[7] The program's bibliography cites several sources of inspiration, including:[additional citation(s) needed] Text Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio; John Cage, Silence; Nicholas Carr, The Shallows; Chuang-Tzu; Ernest Cline, Ready Player One; Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion; Philip K. Dick, Valis; James Gleick, The Information; Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind; Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near; C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters; Angela Nagle, Kill All Normies; Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind; Catherine Price, How to Break Up with Your Phone; Jon Ronson, So You've Been Publicly Shamed; Rumi, “A Great Wagon”; George Saunders, Tenth of December; Wallace Shawn, Essays; Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash; Alan Watts, The Book; Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass; Pete Walker, Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving Theater Caryl Churchill, Love and Information; Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, James Kirkwood Jr. & Nicholas Dante, A Chorus Line; Stephen Sondheim & George Furth, Company Tarot The Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot; Kim Krans, The Wild Unknown Tarot Film Altered States; Black Mirror: S01E03 “The Entire History of You”; S03E01 “Nosedive”; S03E06 “Hated in the Nation”; Blade Runner; The Matrix; My Dinner with Andre Podcasts Reply All; Dear Sugar Games Candy Crush; Cookie Clicker; Everything; Inside; Journey; Universal Paperclips; The Witness; World of Warcraft Music Robert Ashley, Perfect Lives; Luciano Berio, Sinfonia; Philip Glass, Einstein on the Beach; Meredith Monk, Dolmen Music; Nico Muhly, Two Boys, Mothertongue; Sacred Harp; Caroline Shaw, Partita for 8 Voices; Toby Twining, Chrysalid Requiem[8] The piece was well received by the New York press.

Ben Brantley of the New York Times calling it "a sublime chamber opera" that "promises to be the most original and topical musical of the year."

In the face of a virtual world where “there’s no coming back / No rehabilitation / No nuance / Just noise,” it takes a bravely unequivocal yet generous stand.

"[3] Adam Feldman of Time Out New York gave Octet 5 ouf of 5 stars and wrote: "Under Annie Tippe’s taut direction, all eight bits of Octet’s byte-size cast perform Malloy’s challenging compositions with exceptional skill, abetted by Or Matias’s musical direction and Hidenori Nakajo’s sound design.

"[10] David Cote of Observer wrote that it was not only "one of the most thought-provoking and soul-stirring musicals I’ve seen in ages, it has an ingeniously woven, harmonically lush score that you’ll want to revisit.