Siri and Me: A Love Story

 One of the movies that I can't wait to see is Spike Jonze's Her starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson which has graced many movie critics best movies of 2013 lists. The plot of a lonely writer who falls in love with his newly purchased operating system that's designed to meet his every need is bizarre but is it really that far from reality as we become more and more attached and obsessed with technology? I'm not entirely sure. Siri and Me, a comic graphic novel, by David Milgrim was published in 2012 and also has the same tone as the movie Her, except it loses its charm very quickly.

Description: Dave's never met anyone like Siri. She's helpful, smart, and easier to talk to than any girl he's ever known. She really gets him. Siri and Me is a love story for our times. A must read for all of us in a codependent relationship with our gadgets. An instant classic in a world of instant everything.

Review: When I picked up Siri & Me, I was hoping for a quick fun read that would have some depth and interesting conversations on how humans use technology. While the book was fun and a very short read, it move beyond the gimicky story of an ordinary man named Dave who displaces his fundamental relationships with living humans for Siri, the operating system of his iPhone.

  When the iPhone 4 came out there was a plethora of comments and jokes about Siri and her limitations. There are even websites that range from ridiculous to crude questions that you can ask Siri in order to get fun responses from her, but in Siri and Me, Siri demonstrates a very high intelligence you would see in a Asimovian book. There are moments where I was chuckling while reading Siri and Me. Dave is an amiable doofus, too self-absorbed to notice the way his actions hurt other people around him; the machines in his life in contrast demonstrate a humanity the humans seem bent on abandoning.
  The format of Siri and Me is very stripped-down and the illustrations are like cartoons, and the premise of the story is very catchy. Just don't expect a lot from it. I'm really hoping that the movie Her will fill in what was lacking in this graphic novel.

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: There is some crude humor. Recommended for teens and adults only.

If you like this book try: Goodnight Ipad by Ann Droyd