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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionseBook editionsDown and Out in the Magic Kingdomby Cory Doctorow
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:"He sparkles! He fizzes! He does backflips and breaks the furniture! Science fiction needs Cory Doctorow." --Bruce Sterling, author of The Hacker Crackdown and Distraction On The Skids In The Transhuman Future Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war.... Review:"A lot of ideas are packed into this short novel, but Doctorow's own best idea was setting his story in Disney World....Jules's narrative unfolds so smoothly that readers may forget that all this raging passion is over amusement park rides. Then they can ask what that shows about the novel's supposedly mature, liberated characters. Doctorow has served up a nicely understated dish: meringue laced with caffeine." Publishers Weekly Review:"The language has pop and the ideas are launched from the page with plenty of fizz, but Doctorow ultimately hamstrings himself with a monumentally trivial storyline." Kirkus Reviews Review:"[Doctorow] has delivered...the kind of science fiction novel that the band They Might Be Giants would have written if they'd OD'd on old cyberpunk novels and back issues of Theme Park Monthly. It's cool, it's hip, and it's fun — but more importantly, it's about something.....Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a sleek, tightly written book that, as the best science fiction should, engages the world." Locus Magazine Review:"Wow! Disney imagineering meets nanotechnology, the reputation economy, and Ray Kurzweil's transhuman future. As much fun as Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, and as packed with mind bending ideas about social changes cascading from the frontiers of science." Tim O'Reilly, Publisher and Founder, O'Reilly and Associates Synopsis:Now in softcover, the acclaimed debut novel from 2000's winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer Acclaimed by science fiction writers like Bruce Sterling and Rudy Rucker, and by eminent futurists and digital visionaries like Howard Rheingold, Mitch Kapor, and Jeff Bezos, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a wonderful tour de force, the alternately edgy and charming tale of young Jules's coming of age in a world that has conquered scarcity and death. The "Magic Kingdom" of the title is the same one you're thinking of. For in this future, the great theme parks of the 20th Century are maintained by ardent artistic preservationists, who fight bitter battles over the most appropriate way to keep them going. Now a new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents--and they've had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war--a war of shifting reputations and technical wizardry for the soul of the Magic Kingdom itself. Synopsis:On The Skids In The Transhuman Future Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war.... Synopsis:On the skids in the transhuman future, Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages . . . and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. About the AuthorCory Doctorow cofounded the Internet search-engine company OpenCola.com and now works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. His personal Web site is at http://www.craphound.com. His weblog Boing (boingboing.net), coedited with Mark Frauenfelder and David Pescovitz, is read by more than 130,000 unique visitors every month. In 2000, the World Science Fiction convention voted him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He lives in San Francisco. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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