In 1981, in a Utopian literature class at the Univ. of Hawaii at Hilo, I read a book that haunts me because of its prescient look ahead. People live in sealed homes, connected digitally by video and audio to interact with friends and clean versions of the world outside. The interior walls of homes fill up with these images. A kind of solitary confinement no one seemed to mind. Food and goods were delivered to homes through portals by a working class of people exposed to a toxic world outside. I don’t remember details beyond that except that it was written by a man. My online searches for it have failed me!
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
re 298Q — possibly “The Machine Stops” by E. M. Forster?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops
If the theme appeals to you, you might also enjoy “Huddling Place” by Clifford Simak:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huddling_Place
among others.
Someone reminded me recently that one of Isaac Asimov’s books has that theme. It’s The Naked Sun, part of the series where a human detective partners with a robot. The planet is called Solaria. Hope that rings some bells! Also, FYI, any time you’re looking for a text from a college course, contact the instructor or even their department. We hoard old syllabi. 🙂
Oh, and I think Robots of Dawn is set on the same planet, so it might be that one. Same series.
The book is ‘A Very Private Life’ by Michael Frayn (1968)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Very_Private_Life
Question…in this book were people discouraged from going outside because the would be crushed by the chaotic mass of people. however when a young boy breaks the norm and ventures out, against the advise of his family, there was actually no one on the streets at all?