Loneliness is one of the most paradoxical and ambivalent human experiences. Ever since human beings invented technology, all they have done is develop ways to become independent of others. But the flip side of that progress has turned loneliness into a true epidemic. Through chronicles, essays, profiles, and readings, Victoria O’Donnell explores the forms loneliness takes in the 21st century. These stories form a genuine mosaic, where each segment, each story, and each chapter come together to create a larger figure: the complete picture of a society that has managed to optimize everything except human connection.