I'd like to write this in commercialized form...

...but I don't think I'm that brainwashed yet.

This piece was an interesting mix of science fiction and social commentary, yes. In a nutshell, as I understood it, the characters live in a futuristic America composed of the Haves, those totally owned and subservient to the consumer culture, and the Have Nots, the average Joes that aren't brainwashed by the commercialization of society and don't enjoy the same comforts as their counterparts.

Saunders' choice of voice for the narrator grew on me. Initially, I had no idea whether the narrator was a child, teen, or adult, whether he was fully competent or somewhat retarded, and why he kept referring to LI's. I still don't know how old he is suppose to be, and I don't know what would constitute "mental retardation" in this society, as everyone seems to be, in their own way, mentally deficient. But after awhile it didn't bother me; I just took Jon/Randy for the entity that he is, a confused man in a transitional period in his life.

I thought this society was an interesting setting for a coming-of-age tale. And while I certainly think that Saunders was condemning how commercialized our own society is (children sold into luxurious slavery by incapable parents and raised on consumer comforts, I agree, that's fucked), I feel like the crux of his story was Jon's choice. We recognize and empathize with his feelings of fear and anxiety, happiness and comfort, and we pull for him to do the "right" thing, make the scary choice, and get the fuck out of there.

If nothing else, this was unique. I like that Saunders took such a random-yet-well-planned course to write about simple (but obviously complex) human emotion and feeling. It's something I think I'll try soon in my own work.