The Counting

by Evan Shapiro

In a faceless near-future collective, citizens are forced to undertake an annual audit of all they possess. Economy is rewarded and hoarding penalised. Constantly surveilled and assessed, people are valued by their level of impact on a world of shrinking resources. For one nameless man, The Counting unearths an unexpected disconnect from what he truly values and a past kept buried beneath the surface.
"More than a cautionary tale. The Counting is a chilling foretaste of things that are already happening." Tom Jagtenberg - Author 'Beyond the Limits'

62 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2020

About the author

The second of four children born to would-be bohemian parents, Evan grew up on a diet of independent cinema, junk TV and chocolate biscuits. As a toddler he drank Dettol and shampoo and stuck forks into power-points. He was often reminded by his family that he was lucky to have survived past the age of five. While his parents blamed him for being dangerously active and carelessly inquisitive, he lays the responsibility squarely at their feet for repeatedly leaving Dettol, shampoo and forks within his grasp.

He likes to define the resulting confusion from his upbringing as his perspective which he now relentlessly channels into works of fiction.

Reviews

[Alinka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim book with a simple, well-structured story and a satisfying ending. Its simplicity belied its profound impact as a comment on a futuristic world where we need to count what we carry and carry what we count. A comment on our current world where we cannot differentiate between needs and wants and are sucked into a whirlpool of materialism. After reading it I had the urge to space cleanse my home of extraneous 'stuff, and I did. I don't regard this a coincidence. Sometimes the profound comes in a small package. Why not five stars? Too short for me as a stand-alone, but would have been great as part of a collection.