The Doubt Factory Hardcover – October 14, 2014

Didn't have the same level of character depth and story line as Windup Girl

Bacigalupi delivers another thought-provoking YA novel, this time in the form of a thriller about public relations. Yep, that's right. And it is in fact a thrilling read. And Bacigalupi, as usual, brings a naturally diverse cast (in terms of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, social class, learning disability, etc.), which is always a delight to see.The focus of this book is PR and the industry of creating "doubt" in the media and public discourse for the financial benefit of large corporations. It raises many questions: Who decides what the public knows about a product or idea? Who determines when and how warnings (like those on pharmaceutical labels) to the public get issued? Who are the decisionmakers and stakeholders in government and private industry? Who can we trust? Is there even anyone we can trust? And if not, are there any mechanisms (the justice system, lobbying, protest, etc.) in society to address this problem? The book encourages the reader to do their own research and to doubt everyone, even trusted figures of authority, while suggesting that there are still people in life we can love and trust.Well-informed readers are probably already aware of the types of pharma industry problems, regulatory issues, and ethical questions in PR and related areas described in this book. But even so, seeing an author address these issues head-on in a straightforward way is refreshing. I imagine this book would have had a huge impact on the way I looked at the world if I were a teen now, and not an "old" person who has watched the "Doubt Factory" churn out manufactured doubt for decades.The story starts in the clean, almost antiseptic world of a white high school student at an elite prep school, the trusted daughter of a PR exec. Her life is full of the brands and status symbols her demographic values, as the book's almost annoying descriptions of everything from her coffee and her car to her classmates' college goals make clear. (I fear the book may become dated rather quickly, based on these mostly current references, but perhaps the point is to capture a snapshot of the present for posterity.) She is, of course, immediately intrigued by a young, dark-skinned man who appears on school grounds and proceeds to beat up the headmaster. Events escalate quickly, as a "prank" that requires SWAT intervention occurs at the school, a stalker appears, a child is kidnapped, private security firms get involved, bodyguards are summoned, and very hard decisions are made--all without forgetting the ordinary troubles of teen life, like friendship, dating, school, and parties. The main girl's actions and motivations are sometimes questionable, but the consequences of her choices are laid out very clearly to show that doing the "wrong" thing might bring good results while doing the "right" thing may lead to disaster. The book is anything but black-and-white.The romantic subplot was somewhat unpleasant for me to read for most of the book, as it shows a victim of stalking and other harassment falling for the stalker. (SOME SPOILERS AHEAD) There is self-awareness of this fact from both parties, as they repeatedly reference Stockholm Syndrome. And the message that maybe you can only trust those people that society tells you not to trust (e.g., stalkers) fits with the themes of the book. But it is still a very uncomfortable (and in my opinion, inappropriate) relationship. That said, the relationship does end up being between two equals--two bright, independent young people, with a talent for manipulating others for what they believe in and taking the same risks to do what is right. The fact that they started as a stalker/victim pair is almost forgotten.Overall, this is a very interesting book, perhaps a little more heavy-handed with its message than Bacigalupi's earlier YA works, but with enough layers to enthrall even a cynical not-young adult reader. Highly recommended.

To be honest, I had pretty high expectations for this book. Paolo Bacigalupi is a great writer. "The Ship Breaker" and its sequel "The Drowned Cities" were pretty great. But as much as I'd liked to have enjoyed this book...I did not. To be brief, a group of teenagers form a band of highly skilled teens (hackers, pickpockets, conartists, etc) named 2.0 who try to publicize what "The Doubt Factory" (a nickname for PR firms) has been doing. The only reason why I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of 2 is because the scenes of "action" were really gripping and had really interesting twists. The book slows however at the lovey-dovey scenes between the main character Alix and Moses and during Alix's "Oh my gosh! You're lying to me! My dad is totally a great person!" scenes.The lovey-dovey scenes are rather awkward and I don't really find myself cheering for the two... Alix is portrayed your stereotypical "hormonal" teenage girl, getting all worked up on the thought of her own good-looking stalker. "When she thought about it, it was kind of romantic, in a hot stalker kind of way. You're one f*****-up b****, Alix thought." Really. I mean she should at least step back a little. It took a lot of time to have Alix realize the truth about her dad and it was rather painful to get through. She was confused but she did not try to search up 2.0's accusations till about the last half of the book. Before that it was always, no you don't know my dad! what are you talking about!! When she hadn't done any homework herself. It's rather irking to keep having to read her justifications on her father over and over again. Her character is rather ignorant and most of the time irritating. However, I will admit she wasn't a total bust... I mean she's still "readable" and semi "likable" character.The whole Public Relations topic on this book is a pretty interesting. It was truly an eyeopener to see how even everyday brands like Tylenol fought to keep their drugs without labels just to keep an influx in sales. Overall, I feel like this book would've just been SO much better if they left out the whole romantic business and Alix was more of a stronger character.Side note: Doesn't this book remind anyone of the TV show Leverage (TNT)?

Not his best work. I'm ok with the political nature of the book but kind of cashes in on the supergirl Mary Sue primary character trend. Our heroes are of course a perfect girl who is beautiful and smart and no character flaws, a beautiful young black man, a smart Chinese girl, a gay white boy, a very young but mechanically super genius Latino boy, a goth punk alt pixie genius hacker chick and a young white boy with ADD. All white male straight functional men are of course agents of pure evil. I guess in summing this up the story is nauseatingly full of tropes and young adult fan service garbage.I've respected the authors previous work but this pandering mover though it raises valid points and maybe will be educational for younger people about the rigged nature of corporate accountability could have done so in a deeper way without trying to punch the reader in the face so obviously with it and to milk the gender/ethnic diversity checklist in such an obvious way and further the All Straight White Men Are Evil trope.This author is off my instabuy list now not because of the pandering but just because it wasn't that great a story. Just boring and obvious with a couple nice twists but made it clear where it was headed from the first page.I'm sure that social justice warriors will feel suitably ego massaged by a book like this which is just too obvious an attempt to cash in.

I gave up on this halfway. The basic premise about the search for truth is childish and naive. He essentially attacks the justice system for failing to right wrongs fast enough, and proposes a vigilante solution. Personally, I'm pretty pleased we have evolved from lynch mob, Old Testament justice. A real shame, because I've read and thoroughly enjoyed all of Bacigalupi's other work. I won't give up on him, but this one stinks.

Enjoyable YA tale. Believable characters and satisfying plot. Recommended

Inhalt des Buches ist, dass man Zweifel sät über Pharma-Produkte, die neu zugelassen wurden. Anwälte werden dazu benutzt, mit viel Geld bezahlt, damit sie "im Zweifel für den Angeklagten" einen Schuldspruch - hier die Ablehnung einer Zulassung für neue Medikamente - verzögern. Für die Pharmafirmen (und die Anwälte) bedeutet das einen, mitunter jahrelang weiter möglichen Verkauf und viel Profit. Für viele Patienten bedeutet die Einnahme des Produkts gesundheitliche Schäden bis hin zum Tod. Das wird einfach in Kauf genommen. Mit Sicherheit sind das nicht nur fiktive Praktiken der Pharmaindustrie und das meine ich mit der Überschrift ist unheimlich.Aber auch Anwälte haben eine Familie und sie lieben ihre Kinder. Bacigalupi verbindet stalking, das Schmieden von Komplotten und Aktionen von Jugendlichen mit eigenem Verlusthintergrund in einer Geschichte voller Wendungen und Überraschungen. Nicht immer gibt es ein Happy End. Das Buch ist brilliant und spannend geschrieben, von Bacigalupi erwartet man es ja auch nicht anders. Sehr gut hat mir hier gefallen, dass es nicht ganz so futuristisch ist wie seine anderen Bücher, deshalb aber eben Angst einflößend.

An other excellent book from galuppi. A storm inside the life of colorful and sympatic people.its nice to see how their vision of reality change and mature.

Well constructed plot, intimately detailed with a big picture theme relevant to all. well done.