"One of the writers I most admire.” — Gwyneth Paltrow, actor
“Heffernan is smart, her writing has flair, she can refer intelligently to Barthes, Derrida, and Benjamin—also to Aquinas, Dante, and Proust—and she knows a lot about the Internet and its history. She is good company.” — Louis Menand, The New Yorker
"Heffernan is a gleeful trickster, a semiotics fan with an unabashed sweet tooth for pop culture.” — Justin Ellis, The New York Times Book Review
“Ecstatic … unexpectedly moving.” — Edward Mendelson, The New York Review of Books
"Goddamn, Virginia Heffernan is brilliant.” — Jessica Grose, Lenny Letter
“Heffernan is a new species of wizard. It's a joy and revelation to be under her spell.” — Kevin Kelly, founding editor of Wired
"OK. You have to read this book. Have to. I started reading it on the plane to St. Louis, and then could not stop. Heffernan’s explorations of everything from 'hyperlexia' to the poetry of Twitter are must-reads. So seriously: go read this. It’s going to change how you see…well, your life." — Jordan Reid, Ramshackle Glam
"Virginia Heffernan spins the straw of the Internet into analysis that’s solid gold: a brilliant book." — Mark Edmundson
"My copy of Magic and Loss is sloppily scrawled with all-caps pencilings of words like 'YES!' and 'TRUTH!'" — Mark O’Connell, Slate
"Sumptuous writing. I love it." — Anna Wiener, the New Republic
“In ‘Magic and Loss’—just as on the internet—one is constantly stumbling across unexpected delights. ... an illuminating guide to the internet. ... it is impossible to come away from this book without sharing some of her awe for this brave new world.” — Laura Vanderkam, The Wall Street Journal
"A longtime outlier, peacemaker, and iconoclast, Heffernan may well be the least cranky tech critic east of the Rockies.” — Michael Schulson, Salon
"A blazing and wise book.” — Michael Robbins, poet
"Masterful. Heffernan is a luminary.” — Alexander Heffner, PBS
"Hallucinatory splendor! Nobody else talks about the Web this way. Intoxicating.” — Emma Healey, National Post
"Heffernan’s book takes readers through a museum that showcases the Internet's artistic exploits—and all the joy and horror they inspire." — Jaime Fuller, MTV
"Excellent"—Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian
"There I was: plummeting down the hypnotizing k-hole that is Magic and Loss." — Diana Kimball, The Felt Internet
“Finally, a witty book about the internet! Glittering and wise.” — Cathy Davidson, author and scholar
"One of the year's best books.” — Smith Galtney, Las Vegas Weekly
“The book we’ve been waiting for.” — Ben Yagoda, author
“A fresh perspective on the Internet.” — Katharina Smundak, Brooklyn Rail
“Magic and GAIN!” — Frank Wilczek, author and physicist
"Fascinating, revealing.” — Nathan Smith, Smithsonian
"Nuanced and refreshingly counter-intuitive.” — Will Stephenson, The FADER
"A thoroughly engrossing examination of the Internet’s past, present, and future. Heffernan exercises the same sort of intellectual curiosity more commonly ascribed to things like string theory and quantum physics. In melding the personal with the increasingly universal, Heffernan delivers a highly informative analysis of what the Internet is—and can be.” — Kirkus starred review
“Fearless, sly, groundbreaking.” — Cara Cannella, Signature
“An intimate and sometimes painful confessional.” — Andrew Keen, Literary Hub
“I love Virginia Heffernan’s mind. She knows what the Internet actually is.” — Dave Asprey, biohacker
"Fascinating. Will have you viewing the Internet from a whole new perspective."— John Furrier, siliconANGLE
“Magic and Loss has given me a better understanding of faith than any religion ever has. #goosebumps." — Lexi Gee, on Twitter
“A vivid account of entering the great sea of entertainment. … [A] revolutionary thrill!” — Dominic Green, Commentary
"An extended meditation on the nature of art and God, on immortality and death. Insightful, aims high." — Dan Kennedy, WGBH
"Leavening. Regardless of how optimistic or pessimistic you are about the Internet, you will feel better after reading this book." — Flannery Dean, Maclean’s
"Magic and Loss simply defies categorization. In dizzying company with Umberto Eco’s History of Beauty." — Wayne Johnson, Gateway Media
"At the very least, the best writing on Angry Birds you’ll ever encounter." — Jason Kehe, WIRED
“An ambitious vision for where the internet fits into modern life.” — Myles Udland, Business Insider
“There is no more beautiful and thoughtful body of work that’s been written about the evolution of the internet than MAGIC AND LOSS" — 33 Voices
“A deep and thoughtful book." — CEO Read