Zoey Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia by Jason Pargin

Tabula Ra$a is hosting its massive annual music festival in the desert, which
every year precedes the massive annual drunken riot in the desert. This is all
organized by Zoey's people, including the riot - as Will explains, the citizens
need a little chaos now and then, their job is just to keep a lid on it.
That will be a problem this year, with history's most ridiculous mayoral election
playing out in the background. The city has divided into roughly two camps,
supporting each of the major candidates: One is a stern, calculating activist
out to restore traditional morality to the city at all costs, the other is Megaboss
Alonzo, whose platform is that he will pay you ten dollars if you vote for him.
When a horrific crime is broadcast live on the all-seeing social network Blink,
the former seems poised to reap the benefits in the polls. The Suits suspect
the nature and timing of the crime are a little too convenient and may be a
carefully-staged hoax. But in a city in which lies are always served in layers,
even that explanation will prove to be far too simple.
As tensions ratchet tighter, Zoey comes to realize that this is really a battle of
narratives: Every culture needs a collective story to believe in, so it's just a
matter of coming up with one and then carefully sculpting reality to make it fit.
How hard can that be? They have the whole weekend.

JASON PARGIN is the New York Times bestselling author of the John Dies at
the End series as well as the award-winning Zoey Ashe novels. He previously
published under the pseudonym David Wong. His essays at Cracked.com and
other outlets have been enjoyed by tens of millions of readers around the
world.

St. Martin's Press
On Sale: Oct 31/23
6.12 x 9.25 • 384 pages
Includes 4-color endpapers
9781250285935 • $40.00 • CL - With dust jacket
Fiction / Humorous
Series: Zoey Ashe