The Crumbling of a Nation and Other Stories
$0.99
Ryan David Ginsberg bursts onto the literary scene with this hauntingly beautiful collection of stories that cannot be listened to just once and then forgotten. They are stories to be listened to again and again, stories that will stay with the listener long after the book has been put down.
Within these stories, you will meet a woman who must auction her unborn baby’s rights away; a twelve-year-old boy who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a war; an extraterrestrial being sent to Earth to determine whether or not humans are worthy of an invitation to the Confederation of the Cosmos; a mother who sends her child to school in a bulletproof vest; an old man who has only two months to live; a genius who strives to eradicate sadness from the world; a young girl impregnated by force in a state where abortion is outlawed; a grandmother teaching her granddaughter about the origins of the universe; a teacher who fights against the censors of her local school; a PhD candidate whose worst nightmare is recorded by dozens and posted online for millions; an artist seeking fame in a world where all are famous; and a sneak peek at the author’s (hopeful) debut novel, In The Algorithm We Trust.
Evan –
Not a very good book
[...]I will start by saying I WANTED to like this book. The idea of using several short stories to tell a cohesive narrative about the fall of a superpower through multiple perspectives is an interesting one. But the execution falls extremely flat. The first story is a sci-fi conglomerate of every trope imaginable. Think a very very very poorly written Star Trek episode.The other stories were just as clunky, not edited, and generally not executed well. It’s like the author was trying to paint the Mona Lisa with a toothbrush.
Katelyn –
pretty okay
[...]This book was okay, not what I expected. It was basically a repeat of his first book. With some new stories it was good but not worth the amount of time I waited for it. I really like this author so I was disappointed with this edition. Give it a read if you have not checked out his work
Jennifer Loseke –
Very thought provoking
[...]Got this book today and literally read it in less than 5 hours. It has several stories in it that are a little heavy but also very thought-provoking. I would 100% recommend this book.
Love2Read –
Scary Look Into a Possible Future
[...]The stories show how easy it would be for our country to fall into an uncaring and horrifying future. A future where people are controlled and only allowed to become what a controlling government wants them to be.Excellent short stories that should make people think twice about allowing their lives to be consumed by algorithms and government control.People become self absorbed and only concerned with their own lives. Everyone is expected to fit into a perfect mold without any differences. Women are treated like incubators and I found it hard to put down. Even though the stories are fiction, the ideas are already out there and sadly some of them growing in popularity.I highly recommend this book and hope it wakes up people to versions of a future to avoid.
Jessica Cermak –
Good idea, bad execution
[...]Hey- anyone with a good idea would love to be a writer. And you can- but it doesn’t make it a good idea.Bought this after seeing a synopsis by the writer on Tik Tok. The ideas sounded like good stories. The ideas were good (some) but the writing is repetitive, lacks depth, fails to capture any character development and just isn’t good.BUT- thanks to Amazon. I got my money back… when I went to return it they didn’t even want the book back. I normally would’ve just kept it… but it made me upset- that’s how bad it was.
Evangelina –
A Must Read
[...]Every story was captivating. I went through waves of emotion while reading. I have recommended this book to many people before even finishing.
J. Rippel –
I really wanted this to be good.
[...]I ordered this book after seeing a TikTok by the author. The subject matter seemed so interesting and I was excited to read it. But after reading the first dozen or so pages, I had to put it down. Such a tough read. It’s clearly not proofread or edited. Sentences containing “and” 4 or more times and grammatical errors like “more slower” and not much flow, in general. It reads like a student trying to stretch their essay into 500 words. I’m disappointed to not finish reading this.
Jayden –
A book that will be studied by students for decades
[...]This is one of those rare books you can feel becoming a classic as you read it. It is terrifying and infuriating and heartbreaking. The writing is spectacular. Most of the stories are dark and dystopian, but there are quite a few that are beautiful and filled with humanity. Nearly every story had me in tears at one point or another, and that is not something easy to do with mere writing. His writing style reminded me of some of my favorite authors: Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, to name a couple. Especially in the way that his stories were not just dark, but they were human. He didn’t just show a broken system, he showed how this broken system broke people.I couldn’t recommend this book enough.