{"product_id":"second-life-having-a-child-in-the-digital-age-amanda-hess-hardcover","title":"Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age -- Amanda Hess, Hardcover","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Second Life\u003c\/i\u003e is a tender, perceptive account of pregnancy and early motherhood--and a stylish confrontation with the demented landscape of digital parenting content.\" --Anna Wiener, author of \u003ci\u003eUncanny Valley\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe long-awaited debut memoir from the beloved \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e critic, chronicling the convergence of parenthood and technology. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs an internet culture critic for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, Amanda Hess had built a reputation among readers as a sharp observer of the seductions and manipulations of online life. But when Hess discovered she was pregnant with her first child, she found herself unexpectedly rattled by a digital identity crisis of her own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the summer of 2020, a routine ultrasound detected a mysterious abnormality in Hess's baby. Without hesitation, she reached for her phone, looking for answers. But rather than allaying her anxieties, her search sucked her into the destabilizing morass of the internet, and she was vulnerable--more than ever--to conspiracy, myth, judgment, commerce, and obsession. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Hess documents her escalating relationship with the digital world, she identifies how technologies act as portals to troubling ideologies, ethical conflicts and existential questions, and she illuminates how the American traditions of eugenics, surveillance, and hyper-individualism are recycled through these shiny products for a new generation of parents and their children. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once funny, heartbreaking, and surreal, \u003ci\u003eSecond Life \u003c\/i\u003eis a journey that spans a network of fertility apps, prenatal genetic tests, gender reveal videos, rare disease Facebook groups, \"freebirth\" influencers, and hospital reality shows. Hess confronts technology's distortions as they follow her through pregnancy and into her son's early life. The result is a critical record of our digital age that reveals the unspoken ways our lives are being fractured and reconstituted by technology.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Amanda Hess\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Doubleday Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.96lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.75d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780385549738\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAMANDA HESS is a critic at large for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e. She writes about Internet and pop culture for the Arts section and contributes regularly to \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Magazine. Hess has worked as an Internet columnist for \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, an editor at \u003ci\u003eGood\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, and an arts and nightlife columnist at the \u003ci\u003eWashington City Paper\u003c\/i\u003e. She has also written for such publications as \u003ci\u003eESPN The Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePacific Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, where her feature on the online harassment of women won a National Magazine Award for Public Interest.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Amanda Hess","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302062903524,"sku":"9780385549738","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0611\/9587\/8628\/files\/9780385549738.jpg?v=1746598496","url":"https:\/\/bookandmortar.com\/products\/second-life-having-a-child-in-the-digital-age-amanda-hess-hardcover","provider":"BookandMortar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}