deeper thought’s. If I am vastly off on my perception of the book I would love others opinions and thoughts. 💭 Again I am entirely new to a book like this.
May 20, 2024
I don’t even know what to say. It sounds crazy that this book about plastic people who talk like advert copy is one of the saddest, most poignant things I’ve ever read but it is. Take the darkest Black Mirror episode you can think of and make it even darker, then add a dash of the reckless hope of San Junipero. It was devastating, absurd, prescient, insane, and so so so human.
This is NOT going to be for everyone. It is weird, confusing, oddly structured and oftentimes unclear as to which (if any) reality events are taking place in. But if you like experimental, surrealist litfic, I think you’ll be wholly absorbed by this bizarre book.
This is NOT going to be for everyone. It is weird, confusing, oddly structured and oftentimes unclear as to which (if any) reality events are taking place in. But if you like experimental, surrealist litfic, I think you’ll be wholly absorbed by this bizarre book.
February 20, 2024
Some of the weirdest, most imaginative shit I’ve read and I truly don’t even know what it was… I want to give it 5 stars but I can’t articulate why so it’s getting 4 idk idk
March 5, 2024
One of Plastic's greatest feats - the standard of communication is seamlessly adapted to the physical and emotional landscape of the book. Dialogue between figurines is truncated ("blummo," "way way"). These abbreviations are not necessarily one's we use, though, so it doesn't feel contrived. Similarly, the technology is familiar yet imaginative. Commercial mascots give Black Mirror™️ Lite.
I feel myself hovering at the edge of 'getting it’ for some parts. I'd ask myself questions while driving to work after reading the night before. Why a set? Why plastic? Is it just a manifestation of - or perhaps way to process - their trauma? Commentary on the superficiality of society and its disregard for our planet? And why, for God's sake, was O a waffle. (I'm not too acquainted with the absurd in lit, but I liked it here regardless of how much I “got it”)
Erin says she watches Nuclear Family in her head, creating plots even, so maybe this is what she sees when she closes her eyes. In that sense, it echoes other contemporary trauma narratives where characters are displaced.
The attacks felt remote before learning Fiona's part in the dorm bombing. What a gut-punch that this previously well-adjusted girl felt so angry, so helpless when looking at the future that the only answer was violence. She was so lost. You feel Max and Erin's heartbreak when she comes home initially, already pulling away. So to learn about her part, to see their family dynamic and sense of selves shatter, has such poignancy.
I read a review while reading that said the book tries to do too much. I might have agreed within the first third of the book, but the pieces gradually get tied together.
I read the physical book first and felt like I needed more time, so I picked up the audio. Also great.
Way way:
-“My job is to love this world of dying things.”
-Learning Erin didn't even know Patrick
-The songs (reminds me of Year of the Flood)
-Jacob and Erin's relationship
-Morris
-Naming conventions for products
-Erin turning flesh
Blummo:
-It took me longer than it probably should have to realize that Erin's father's ex is O from Nuclear Family
-I don't have anyone to talk to about this book yet
I feel myself hovering at the edge of 'getting it’ for some parts. I'd ask myself questions while driving to work after reading the night before. Why a set? Why plastic? Is it just a manifestation of - or perhaps way to process - their trauma? Commentary on the superficiality of society and its disregard for our planet? And why, for God's sake, was O a waffle. (I'm not too acquainted with the absurd in lit, but I liked it here regardless of how much I “got it”)
Erin says she watches Nuclear Family in her head, creating plots even, so maybe this is what she sees when she closes her eyes. In that sense, it echoes other contemporary trauma narratives where characters are displaced.
The attacks felt remote before learning Fiona's part in the dorm bombing. What a gut-punch that this previously well-adjusted girl felt so angry, so helpless when looking at the future that the only answer was violence. She was so lost. You feel Max and Erin's heartbreak when she comes home initially, already pulling away. So to learn about her part, to see their family dynamic and sense of selves shatter, has such poignancy.
I read a review while reading that said the book tries to do too much. I might have agreed within the first third of the book, but the pieces gradually get tied together.
I read the physical book first and felt like I needed more time, so I picked up the audio. Also great.
Way way:
-“My job is to love this world of dying things.”
-Learning Erin didn't even know Patrick
-The songs (reminds me of Year of the Flood)
-Jacob and Erin's relationship
-Morris
-Naming conventions for products
-Erin turning flesh
Blummo:
-It took me longer than it probably should have to realize that Erin's father's ex is O from Nuclear Family
-I don't have anyone to talk to about this book yet
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2024
why am i crying over plastic people in this little plastic world with their big plastic problems
March 27, 2024
Incredible and also what the hell did I just read?
A surrealist trip that you just have to let go and fall backward into.
A surrealist trip that you just have to let go and fall backward into.
May 13, 2024
I kept picturing Owen Wilson in a waffle suit, walking around in a Barbie/Fallout world going "Wow! Leggo of my eggo!"
It was very distracting... And this book was distracting enough.
It was very distracting... And this book was distracting enough.
December 27, 2023
OH, BLUMMO, BIG TIME. THIS BOOK WAY BIG ME. (that's some inside jargon for all my Plastic readers.)
I am so thankful to Scott Guild, Netgalley, Pantheon Books, and Penguin Random House for granting me advanced physical and digital access to this layered gem that has held my attention DAYS after finishing it. We love a good thinker type of read. This baby hits shelves on February 13, 2024, and I can't wait to hear what my fellow satirical/absurdist fic babes think.
Erin James is just a plastic girl living in a plastic world, and hold up because this isn't a happy-go-lucky Barbie retelling; this tale is layered with political and socio-economic complexities that mirror our dying planet and will have you staring at the wall afterward, contemplating it all.
Anyway, Erin works at Tablet Town and is a plastic figurine that goes about her day trying to avoid the evolving eco-terrorism that has battered the world as she knows it. Upon arriving at her retail job one day, she runs into just that: an explosion from an Eco-terrorist group looking to send a message. After receiving a distress call from her mobile device, she crawls through the rubble and finds a very helpless blind man, Jacob, who's just lost his mother to the outcry and is mentally processing the aftermath of what's to come.
The two form a close relationship within the confines of their Smartbody Virtual Reality world, going on dates, and processing grief the best way two plastic figurines know how. But danger lingers on the horizon, because Erin keeps receiving random messages from advertisements and mascots that seems a little too directed to be a coincidence. Erin holds familial ties to one of the bigger eco-terrorist groups, through her sister and she keeps trying to warn her baby sister of a BIG BIG BLUMMO attack, a nuclear one -- that could end plastic life as everyone knows it.
Plastic is a dystopian tale, sure, but it also feels very realistic in what's to come our our dying planet. We've already got wars, fascist governing bodies, ultra-futuristic technologies, and various climate crises... Are we next for this scenario? Blummo.
I am so thankful to Scott Guild, Netgalley, Pantheon Books, and Penguin Random House for granting me advanced physical and digital access to this layered gem that has held my attention DAYS after finishing it. We love a good thinker type of read. This baby hits shelves on February 13, 2024, and I can't wait to hear what my fellow satirical/absurdist fic babes think.
Erin James is just a plastic girl living in a plastic world, and hold up because this isn't a happy-go-lucky Barbie retelling; this tale is layered with political and socio-economic complexities that mirror our dying planet and will have you staring at the wall afterward, contemplating it all.
Anyway, Erin works at Tablet Town and is a plastic figurine that goes about her day trying to avoid the evolving eco-terrorism that has battered the world as she knows it. Upon arriving at her retail job one day, she runs into just that: an explosion from an Eco-terrorist group looking to send a message. After receiving a distress call from her mobile device, she crawls through the rubble and finds a very helpless blind man, Jacob, who's just lost his mother to the outcry and is mentally processing the aftermath of what's to come.
The two form a close relationship within the confines of their Smartbody Virtual Reality world, going on dates, and processing grief the best way two plastic figurines know how. But danger lingers on the horizon, because Erin keeps receiving random messages from advertisements and mascots that seems a little too directed to be a coincidence. Erin holds familial ties to one of the bigger eco-terrorist groups, through her sister and she keeps trying to warn her baby sister of a BIG BIG BLUMMO attack, a nuclear one -- that could end plastic life as everyone knows it.
Plastic is a dystopian tale, sure, but it also feels very realistic in what's to come our our dying planet. We've already got wars, fascist governing bodies, ultra-futuristic technologies, and various climate crises... Are we next for this scenario? Blummo.
March 11, 2024
***These are my random thoughts after finishing the book. Some of the thoughts are an overall review of the book, or any questions/feelings that nagged at me throughout. There will almost definitely be spoilers. Read at your own risk.*** ‐----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.75 stars up
Why am I crying at a book with fascist waffles
The build-up to realizing she never knew Patrick
Took me a little too long to realize those were episodes she created in her mind (and that O is Owen) that reminded a little of Never Let Me Go - there isn't one big reveal, it's just kind of an open secret that you slowly come to realize
Is it bad I liked Agent Barb
"Oh God, I pray, don't let the rage consume me. Don't let it smother the love that I have left."
4.75 stars up
Why am I crying at a book with fascist waffles
The build-up to realizing she never knew Patrick
Took me a little too long to realize those were episodes she created in her mind (and that O is Owen) that reminded a little of Never Let Me Go - there isn't one big reveal, it's just kind of an open secret that you slowly come to realize
Is it bad I liked Agent Barb
"Oh God, I pray, don't let the rage consume me. Don't let it smother the love that I have left."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2024
Considering that half of my academic career has been in and about plastics, it was only logical that I would read this. And therein lies my disappointment - the use of plastic felt rather gimmicky. I don't really see the point of plastic characters. On the other hand, the first episode of "Nuclear Family" (with its fascist waffle president) and the first instance of breaking into a song (about ecoterrorism) were so unhinged that they almost made up for what I found lacking.
June 6, 2024
this is quite possibly the greatest book I’ve ever read
July 8, 2024
I sped through this book, but then took a long pause to write anything about it because I'm not sure how to express my thoughts on it without giving everything away! I'm talking about "Plastic" by Scott Guild. I have not read anything that felt as wholly original as this since, well, maybe Paul Beattys "The Sellout"? I loved it
Plastic takes place in a world that feels all too familiar to ours, even though it isn't. Erin is our lead, she is in fact, made of plastic, as are all of the characters. Her daily routine is much like that of ours, gets up, goes to work, selling Smartbodies, suits that allow access to be fully immersed in a virtual reality world. She also finds escape in watching reruns of a surreal comedy called "Nuclear Family", which we get to experience alongside her. Read as though we've been given a movie to watch, with set directions and music numbers (more on that later)
A violent event takes place where Erin works that introduces new people into her life and changes her existence and outlook. Yeah, the world in Plastic is not a perfect one, they are subject to violent environmental activist attacks. The storylines blend together so well at the end and left my mouth ajar for a bit and broke my heart.
So here's the thing about this book. Its brilliant. Its very cheeky. This dystopian satire nails the facade of a modern American society and shoves us under a microscope. From the clipped language (I see you all ditching vowels ...we aren't far from this), to the all too true stories of work camps and treatment of humans, LGBTQ relationships. Most of all, the way this book tackles the aftermath of a mass shooting/catastrophic event. We often get the story of the event, but never of what happens after. Guild handles it beautifully in such an inventive way.
I know I've said this before, but make a note on your calendars for Feb 13th for the release of this one. I have not been so excited for a physical book release as I have for this one.
But wait! There's more! There will also be a release of an album of baroque-pop songs telling the story of Plastic through the musical numbers in the book.
Plastic takes place in a world that feels all too familiar to ours, even though it isn't. Erin is our lead, she is in fact, made of plastic, as are all of the characters. Her daily routine is much like that of ours, gets up, goes to work, selling Smartbodies, suits that allow access to be fully immersed in a virtual reality world. She also finds escape in watching reruns of a surreal comedy called "Nuclear Family", which we get to experience alongside her. Read as though we've been given a movie to watch, with set directions and music numbers (more on that later)
A violent event takes place where Erin works that introduces new people into her life and changes her existence and outlook. Yeah, the world in Plastic is not a perfect one, they are subject to violent environmental activist attacks. The storylines blend together so well at the end and left my mouth ajar for a bit and broke my heart.
So here's the thing about this book. Its brilliant. Its very cheeky. This dystopian satire nails the facade of a modern American society and shoves us under a microscope. From the clipped language (I see you all ditching vowels ...we aren't far from this), to the all too true stories of work camps and treatment of humans, LGBTQ relationships. Most of all, the way this book tackles the aftermath of a mass shooting/catastrophic event. We often get the story of the event, but never of what happens after. Guild handles it beautifully in such an inventive way.
I know I've said this before, but make a note on your calendars for Feb 13th for the release of this one. I have not been so excited for a physical book release as I have for this one.
But wait! There's more! There will also be a release of an album of baroque-pop songs telling the story of Plastic through the musical numbers in the book.
January 29, 2024
Omg. This book is unlike anything I've read before. I love how original and mind-bending it is. You really do need to stay focused and alert because there is a whole alternate world on display here that isn't based on what our concept of the future typically looks like and I loved that.
I think this will be for fans of okay player one, the Truman show, and anyone who's willing to immerse themselves in a new, alternate world without any expectations.
Themes of gun violence, stigmatization of disability, life in virtual reality, terrorism, fascination and obsession with other's lives, looming threat of existential reality due to climate change, nuclear war threat and fallout.
One of our characters also wrestles with idealism and radicalism. This manifests in the question of whether one is capable of doing harm for a supposed greater good. Being inculcated into a terrorist group, what starts first as a disaffected motivation,
The tone can flip naturally between funny and scary.
It really succeeds in creating its own believable, contained world. Part of this success is owing to the new language/vernacular that the characters use. It's condensed, lacking in conjugations and verbs, almost as if written texts overpowered and influenced spoken language to such an extent that it changed verbal language too. It also speaks volumes to the contracted ways in which people speak to each other as well, sparingly and yet superficially. And yet when people use our "olden" language it's funny because they do so mockingly and say so little. The vernacular language of this future generation will likely take some getting used to or for me at least it did. Once you begin reading, you'll see what I mean.
It's original, quirky, surreal and so imaginative. I would love to see this created into a movie. There's also show and story within the story, which in addition to proving illuminating was a great comedic relief. Just imagining fake Jesus Morris breaking out into song and dance like Woody from Toy Story was great.
I think this will be for fans of okay player one, the Truman show, and anyone who's willing to immerse themselves in a new, alternate world without any expectations.
Themes of gun violence, stigmatization of disability, life in virtual reality, terrorism, fascination and obsession with other's lives, looming threat of existential reality due to climate change, nuclear war threat and fallout.
One of our characters also wrestles with idealism and radicalism. This manifests in the question of whether one is capable of doing harm for a supposed greater good. Being inculcated into a terrorist group, what starts first as a disaffected motivation,
The tone can flip naturally between funny and scary.
It really succeeds in creating its own believable, contained world. Part of this success is owing to the new language/vernacular that the characters use. It's condensed, lacking in conjugations and verbs, almost as if written texts overpowered and influenced spoken language to such an extent that it changed verbal language too. It also speaks volumes to the contracted ways in which people speak to each other as well, sparingly and yet superficially. And yet when people use our "olden" language it's funny because they do so mockingly and say so little. The vernacular language of this future generation will likely take some getting used to or for me at least it did. Once you begin reading, you'll see what I mean.
It's original, quirky, surreal and so imaginative. I would love to see this created into a movie. There's also show and story within the story, which in addition to proving illuminating was a great comedic relief. Just imagining fake Jesus Morris breaking out into song and dance like Woody from Toy Story was great.
February 4, 2024
Plastic was a dream. A fever dream that is, in the BEST way. As a fan of weird books like Rouge and Bunny, I fell hard for this one and it did not disappoint. The story follows a plastic girl, a literal figurine, in her post nuclear world (with advanced technology) while also dealing with a climate crisis and ruthless eco-terrorists to boot. Nearly everyone in the book has lost someone or is someone who was lost to eco-terrorist attacks. The book uncovers her navigating this life of struggle and grief while she meets Jacob, a blind survivor of one said attack and she falls for him. It’s so much more than that though; Plastic was innovative, creative and set in a bizarre world not far from our own in the way it’s themes were relative and modern. Climate change, gun control, nuclear weapons, radical politics, death, and religion are some themes the story explores. The dialogue was such a big mystery to me and in the end, I was enamored with how well that was explained but also how all the characters and the scenes/episodes were connected; it was unreal. I read it in two days and would probably read anything he wrote from here on out; I don’t see how or when I won’t think about this book. Definitely recommend.
April 8, 2024
I don’t normally do star ratings because art is subjective but this was a load of barnacles. It was trying so hard to be profound and poignant and it all fell as flat as boiled chicken.
- At what point do people go from flesh to plastic and why? It’s never explained. Why are their eyes plastic but given they eat food, exclusively chicken, why are their insides still organic?
- Why do they speak in the Kevin Malone “why speak lot word when few word do trick?” broken English?
- What the fuck is going on with the musical numbers?
All in all this book is the literary equivalent of “Comedian,” that “art piece” that’s a banana duct taped to a white wall. Designed to get you to eyeroll but not evocative enough to get you to question why you rolled your eyes.
Congrats to the author for writing an entire rage-bait novel. That’s a fun 21st century thing.
I’d feel guilty selling or donating this…piece.
- At what point do people go from flesh to plastic and why? It’s never explained. Why are their eyes plastic but given they eat food, exclusively chicken, why are their insides still organic?
- Why do they speak in the Kevin Malone “why speak lot word when few word do trick?” broken English?
- What the fuck is going on with the musical numbers?
All in all this book is the literary equivalent of “Comedian,” that “art piece” that’s a banana duct taped to a white wall. Designed to get you to eyeroll but not evocative enough to get you to question why you rolled your eyes.
Congrats to the author for writing an entire rage-bait novel. That’s a fun 21st century thing.
I’d feel guilty selling or donating this…piece.
April 24, 2025
This was extremely original, extremely weird, and I am extremely lost as to the ending.
Also, can't stop thinking about Brad Pitt disease.
Also, can't stop thinking about Brad Pitt disease.
January 21, 2025
life in plastic, it’s not so good actually :(
February 21, 2025
PLASTIC
SCOTT GUILD
@pantheonbooks , now in paperback with @ireadvintage
This one really captures just how bleep stupid and lame the world’s trajectory is headed. I mean. Forget the microplastics. We are going MACRO. We are the plastic? If you’ve made it to the end of this paragraph and it makes any sense, don’t worry, the rest of this review won’t. I’m not here to pretend I totally got this book. I won’t lie. Or maybe I will.
The best part of this book is how it MIGHT just be a big ole satire slash parody sort of thing about… itself? It’s either exactly what it is—plastic people eating *a lot* of chicken and dealing with their little problems (weird squeaky sexual tensions), and really big ones too (oh, nuclear holocaust etc) or it’s so meta I can’t even really do anything with it as it pokes fun at dystopian lit as a whole which often takes itself way too seriously.
I generally understand the plot here. It’s not hard to find. (???) However, some elements of what he’s doing with television and screenplay, chopped-up-super-online diction (except for a few lovely soliloquies), and a very bizarre ending (you’ll have to ask a better reader than me to explain to you) are intricate and creative and perhaps beyond my interpretation, in order to convey some meaning to you here. This is a goodreads review. Not a literary analysis.
No, I’m here to just say that if you’re into bizarre dystopias, some satire that laughs at itself but also provides a framework for interesting thoughts about climate catastrophe and capitalism and all that, and everyone talking like Kevin’s Small Talk, this is for you.
I did wonder in the last half if fewer word would have done trick here, but overall, I appreciated this smart book and am glad for the time I spent with it.
They really eat a LOT of chicken, y’all.
SCOTT GUILD
@pantheonbooks , now in paperback with @ireadvintage
This one really captures just how bleep stupid and lame the world’s trajectory is headed. I mean. Forget the microplastics. We are going MACRO. We are the plastic? If you’ve made it to the end of this paragraph and it makes any sense, don’t worry, the rest of this review won’t. I’m not here to pretend I totally got this book. I won’t lie. Or maybe I will.
The best part of this book is how it MIGHT just be a big ole satire slash parody sort of thing about… itself? It’s either exactly what it is—plastic people eating *a lot* of chicken and dealing with their little problems (weird squeaky sexual tensions), and really big ones too (oh, nuclear holocaust etc) or it’s so meta I can’t even really do anything with it as it pokes fun at dystopian lit as a whole which often takes itself way too seriously.
I generally understand the plot here. It’s not hard to find. (???) However, some elements of what he’s doing with television and screenplay, chopped-up-super-online diction (except for a few lovely soliloquies), and a very bizarre ending (you’ll have to ask a better reader than me to explain to you) are intricate and creative and perhaps beyond my interpretation, in order to convey some meaning to you here. This is a goodreads review. Not a literary analysis.
No, I’m here to just say that if you’re into bizarre dystopias, some satire that laughs at itself but also provides a framework for interesting thoughts about climate catastrophe and capitalism and all that, and everyone talking like Kevin’s Small Talk, this is for you.
I did wonder in the last half if fewer word would have done trick here, but overall, I appreciated this smart book and am glad for the time I spent with it.
They really eat a LOT of chicken, y’all.
December 1, 2025
the weirdest book i’ve read in a long time, and it manages to be freakishly tender.
ahh i had more thoughts throughout but forgot em. clever and earnest and funny and heartbreaking, feels otherworldly while reminding readers of the guise just often enough.
i can easily see how someone might absolutely hate it, but it worked for me (however, i didn’t love the very end, which might be what’s preventing it from being a a contender for 5 stars). lookin forward to seeing what this author’s got up their sleeve next.
ahh i had more thoughts throughout but forgot em. clever and earnest and funny and heartbreaking, feels otherworldly while reminding readers of the guise just often enough.
i can easily see how someone might absolutely hate it, but it worked for me (however, i didn’t love the very end, which might be what’s preventing it from being a a contender for 5 stars). lookin forward to seeing what this author’s got up their sleeve next.
May 17, 2024
I received a copy from a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book is definitely different and not to my liking. I did finish it, but barely. I have so much to say (but will try and limit it) about what I didn't like. I see where the author is going with this, the point he is making even though it was annoying to read through.
It's a dystopian of a future technologically advanced and "people" are plastic. The dialogue between characters drove me nuts. Their sentences were not complete or grammatically correct which reminded me of how some people text using shortened words such as def for definitely, prob for probably etc. and sentences like "I no understand" or "We talk it later, okay." People are talking like they text,"Wow wow."
It is also a future where the globe is deteriorating due to all the years of damage from global warming causing climate change. There are eco-terrorist groups who use nuclear weapons, bombs, and gun power to take down your everyday citizens to make their presence known and serve their point. It's a future filled with plenty of violence and fear-all for the environment.
Virtual reality also plays a big part in this story. It's a part of every day life for most characters. Unfortunately, some have a difficult time differentiating between what is real and is not.
And the ending, I have no words.
Again, I get what the author is saying in this novel. I get it, but I did not enjoy reading it.
This book is definitely different and not to my liking. I did finish it, but barely. I have so much to say (but will try and limit it) about what I didn't like. I see where the author is going with this, the point he is making even though it was annoying to read through.
It's a dystopian of a future technologically advanced and "people" are plastic. The dialogue between characters drove me nuts. Their sentences were not complete or grammatically correct which reminded me of how some people text using shortened words such as def for definitely, prob for probably etc. and sentences like "I no understand" or "We talk it later, okay." People are talking like they text,"Wow wow."
It is also a future where the globe is deteriorating due to all the years of damage from global warming causing climate change. There are eco-terrorist groups who use nuclear weapons, bombs, and gun power to take down your everyday citizens to make their presence known and serve their point. It's a future filled with plenty of violence and fear-all for the environment.
Virtual reality also plays a big part in this story. It's a part of every day life for most characters. Unfortunately, some have a difficult time differentiating between what is real and is not.
And the ending, I have no words.
Again, I get what the author is saying in this novel. I get it, but I did not enjoy reading it.
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