We Like You so Much and Want to Know You Better

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Dion Graham

A million people, a billion, wanted to be where Mae was at this moment, entering this atrium, 30 feet high and shot through with California light, on her first day working for the only company that really mattered at all.

A story from The New York Times Magazine, adapted from The Circle, a new novel by Dave Eggers.

Listen to the rest of The Circle and listen to more from The New York Times.

©2013 The New York Times Company (P)2013 The New York Times Company

Great story, great performance

I loved the idea behind this book, I definitely want to read the full thing. The performance is amazing, the reader is really into it.

I was taken aback

What did you love best about We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better?

The summary of the story was accurate, but did not give justice to this short story; filled with mental and voyeuristic action. Loved it!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mae. I identified with how she was comfortable keeping her thoughts and actions to herself, but was challenged later on in the story.

What about Dion Graham’s performance did you like?

I was taken aback by how fast he was talking, at first.. But, as I kept listening, his delivery made perfect sense. I wasn't ready, but he kept my attention with every word he spoke.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely!

Any additional comments?

More, please!

An Interesting Intro to The Circle.

This is an introduction to the book The Circle which will be released as a movie this month.

Mae, with the help of a friend, got invited to interview for a job at the prestigious company known as The Circle. She is thrilled to get the position and is promptly pulled into training. She is provided with the latest technology phone and tablet and a helpful coworker immediately sets them up so that everything is interactive with the company. As a new employee she is soon provided with clothes, shown all the onsite store and facilities that are available, and introduced to her onsite lodgings, so she doesn’t have to go home for anything.

Although she picks the work up quickly, at the end of the week she is approached by some of her ‘support group’ who express concerns about her lack of socializing with her “team”. She changes her online socializing to spend hours online to increase her socializing ratings.

I didn’t realize as I listened to this that it is just the introduction to the full novel. The author quickly sets the stage for a creepy situation where Mae’s life is immersed in, and manipulated by, The Circle. This clearly raises issues of giving up control and privacy. I found the premise interesting and am curious to know where the story goes and what creates the suspense/thriller elements. On the other hand, I was not so pulled in that I wanted to push through over 500 pages. There was some unnecessary bad language liberally used by Mae’s friend. I liked getting a glimpse of the setting and Mae’s character. I will be waiting for the movie.

Audio Notes: Dion Graham's narration fits well with the high tech sort of energy of the story. He reads at a quick, sharp pace that captures the 20 something excitement of the protagonist. He manages to capture the variety of male and female voices with youthful enthusiasm. The narration is definitely a good fit for the book.

Modern Modernity

What did you love best about We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better?

Eggers offers a haunting look at technology and it's affect on us with "We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better". I listened with little to no knowledge of what the actual story was. What I got from it at first, seemed like a coming of age story, later it morphed into a sort of modern societal drama.

If you’ve listened to books by Dave Eggers before, how does this one compare?

I've read/am reading Eggers and this story was refreshingly different. It's a short story, and as such requires a different sort of storytelling to have an impact. If you go into this expecting the "stream of consciousness" narrative normally provided. You might be disappointed.

What does Dion Graham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed Dion's performance because he didn't intentionally change the tone of the surroundings as the story became more subversive. There was a very... almost awkward normality to his method that added to the creep factor. The strangest moments were made even more odd, not because the conversation intensified, but rather because it remained so matter of fact.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Show us what you know.

Interesting listen!

It was interesting to listen to this book and get an insight to how modern technology companies work, and what they may place a value on.

Great Narrator...

This is short and so its worth a listen but I could never work here ever. I am currently reading the Circle though just to see what happens.

Just like real life

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This must be what working at Zappos is like

Would you listen to We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better again? Why?

I finally got around to listening to this and am so glad I did. Have to get the book now. I imagine it is what working and Zappos is like. Before anyone goes into a fury of upset over that, given some many seem to have had a big gulp of whatever koolaid that company is drinking, think about it - the naming of rooms to be "fun" the social network stuff, the relentless we are a family and a community stuff... whenever I hear about the Zappos cult and how it gets praised to the sky as such a great place to work and such a brilliant company, I imagine a scenario very similar to this story... And I am scared - wouldn't take a job there for anything, well - I would if I were very desperate. The way they have all this foreced socialization and bonding and "making work fun" nonsense like cubicle parades and relentless extracurricular after work activity. Whenever i hear about it I feel like some ugly brainwash is going on and it is the opposite of what people should be thinking about in terms of an employer... the true definition of creepy, though I know the drones there are "very happy"... I am sure that company, or at least companies like that, were some inspiration for this. Scary stuff and all too close to our reality.

Brave New World meets Dilbert.

I think I got this for free, which is great, because it's good enough to listen to, but not good enough to pay for - in my estimation.

This is basically "Brave New World" + "Dilbert", applied in the modern super hi-tech company corporate world, where every action of an employee is monitored, graded, ranked and subject to review.

It's a decent idea and the writing is decent, but the flavor and execution is a bit lacking. I suppose my main problem with the work is that the superficially polite grilling that the main character constantly endures is also wearing on the user -- perhaps it is because (like so many others) I have to listen to such nonsense as part of my job, that I don't want it in my fiction?

I wouldn't recommend this, but that's not because it is bad in and of itself, just because I think there are so many other works that are more worth a recommendation.

Creepy "let's all be a big family" company

reveals more of its true nature to a new, unsuspecting employee. Seems like an Apple / Google / whatever other feelgood "we're all in this together" kind of corporation is so popular today. I really had to fight the urge to turn off the audio book and erase it from my phone, because it's all been done before. Plus, I can't stand that sort of situation in real life; it was very difficult to force myself to continue to listen to it in a story that I had hoped to enjoy.