Made for Love

Made for Love follows Hazel, a woman who escapes from her tech-billionaire husband Byron Gogol and his company's high-security compound. She seeks refuge with her aging father, who lives in a senior community trailer park with his newly-acquired sex doll companion. The novel takes place in a near-future setting where Byron's company develops invasive technologies to monitor and control human consciousness and relationships. His latest project involves implementing a brain chip that would merge his and Hazel's minds, allowing them to share thoughts and emotions permanently. The narrative alternates between Hazel's present-day escape and her past experiences in Byron's compound, while also following a subplot involving a con artist who becomes sexually fixated on dolphins. Made for Love explores themes of surveillance, intimacy, and autonomy in the digital age. The book examines how technology affects human relationships and questions the boundaries between connection and control in both romantic partnerships and family bonds.

Readers call Made for Love a dark comedy with absurdist elements that satirizes technology and relationships. The book generates strong reactions - people either love or hate its unconventional style. Readers appreciate: - The offbeat humor and bizarre scenarios - Commentary on tech surveillance and control - The dolphin-focused subplot - Fast pacing and short chapters Common criticisms: - Characters feel underdeveloped and hard to connect with - The tone shifts feel jarring - Some find the humor too crude or try-hard - The ending leaves too many threads unresolved Ratings: Goodreads: 3.5/5 (8,000+ ratings) Amazon: 3.7/5 (300+ ratings) LibraryThing: 3.6/5 (150+ ratings) Reader quote: "Like a Black Mirror episode written by Carl Hiaasen" - Goodreads reviewer Critical quote: "The weird-for-weird's-sake approach wears thin" - Amazon reviewer

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🎬 The book was adapted into a critically acclaimed HBO Max series in 2021, starring Cristin Milioti and Ray Romano 🤖 The tech-billionaire husband's company in the novel is called "Gogol Industries," likely a reference to Russian author Nikolai Gogol, known for his surreal and absurdist works 📚 Author Alissa Nutting also wrote the controversial novel "Tampa" (2013), which caused significant debate due to its provocative subject matter and dark humor 🌴 The Florida setting continues Nutting's pattern of using the state as a backdrop, drawing from her own experiences growing up in Florida and its reputation for bizarre news stories 🎓 Nutting wrote portions of "Made for Love" while serving as a professor at Grinnell College, where she taught creative writing and 21st-century literature