Chapter summaries: Book I

Book I

Pages 1-30

The Circle by Dave Eggers opens with Mae Holland arriving at the offices of The Circle, where she has got a new job. Mae got the interview through Annie, her best friend and roommate in college. Annie is one of the 40 most important people in the company. She gives Mae a tour of The Circle campus, which has a nightclub, two theatres, a gym, and even rooms where Circlers, as the company employees are called, can stay the night. Annie also takes Mae to see Eamon Bailey’s luxurious office. Bailey is one of the “three wise men” who run the company, alongside Tom Stenton and Ty Gospodinov. 

Ty was the inventor of The Circle’s basic software system, TruYou, which brought together an internet user’s social media profile, payment system, email, username, and passwords into a single tool. A TruYou account has to be connected to a real name and bank account, removing anonymity from the internet. The Circle is now the biggest internet company in the world, completely taking over the other major companies. Today, Ty is a mysterious figure, rarely seen. 

Mae is given another tour to show her that the campus has everything she could possibly need; she would never need to leave. Mae loves it. 

Pages 31 - 78

It is the end of Mae’s first day and she and Annie are at a party on campus. Mae meets Francis, who seems awkward, but Mae likes him. 

The next morning, Mae joins the Customer Experience department. Mae signs various contracts and hands over her fingerprints and birth certificate. Mae’s manager Jared explains how Mae should answer customer queries and how she should always push to get perfect feedback. Mae does well on her first day, maintaining a high feedback score. 

At lunch one day, Annie tells Mae about Francis, who works on...