“Passionate people cannot be counted on to act fairly, you understand.” So says the hostess of the gala being thrown one night in the warehouse district of Minneapolis in 2018. This experimental novel was written for NaNoWriMo in 2017 and agented in 2018. It features Narrative Branch Technology(™), not to be confused with Choose Your Adventure, the owners of which are litigious, allegedly. Narrative Branch Technology allows you, the reader, to choose which attendee of the gala wins the FAIR Award and cash stipend at the end of the story. No more suffering at the neglectful hands of media elites!
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Far from being a right-wing cultural critique, this work intends to pose questions about the role of media in our culture. Why does attention from media signal acceptance and inclusion? What, instead of media attention, could be awarded to the marginalized, to really create economic parity and understanding across class lines? The publishing industry is only indicted by suggestion. There may even be a celebration of sameness, across the many celebrated cultural differences we enjoy in America.
