I didn’t know what the SCP Foundation was when I discovered There Is No Antimemetics Division. I still mostly don’t. It doesn’t matter—this remains the most mind-blowing work I’ve read in years.

We’re constantly inundated with memes. This book explores antimemes, particularly evil ones. That’s all I want to say about the plot because everything within is utterly unimaginable until you read it yourself.

The book is astoundingly creative. Yes, it has flaws. Like other qntm works, it occasionally jumps into new, confusing, seemingly unrelated contexts that feel underdeveloped. Still doesn’t matter. Read it.

I picked this up after seeing mentions on Penny Arcade. From 20+ years following Tycho/Jerry’s writing, I know not everything he recommends works for me, but both he and Gabe highlighted this as one of the few books they’ve ever re-read. I understand why. Until now, the only book I’ve re-read was Infinite Jest (not because I enjoyed it, but because it was the most effective sleep aid I’d found). I plan to revisit Antimemetics later this year when the new version releases (which removes the SCP-related elements to address licensing issues). I’m hoping qntm uses this opportunity to smooth out some of those messy context switches.

I can’t wait to see what’s changed.