Beautiful Shining People

Beautiful Shining People is the second novel by Michael Grothaus, first published in 2023. The novel is coming-of-age speculative literary fiction set in the near future and deals with the themes of isolation and belonging in an increasingly technological world. It also examines the ways artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and the weaponization of social media will impact geopolitics, society, and cultural norms in the decades ahead, and explores how technological advances are often coopted by governments to assert or maintain power.

Though a future-set novel, real-world historical events like the atomic bombing of Hiroshima focus heavily in the story. Grothaus has said his personal experiences in Hiroshima, Japan influenced the writing of the novel.