{"product_id":"speak-9780062391209","title":"Speak","description":"\u003cp\u003eA thoughtful, poignant novel that explores the creation of Artificial Intelligence--illuminating the very human need for communication, connection, and understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the seventeenth century, to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, \u003cem\u003eSpeak\u003c\/em\u003e considers what it means to be human, and what it means to be less than fully alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA young Puritan woman travels to the New World with her unwanted new husband. Alan Turing, the renowned mathematician and code breaker, writes letters to his best friend's mother. A Jewish refugee and professor of computer science struggles to reconnect with his increasingly detached wife. An isolated and traumatized young girl exchanges messages with an intelligent software program. A former Silicon Valley Wunderkind is imprisoned for creating illegal lifelike dolls.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach of these characters is attempting to communicate across gaps--to estranged spouses, lost friends, future readers, or a computer program that may or may not understand them. In dazzling and electrifying prose, Louisa Hall explores how the chasm between computer and human--shrinking rapidly with today's technological advances--echoes the gaps that exist between ordinary people. Though each speaks from a distinct place and moment in time, all five characters share the need to express themselves while simultaneously wondering if they will ever be heard, or understood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ecco Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/03\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780062391209\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.70w x 0.90d","brand":"Louisa Hall","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43124363133109,"sku":"9780062391209","price":14.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_3bb78cbf-f075-41fe-8cc1-79716eeebb38.jpg?v=1694550544","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/speak-9780062391209","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}