''Rash'' is a 2006 novel written by

Pete Hautman Peter Murray Hautman (born September 29, 1952) is an American author best known for his novels for young adults. One of them, '' Godless'', won the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The National Book Foundation summary is, "A ...

. It is set in the year 2074, in a futuristic America, that has become obsessed with safety and security. Nearly every potentially unsafe action has been criminalized, to the point that 24% of the population is

incarcerated Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered "false imprisonment". Impris ...

. Ironically, this large criminal population also provides the manpower that fuels the large corporations that now dominate the country.

Development history

Hautman's intent in writing ''Rash'' was to consider the consequences of the current trend toward increased safety and security that we see in the United States today. He says that the book could perhaps be called "2084", due to themes similar to those present in

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

''. Almost all the computer systems in the novel are called "WindO", referencing the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. A "WindO" is a standardized tablet PC that has seemingly replaced any other PC, which is implied to have a similar concept and functionality of an

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

Samsung Galaxy Tab The Samsung Galaxy Tab (stylized as SΛMSUNG Galaxy Tab) is a line of Android OS tablet computers produced by Samsung Electronics. The first model was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2010 with 7-inch display, which was presented to the public on 2 Sep ...

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' calls the book "a winner", saying that it is "bitingly funny and unexpectedly heartwarming". In a

starred review A starred review is a book review marked with a star to denote a book of distinction or particularly high quality. A starred review can help to increase media coverage, bookstore placement and sales of a book. Outlets that published starred review ...

, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called this dystopian fantasy of a futuristic nation wracked by litigiousness and terrorism "intelligent and darkly comic".2007. "FICTION REPRINTS." Publishers Weekly 254, no. 49: 58. Literary Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed June 11, 2011).

References

External links

Pete Hautman's Rash website
{{Portal , Children's literature 2006 American novels American young adult novels American science fiction novels Dystopian novels Children's science fiction novels Fiction set in 2074 Novels set in the 2070s