Gary Westfahl: William Gibson (2013)
Filed under book | Tags: · artificial intelligence, biography, computing, cyberpunk, cyberspace, science fiction, virtual reality
“The leading figure in the development of cyberpunk, William Gibson (born in 1948) crafted works in which isolated humans explored near-future worlds of ubiquitous and intrusive computer technology and cybernetics. This volume is the first comprehensive examination of the author of the seminal novel Neuromancer (and the other books in the Sprawl trilogy, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), as well as other acclaimed novels including Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History. Gary Westfahl draws upon extensive research to provide a compelling account of Gibson’s writing career and his lasting influence in the science fiction world.
Delving into numerous science fiction fanzines that the young Gibson contributed to and edited, Westfahl delivers new information about Gibson’s childhood and adolescence. He describes for the first time more than eighty virtually unknown Gibson publications from his early years, including articles, reviews, poems, cartoons, letters, and a collaborative story. The book also documents the poems, articles, and introductions that Gibson has written for various books, and its discussions are enriched by illuminating comments from various print and online interviews. The works that made Gibson famous are also featured, as Westfahl performs extended analyses of Gibson’s ten novels and nineteen short stories. Lastly, the book presents a new interview with Gibson in which the author discusses his correspondence with author Fritz Leiber, his relationship with the late scholar Susan Wood, his attitudes toward critics, his overall impact on the field of science fiction, and his recently completed screenplay and forthcoming novel.”
Publisher University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL 2013
Modern Masters of Science Fiction series
ISBN 9780252037801, 0252037804
xi+210 pages
via jl
Reviews: Benjamin Gabriel (Strange Horizons, 2013), D. Harlan Wilson (Extrapolation, 2013), Michael M. Levy (Science Fiction Studies, 2014), Lars Schmeink (Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts, 2014).
PDF (43 MB)
Comment (0)Lynn Hershman Leeson (ed.): Clicking In: Hot Links to a Digital Culture (1996)
Filed under book | Tags: · art criticism, electronic art, internet, media, media art, technology, virtual reality
“All things digital dominate the discourse of the nineties and inspire opinion that ranges from the outrage of the neo-Luddite to the heady optimism of the digiphile. In this collection, the most provocative voices of the Digital Age grapple with the direction of digital technology and its concomitant issues, including virtual identities and their relationship to the physical self, the collision of commercial and community interests on the Net, the Net threat to intellectual property, and the merger of art, popular culture, and commerce in interactive media.” (book jacket)
Texts and interviews by Sadie Plant, Jaron Lanier, R.U. Sirius, Sherry Turkle, Lev Manovich, Rudolf Frieling, Simon Biggs, Siegfried Zielinski, a.o.
Publisher Bay Press, Seattle, 1996
ISBN 0941920429, 9780941920421
x+371 pages
Review: Steve Jones (Signs, 1999).
PDF (81 MB)
Comment (0)Timothy Druckrey (ed.): Electronic Culture: Technology and Visual Representation (1996)
Filed under book | Tags: · cybernetics, cyberspace, interface, machine, media, media theory, networks, photography, representation, software, technology, theory, virtual reality
“A rich compilation of essays by some of today’s leading theorists and media critics, this book gathers a series of explorations into diverse forms of visualizations in a cultural environment wired into the global network. With its emphasis on the impact of the digital revolution in the late 20th century and the historical context in which it arose, Electronic Culture could not be more timely or relevant.”
Texts by Vannevar Bush, Martin Heidegger, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Jean-Louis Comolli, Kathy Rae Huffman, Lev Manovich, Vilém Flusser, N. Katherine Hayles, Siegfried Zielinski, Slavoj Žižek, Friedrich Kittler, Sherry Turkle, Pierre Levy, Hakim Bey, Adilkno/Geert Lovink, Critical Art Ensemble, a.o.
Preface by Allucquère Rosanne Stone
Illustrations by Critical Art Ensemble
Publisher Aperture, New York, 1996
ISBN 0893816787, 9780893816780
447 pages
Review: Andreas Broeckmann (Leonardo, 2000).
PDF (155 MB)
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