6/11/2023 0 Comments Extras by Scott WesterfeldIn Extras, people earn money, respect, and privilege through the "reputation-based" economy, which rewards those who can make a name for themselves by publicizing and popularizing their thoughts, exploits, etc through the "feeds" (read: Internet). In Uglies & Pretties, everyone is "cured" of ugliness through a mandatory operation that takes place when individuals turn 16. Like most dystopian science fiction, Westerfeld's books cast a critical eye on disturbing aspects of our present-day society - obsession with looks, fame, etc - by taking those aspects to extremes and weaving them into the very fabric of the future society. My years as a student steeped in cultural studies and gender theory make it pretty much impossible for me to read works of popular fiction without subjecting them to critical analysis, and Westerfeld's books certainly lend themselves to this sort of critique. However, Extras raised the same prickly issues for me that the other books in the series did. I read this book in about 2 and 1/2 hours, pretty much non-stop. Like the other books in the Uglies trilogy, Extras is fun and a very fast read.
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