We Like You so Much and Want to Know You Better

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 46 mins

Publisher's summary

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

My kind of horror story

Half way through this chilling story my skin began to crawl. Vampires, zombies and Cthulu have never really done it for me, but this modern tale of true believers in a technologically unlimited world will keep me awake tonight. Eggers engineers a flawlessly incremental slide into smiling, wide-eyed hell, and Dion Graham rings the perfect notes of mindless sincerity to turn your stomach and whiten your knuckles during the ride.

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!

a chilling and interesting book

wao well, it was pretty harmless at the beginning but damn poor may, I mean i understood she worked for a tech company but party points and everything shared? I mean, I understand thats how society is working at rhisbpoint but that you really dont have a choice over that and should do it, was like people really think like that? damn for me it was scary to know that kind of possible train of thought.

Compelling (disturbingly so!) Short Story

Wow!

I listened to this short in two sittings....and found that every single scene, every single detail mattered to the conclusion. The plot evoked disturbing realities (in a very humorous way) of our "connected" world. Made me think!

The plot worked amazingly well. I was impressed with the depth of characterization (especially as this was a short), the pacing, the secondary characters. I think I'll enjoy it every bit as much a second time through....which I may very well get to sometime in the future. It deserved five stars THAT much.

Highly recommended.

I couldn't do it.

I really wanted to like this. The premise of the book is so exciting and I wanted to like this in audio form because I feel, in some cases audio makes the experience so much better. First, I didn't understand why a man was narrating when the protagonist is a woman. Second, I couldn't get over how fast he was reading. I'm sure that it makes sense and it's probably because of the frenetic pace of the industry and the people and so on, but I had to stop listening. I tried 3 times to listen but couldn't get through it. I think I'll be buying the hard copy.

Interesting...

Not what I was expecting. It is an interesting take on technology and social interactions. Of course its just a preview, but I will probably end up getting the full book to see what happens.

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.

Weird

Just to over the to fanatical for me plus I did not like the hyped up narrator at all. Thank goodness it was short.

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.

overconneted, yikes!

I hope no workplace ever goes that deep into an employee's life and expects them to live and breathe connectivity, even socially. The story irritated me because I didn't think the behavior was appropriate.

thought making

a really thought prevoking story. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to any one like me who is a geek freak.

Fantastic storytelling

Great short story with good characters. The tension builds s!owly and the author managed to create an impartial end without being overly dramatic. Reminiscent of Truman Capote's short stories in allowing characters to tell the story over action.

Fascinating

I cannot wait to read Waiting for Autumn as I was captivated the whole way through.

consummerism

Enlightened story about how an innocent young girl is manipulated into the mass market consumption that is frighteningly current.

Yeah, good story 👍

This was good and fun. Thought provoking etc
I felt like It ended very suddenly probably because I was enjoying it so much.
Worth. A listen :-)

1984 type short for the age of social media

An enjoyable short story about where social media is taking us.

The narration was pretty good, and I enjoyed the way the characters were brought across.
I will be looking into listening to "The Circle", which this was adapted from.