The Measure

This novel takes an absurd premise (everyone magically receives a string whose length reflects how long they will live) and spins it into a profound thought experiment. I loved it for its complete indifference to the scientific credibility that I tried to build into my novel, which is in part about knowing (if you want) exactly how long you have to live.

I found it liberating to learn that, as a writer, I could have it both ways: be extremely thoughtful and nuanced about the consequences of your premise while being completely arbitrary and absurdist about the premise itself. I… show more.

This is a story about a world where everyone wakes up with a simple wooden box outside their doors containing a string, the length of which indicates the length of that person’s life.

The Measure follows several characters as the world grapples with what this means. What happens when you have a short string? Or a long string? Do you even open the box to look? It’s a book you want everyone around you to read so you can discuss it. 

During the pandemic I couldn’t bear to read much. It was hard to focus and I shut down. 

The Measure was the book that pulled me out of it. It held my attention with an iron grip, and it never let go. The premise is frighteningly simple; everyone in the world who is twenty-two will receive a box with a string it in. The length of the string dictates the length of your life. The prose was so sharp and clear that I expected at any moment to receive my own box. 

The Measure got me excited about fiction again,… show more.