All Tweets Tell a Story

I'm not sure what I just read. Jennifer Egan's Twitter story called Black Box seems, at least in my opinion, a spy thriller that took place in an alternative 1950s America. Not sure why, but from how the status of women was described, i.e. they were doing it all for their husbands and country, it sounds like something from the fifties or WWII. And the several beauties with their "Designated Mate" (I really hate that) sounds like a harem. From what I understand, it seems like they got a bunch of brave, patriotic housewives and trained them to be minimal undercover agents posing as mistresses. I guess the reason for this squad is to infiltrate a network of cruel and powerful men who are doing things that the US does not like by having them be playthings for the cruel and powerful men.

I have mixed feelings about this. It's hard to tell what the world is actually like since Egan didn't give much details. She couldn't because the story would have gone on and on for months. Formatting the story as tweets was rather genius; except that there's a lot of white space that isn't filled in. We can't know for sure what the world this woman is in. I wrote above that I believe its an alternative USA in the 1950s, but who knows? It could be a future US where the country is no longer a superpower. Tweeting the story leaves room for many different interpretations and a lot of head-scratching as to what the in and outs of the world are.

What I really enjoyed about the tweets was that they were short. Sometimes, it's nice to read something naked of detail instead of having to process all the information of description. Granted, the space between each sentence and amidst sentences when a new tweet has to be made was a tad annoying. On the other hand, the simplicity of the format made it quick to read and with the lack of detail, I didn't feel bogged down. The tweets also gave the ability to easily share and comment on specific parts of the story. Thanks to the digital age, fans can connect with authors in ways never before seen. Still, it's hard to comment and discuss with others the exact quote of a story unless you all have the same exact copies.

I liked the story; it was thought-provoking. The tweeting format was refreshing, albeit a little strange.