'The future's already here: it's just not evenly distributed' William Gibson was writing fiction when he predicted the internet. And as his stories bled into reality so he became one of the first to report on the real-world consequences of cyberspace's growth and development. Now, with the dust settling on the first internet revolution, comes Gibson's first collection of non-fiction - essays from the technological and cultural frontiers of this new world. Covering a variety of subjects, they include: Metrophagy - the Art and Science of Digesting Great Cities; An account of obsession in 'the world's attic' - eBay; Reasons why 'The Net is a Waste of Time'; Singapore as 'Disneyland with the Death Penalty'' A primer on Japan, our default setting for the future. These and many other pieces, collected for the first time in Distrust that Particular Flavour, are studded with revealing autobiographical fragments and map the development of Gibson's acute perceptions about modern life.

About the Author

William Gibson's first novel Neuromancer has sold more than six million copies worldwide. In an earlier story he had invented the term 'cyberspace'; a concept he developed in the novel, creating an iconography for the Information Age long before the invention of the Internet. The book won three major literary prizes. He has since written nine further novels, most recently Zero History. William Gibson was born in South Carolina but has lived for many years in Vancouver.

Reviews

Sf/cyberpunk trailblazer Gibson, whose Neuromancer gave us the term cyberspace, gathers more than 20 nonfiction essays, speeches, and other works together in this collection. Published between 1989 and 2008, these works offer insight into a writer whose dark humor and speculative style provides a glimpse into his thoughts and perspectives as he reflects on the past and projects into the future. VERDICT Actor and award-nominated narrator Roberston Dean brings a clear, well-paced reading to this compilation, which will catch the ears of Gibson fans. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/1/11.-Ed.]-Denise A. Garofalo, Mount Saint Mary Coll. Lib., Newburgh, NY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.