William Gibson is the author of Neuromancer, the science fiction novel that coined the word “cyberspace” back in the early 1980s. Later, a movie based on Neuromancer was made called Johnny Mnemonic starring Keanu Reeves. Gibson has written nine novels, but this is his first volume of essays. In his Introduction, Gibson admits he’s not an essayist or non-fiction writer. These collected pieces range in subject matter from essays on Tokyo to book introductions. The best essays reveal something about the reticent William Gibson. Gibson writes about the death of his parents and how he was alone at 18. In another essay, Gibson admits he was addicted to buying high-end wrist watches on eBay. If you’re a Gibson fan, you’ll enjoy Gibson’s patented takes on Reality. I, on the other hand, hope Gibson returns to what he really does well: write novels. GRADE: B-
Ebay has created a lot of obsessive gambler/consumers.
I have several friends who were addicted to eBay, Patti. Their obsessions were books and Barbie dolls.
“Johnny Mnemonic” was actually it’s own story, first…in OMNI in ’81 and collected in BURNING CHROME. (I’ve always felt that Keanu Reeves’s performance in that film, which definitely had some cost-cutting and goofing problems, has been unfairly harshly judged…a guy who is a professional conduit for memories would act, I’d say, pretty much the way Reeves portrays him in the film version.) Gibson’s “Disneyland with the Death Penalty” (about Singapore) did a little actual good in the world, and didn’t hurt WIRED magazine or Gibson’s reps any (except in Singapore, of course).
I agree with you on Keanu Reeve’s performance in JOHNNY MNEMONIC, Todd. I’m also a fan of Gibson;s Blue Ant Trilogy:
Pattern Recognition (2003)
Spook Country (2007)
Zero History (2010)
Or, its own story, anyway…