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The Resisters

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Gish Jen's The Resisters (2020) features a former U.S. decimated by climate disaster and inequality. The novel's United States of AutoAmerica is ruled by a “Netted” professional managerial class who preside over a “Surplus,” unemployed majority who largely can only survive. The system becomes disrupted when Gwen, “the girl with the golden arm,” becomes the star pitcher in a clandestine baseball league.

Playing baseball on her own terms comprises only one of the acts of resistance, large and small, that the novel showcases. Others include refusing to consume mindlessly, as the Surplus are required to do, refusing the opportunity of a chosen few to "cross over" into Netted status, and working against the government equated with its AI, colloquially known as "Aunt Nettie." As, against all odds, Gwen becomes chosen to lead AutoAmerica in the Olympics against ChinRussia, her story comments on privacy vs. security, privilege, racism, sexual assault on college campuses, the power of sport, and ultimately, what makes life work living. 

Excerpts, The Resisters

The Resisters Reasoning from Part I "A Girl With a Golden Arm"--see also link to encoded text from The Resisters Reasoning index page
The Catalyst of The Resisters from Part IV "A Perfect Game"

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