- Paperback: 496 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (1 Sep 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857989287
- ISBN-13: 978-1857989281
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 700,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Politics is the art of the possible, the "doable", as Sterling's skewed hero, Oscar Valparaiso, keeps calling his wild improvised plans as if saying the word made them so. Oscar's usually successful schemes are as cobbled together as his own genetics--Oscar is not quite human. Investigating a genetic research facility for a Senate committee, he finds a potential power base, and an enemy worth his attention--the Governor of Louisiana has taken to conquering federal facilities using gangs of the homeless as his deniable mercenaries, and his interest in biotech makes the genetically anomalous Oscar, and the scientist he has fallen for, attractive acquisitions. Having a senator he has just help get elected go stark raving mad, and finding himself on the Net-wide hit list of every nut with a grudge, are the sort of things that Oscar copes with all the time--love and other altered states of consciousness are a bit more of a problem. Endless witty extrapolations of social and scientific paradoxes and a constant cheeky elaboration of already convoluted plot lines give this the brio of Sterling's best short fiction--if there is a more entertaining near-future SF novel this year, we will be in luck. --Roz Kaveney
Product Description
Near future Earth and a new cold war is in full swing - the Dutch Cold War. The US is a shadow of its former self and in hock to Europe, its infrastructure falling apart at the seams and with nomadic tribes roaming from state to state living according to no one's rules but their own. Oscar Valpariso, spin doctor to possibly the next president ,is only half human but if he can straighten out his love life and solve a worldwide crisis that only he has noticed, America should be ripe for the taking . . .
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent piece of future-gazing, set in a plausible future of cheap technology and environmental collapse.
A pity, but towards the end the book really tails off. Sterling pans back from the main characters and devotes whole pages to reciting the off-stage action like a history book. The plot resolution seemed to resolve almost nothing.
Buy this book. Read it. The first 4/5ths is amazingly good. But don't worry if you can't plough through the last fifth. I get the impression that Sterling had to fight his way through it as well.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The ultimate marketing wonk put-down:
"I really hate to dismiss that idea out of hand. It's so modern and photogenic and nonlinear."
How to succeed in a chaotic world:
"'Hmm. You're absolutely right about that, Yosh. That was not plannable. But it was doable.' Pelicanos sat down and knotted his hands. 'You know what your problem is? Every time you lose sight of your objective, you redouble your efforts.'"
And finally the terrible truth about modern politics:
"We don't have roots. We're network people. We have aerials."
Great stuff: Funny, intelligent and horribly convincing.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have enjoyed all of Bruce Sterling's recent books, though Heavy Weather was a little weak. Distraction, though a little less stylish than some of his books, is great fun and yet very thought-provoking.
It's so excellent it seems mean to say things like "less stylish than..." - so don't get me wrong - this is a great book.
Bruce Sterling takes some interesting strands of present-day politics/society (spin doctors, Seattle-style anti-capitalist demos etc) and extrapolates a quite realistic (though obviously exaggerated for narrative fun) near future.
The lead character is a very likeable political backroom guy, very smart, and the book is about his power-broking exploits and their trail of mayhem. Oh, and his odd romance with a nice scientist.
Then, just as the book is drawing to a close and it all seemed as straightforward as that, the "villain" (who appears superhuman in his ability to pre-empt our hero at all times) - throws in a classic twist which has nothing to do with the story so far and is yet another amazing Bruce Sterling idea - to do with changing the way we think (but I can't say more without spoiling it).
If you like Bruce Sterling, if you find current politics interesting, or you like "social experiment" sci-fi, you will enjoy this excellent book. I did!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An all-time favourite, *and* my dad enjoyed it
I was looking for more stars for this one, but you'll have to settle for five!
This is a riveting, hugely enjoyable and interesting yarn. Read more
This is a riveting, hugely enjoyable and interesting yarn. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2008 by Justin Keery
Mixed feelings...
Read this book cover to cover, and yet, I'm sorry, I barely rate it: fascinating ideas, a media- and socially-fragmented and believable future USA...
... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2001
The future's science & politics: do-able (and readable)
Bruce Sterling (and his buddy William Gibson) writes the type of SF that shouldn't be read in one go. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2001 by elteng@ntlworld.com
If you think politics is mad now, read this book.
For those of you who think the activities of the people in Westminster, or Washington, who run our lives become less and less relevant by the month, this book should provide... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2001
Unrivaled hard SF
A story about real people in a future not so distant from ours.... a very nice read that like others in the genre is all too real. I just couldn't put it down!
Published on 15 Dec 2000 by dragoniuz@hotmail.com
Intelligent politcal suspense in a not-too-distant future.
Distraction by Bruce Sterling is a smart political thriller set in a not-too-distant, dark-ish future. A US electorial campaign team leader carries out his personal agenda. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2000 by nilsson@ibg.uu.se
A disappointment
Sterling is a great author but this was not a great book.
The author tells the tale of Oscar Valparaiso, a geneticly tweaked near-human living in a near future world. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2000 by John Peter O'connor
Atmospheric but disjointed
The title says it. This book is a twisty journey through an attention-deficit future through the eyes of an alienated protagonist. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 1999
Gloriously Cynical
I have read one or two of Bruce Sterling's short stories butonly picked this novel up on the strength of it's Hugo nomination. I am glad I did! This is gloriously cynical satire. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 1999
Disappointing and sketchy
I'd expected more from Sterling. Distraction could have been a much better book, if the author had decided what exactly it was supposed to be about. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 1999
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