"I had nothing to hide. I longed for people to watch me. I had important things to say. People would see I was a good guy. I didn't know how much I would miss owning pieces of time." Sebastian Stanhope is playing chess at school while millions watch his father cut his mothers throat. Why would Cecil Stanhope, who aspires to be Prime Minister and is a loving husband and father, kill his wife? In a near-future society without privacy, where everyone can watch everything through the omnipresent "W," Sebastian seeks resolution for his father's crime. a rational man is the fascinating story of a young adult trying to find his identity in a world ruled by public opinion and in which each action or inaction provokes comment. As social media, governments and corporations delve deeper into our personal lives, a rational man demonstrates how it is not the state or big business that we have to fear, but each other.