"This eye-opening debut is a compelling investigation into the implications of the cutting-edge technologies that aim to deliver the perfect partner, the perfect gestation, the perfect meat and the perfect death. The sceptical Kleeman makes a witty and tenacious guide."--Caroline Sanderson "The Bookseller, Editor's Choice"
Thoroughly entertaining and written with humor and sly intuition, Sex Robots and Vegan Meat is an account of the future that will have you questioning whether technology is helping or hindering human progress.--Sarojini Seupersad "BookPage"
"In Sex Robots and Vegan Meat, Jenny Kleeman looks toward the future from a very different vantage point. Kleeman is interested in technologies of sex, reproduction, gender and death; she also takes on food, investigating the cluster of start-ups that are engineering artificial meat. She approaches the future as a reporter firmly grounded in the present; her method is to journey to the frontier and take a long look around. Kleeman's capacious curiosity opens up a kaleidoscopic view. She recognizes that technology has the power to shape human life, of course, but she is also interested in interrogating that power, and understanding who exactly gets to wield it."--Amanda Hess "The New York Times Book Review"
Journalist and documentary filmmaker Kleeman debuts with a funny yet disturbing report on the science, technology, and marketing strategies reshaping some of the most basic human urges and drives...Kleeman researches the "biobag," an artificial womb used to gestate lamb fetuses--which may eventually make giving birth, even for humans, "as simple as opening a Ziploc bag." Readers will be fascinated by this preview of the possible future of sex, birth, and food.-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Intriguing updates from the protean worlds of food, companionship, death, and beyond. Behind Kleeman's profiles and research lies the belief that life can be vastly enriched with the aid of technology and without discomfort, inconvenience, or sacrifice even as these modernizations remain in development. Fans of Mary Roach will be pleased. Provocative, exuberant perspectives on the 'disrupting technologies' primed to enhance the human experience."-- "Kirkus Reviews"
"A fascinating examination of what the future holds, and of what it means to be human. Jenny Kleeman writes with wit and a wealth of knowledge that ensures you will never look at a chicken nugget in quite the same way again."--Elizabeth Day, author of How to Fail and The Party
"An unforgettable journey into the near future by a fabulously gifted writer."--Will Storr, author of Selfie and The Science of Storytelling
"The future is a fairly scary place, but there is no better guide to it than Jenny Kleeman. By turns alarming, funny, thought-provoking and fascinating, this is a book that brilliantly shows us where much of our life (and death) is heading."--Stig Abell, author of How Britain Really Works
"A brilliant, thought-provoking book full of strange details, fascinating people and challenging ideas. A necessary book that wears its wealth of research lightly. As Jenny Kleeman says, this isn't science fiction, and yet some of the images will haunt me for years to come."--Nell Frizzell, author of The Panic Years