Great dystopian book because it takes what we are now, gives the immediate future a global disaster, and now we have characters that remember today's world in the dystopian world, teacher those who don't know or remember about boxes with light and cold air to store food. Or even, what a switch is for light.
Amidst all this time shifting in the book, most people are in some way connected not to Kevin Bacon, but Arthur, a famous actor first on screen, then on stage. In the beginning of the book he dies, but his influence is remembered throughout, either through the ex wives, journalists who have met him, or his son. Station Eleven is actually a graphic novel written by his first wife. We also follow a traveling symphony in the new world, and who they meet. There's a bit of action, a lot of characterization, and some pretty ingenious reminders of what we take for granted today.