Ply

First published 2026

Cover of Ply

Reception

Mixed reviews. 3 of 9 critics were mixed or negative.

Rave 2 · Positive 4 · Mixed 1 · Pan 2

“A vision of the future both deeply disconcerting and oddly exhilarating”

The Boston Globe · Priscilla Gilman · Positive

2 more quotes

“Many books about the future are ways of thinking through the problems of the present.”

The New Yorker · Kathryn Shulz · Pan
“Diaz’s characters lack interiority. They’re action figures, posed into series of cinematic stances … As humorless as a James Blunt song”

The New York Times · Dwight Garner · Pan

All 9 reviews on Book Marks

2026
The New Yorker
Reviewed by Kathryn Schulz, 28 September
2026
The New York Times
Reviewed by Dwight Garner, 28 September
2026
Los Angeles Times
Reviewed by Carolyn Kellogg, 29 September
2026
Times Literary Supplement
Reviewed by Clifford Thompson, 30 September

2 more entries

2026
The Atlantic
Reviewed by Jacob Brogan, 1 October
2026
Chicago Review of Books
Reviewed by Malavika Praseed, 1 October

Read the 6 reviews

The Atlantic · 1 October 2026

A Dissatisfying Apocalypse

Hernan Diaz’s new novel, Ply , fails to fulfill the promise of every great end-of-the-world novel.

By Jacob Brogan

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Chicago Review of Books · 1 October 2026

The Novel of Ideas: Ply by Hernan Diaz

Our review of Hernan Diaz’s new book, "Ply." The post The Novel of Ideas: Ply by Hernan Diaz appeared first on Chicago Review of Books .

By Malavika Praseed

Read at Chicago Review of Books (opens in a new tab)
Times Literary Supplement · 30 September 2026

Electric dreams

Searching for connection in a post-government dystopia

By Clifford Thompson

Read at Times Literary Supplement (opens in a new tab)
Los Angeles Times · 29 September 2026

Think Burning Man meets the end of the world: This Pulitzer winner’s new book is a chaotic trip

Pulitzer winner Hernan Diaz returns with ‘Ply,’ an ambitious, science-fiction leap into a fallen metropolis where art and anarchy reign.

By Carolyn Kellogg

Read at Los Angeles Times (opens in a new tab)
The New Yorker · 28 September 2026

Hernan Diaz’s Grand Experiment

By Kathryn Schulz

Read at The New Yorker (opens in a new tab)
The New York Times · 28 September 2026 · Pan

‘Ply,’ by Hernan Diaz

“Ply,” by Hernan Diaz, is set in a dystopian future where the state has been dismantled and one company controls the energy supply.

By Dwight Garner

Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)

About the author

Hernan Diaz, born 1973, United States.

More by Hernan Diaz

Trust
2022
In the Distance
2017

Catalogue record

Pan Macmillan, 2026 · 464 pages

Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 2026
Pages: 464
Dewey: 813.6
ISBN: 978-1-0374-0716-1

Full recordClose

Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 2026
Pages: 464
Dewey: 813.6
ISBN: 978-1-0374-0716-1
Author: Diaz, Hernan, 1973–
Statement: Ply / Hernan Diaz.
Records: Open Library Wikidata

Subjects

United States
2020s

Catalogue data checked 3 October 2026