This book starts out with some excellent, truly funny and poignant observations about humanity, and the premise of something very silly to come. Then it sort of devolves into an introvert’s nightmarish fever dream of encounters with petty people. It is not exactly a lull in the story, but things feel a bit contrived and thoroughly unrealistic. Towards the end it slips into something akin to a morality play, or at least a story with lines about how loving each other is all we need, and a break from reality is sometimes what we actually need beyond that. And that spite also gets things done. 
Overall, it was a nice, quick detour in my day. Very funny and makes some excellent points. But I fear it didn’t quite hit the mark for me overall. Three and a half stars for the humor and wit of the piece, as well as a thoroughly relatable main character, though it feels like at times he has absolutely no agency whatsoever. I’m not quite sure what that extra quarter star is for beyond the nice little lesson it provides, even though it feels undeserved. Still diverting, still gave me a bit of joy. And that’s all I needed from it in the long run.