66 Plots Updated

This is a work of humour, of just under 20,000 words, with a serious point.  

Having worked in the technology industry since the 1980s, I have got to wondering whether the glossy gadgets and websites which are now so important in our lives do actually make us happier.

The standard way in which happiness is measured seems to be addressed by surveys, which I always treat with suspicion. 

Some surveys show that Facebook makes you happier, and the more you use it the more sex you will have. These tend to be produced by social scientists whose funding comes from the computer industry in some form. Other surveys show that Facebook makes you sadder, more isolated and possibly suicidal. These are usually produced by organisations looking for media coverage, typically to promote a conservative political agenda.

This book attempts to address the happiness issue by looking at stories - the stories of the great tradition of European literature, and to see what would have changed if the technology we now take for granted had been available when they were written.

The first two plots, Tess and Emma are available freely on this website, and the whole book is published electronically for Kindle in two parts.