Hernan Diaz

While we may have the perception that we control our own humanity, our relationship with others, and with ourselves, we are often blind to the guiding hand of the state in which we live. Government, society, and technology all exert influence over the way we relate to the outside world to the extent that imagining humanity in the face of a collapsing empire requires a truly radical imagination.

How might we address the alienation and division that we have been forced to internalize for so long? These are the subjects that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hernan Diaz addresses in his new book, Ply.

Turning toward the future, Ply examines the place of technology in the American imagination. The story takes place centuries from now, at the dawn of a historical epoch filled with both uncertainty and promise. An orphan is adrift in a city on the brink of a great transformation. The state has been dismantled, and humans are reinventing social bonds and learning new ways to coexist with nature.

Following a childhood defined by loss, survival, and found family, the orphan grows up to become a “pincher,” a person who steals electricity from the grid to sell it on the black market. This high-risk lifestyle brings her into a rich art and music scene where she powers underground concerts, leading her to formulate a scientific invention that could change the fabric of reality.