Makers

IMO, it wasn't up to Doctorow's usual standards. The story didn't hold me, and his portrayal of overweight folks really rubbed me the wrong way. (Oh yes, they're all waiting for a cure that lets them eat 10,000 calories per day - and when they finally get thin they do nothing but worry about their wardrobe when they're not sleeping with each other).

Particularly disappointing because I know he can do far better. Gave up about half way through...

The first part of this book made me angry. The main POV character, a journalist who becomes a successful blogger by writing about nerds making stuff, smelled strongly of author insertion and it pushed some personal buttons of mine with regards to how it presented people with weight issues. I think the issues raised by Lester and the fatkins diet could be interesting if developed into their own story, but as a subplot to a larger work it felt sloppy and disrespectful.

Later sections of the book were better than the beginning, but never quite rose to good - characters seem flat and two-dimensional, and are motivated primarily by a desire to move the plot forward. I can appreciate that Doctorow was trying to write a sci-fi novel that focused on the science of economics, but I can't say I enjoyed it.