Living in Data

“A nonlinear and stunningly illustrated book, Living In Data never tries to wrap things up neatly for the reader. The book is a complicated, iterative experience of how to truly grapple with the complexities and intricacies of data… Living In Data is an essential text, one that requires readers to think – and to think specifically and carefully about the consequences of data decisions.”–Lydia Pyne, Hyperallergic

“If Annie Dillard wrote about data, it might sound something like this. In turns insightful, hilarious, techy and humane, Living in Data is an essential book for anyone who’s wondering how exactly we got into this data mess, and thinking about how we might dig ourselves out.”–Stewart Butterfield, CEO of Slack

“Elbow-deep in data day in and day out, Jer Thorp has learned to feel every vibration. He would like the rest of us to do the same, instead of accepting them at face value–or worse, using them as shields from reality. Living in Data offers no easy fix. Rather, it shows that the potential for change lies within us: in our human, fallible, hopeful minds.”–Paola Antonelli, senior curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA“We hear every day how data is affecting our world. But Living in Data is the first time we can really feel it. In this book, Jer Thorp has the technical expertise of a coder but the soul of a storyteller, and the result is a highly accessible, even stirring, view into the often-invisible systems that shape our lives.”–Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch

Jer Thorp is an artist, a writer, and a teacher. He was the first data artist in residence at The New York Times, is a National Geographic Explorer, and served as the innovator in residence at the Library of Congress in 2017 and 2018. He lives under the Manhattan Bridge with his family and his awesome dog, Trapper John, MD. Living in Data is his first book.