From one of the most celebrated writers of our time, a literary figure with cult status, a "sibling novel" to her Pulitzer Prize– and NBCC Award–winning A Visit from the Goon Squad—an electrifying, deeply moving novel about the quest for authenticity and meaning in a world where memories and identities are no longer private.

The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is "one of those tech demi-gods with whom we're all on a first name basis." Bix is 40, with four kids, restless, desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or "externalizing" memory. It's 2010. Within a decade, Bix's new technology, "Own Your Unconscious"—that allows you access to every memory you've ever had, and to share every memory in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes. But not everyone.

In spellbinding interlocking narratives, Egan spins out the consequences of Own Your Unconscious through the lives of multiple characters whose paths intersect over several decades. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also extraordinarily moving, a testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for real connection, love, family, privacy and redemption. In the world of Egan's spectacular imagination, there are "counters" who track and exploit desires and there are "eluders," those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House. Egan introduces these characters in an astonishing array of narrative styles—from omniscient to first person plural to a

duet of voices, an epistolary chapter and a chapter of tweets.

这是一部关于在一个记忆和身份不再是隐私的世界里寻求真实性和意义的激动人心、感人至深的小说。来自普利策小说奖获奖作家珍妮弗·伊根（Jennifer Egan）。

故事始于社交网络巨头比克斯·布顿的一天，他的公司曼达拉开得非常成功，以至于大家都直呼他为“科技领域的半神之一”。比克斯40岁，有四个孩子，在迷茫和焦虑的驱使下他渴望有一个新的想法。这时，他偶然进入一个研讨会，里面大多数是哥伦比亚大学的教授，其中一人正在试验下载或“外化”记忆。现在是2010年。在十年内，比克斯研发了新技术软件“拥有你的潜意识”——它允许你访问你曾经有过的每一段记忆，并分享每一段记忆以换取对他人记忆的访问。它吸引了很多人，但不是每个人都喜欢。

在引人入胜、环环相扣的叙述中，伊根通过几十年来轨迹交错的多个人物的生活，阐述了拥有自己的潜意识的后果。本书在智力上令人眼花缭乱，也异常感人，证明了人类对真正的联系、爱情、家庭、隐私和救赎的渴望的顽强和超越。在伊根精彩的想象力世界中，有追踪和利用欲望的“算计者”，也有了解咬一口糖果屋的代价的“逃避者”。伊根用各种不同的叙事风格介绍了这些人物——从全知视角到**人称复数，再到双视角、书信体章节和推特体章节。