The Benton Updates

Bart Studio Press

/ ISBN 13: 9798235488311

Published by BART STUDIO PRESS, 2026

New Book. Delivered from our UK warehouse in 4 to 14 business days. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # L0-9798235488311

Synopsis:

What if an app tried to end loneliness... and broke a whole town instead?

Welcome to Benton, Indiana. Population: 12,847. Host Score: 2.1.

When Silicon Valley drops Palgorithm on their town-an app that "optimizes community" by matching you with your "First Best Friend"-12-year-old Zoe Plank gets paired with a juice box. Her dad gets paired with his Lunchable-stealing nemesis. And the whole thing is run by three raccoons in a hoodie operating from an abandoned Blockbuster.

The only way out? A potluck. A porch. And a goose with an existential crisis.

KERNEL PANIC is The Good Place meets The Office, but the office is an entire town and the algorithm is feral.

Perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett, Christopher Moore, and anyone who thinks QR codes are a personal attack.

The Benton Updates #1 kicks off a series about what happens when you try to debug a community. Because humans don't run on code. They run on casserole.

There is no app for this. There is only Benton.

Tropes: Small town comedy, tech satire, found family, raccoons, anti-capitalist humor, cozy dystopia, midwestern gothic, community vs. corporation, social media satire.

Content note: Contains Raisinets from 2013, emotional support dumpsters, and one very bad clarinet.

For readers who liked: Good Omens, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Legends & Lattes, The Kaiju Preservation Society.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Benton Updates
Publisher: BART STUDIO PRESS
Publication Date: 2026
Binding: PAP
Condition: New