Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Life or Art?, 2 Feb 1997
By A Customer
Life and art, art and life, the perennial
question what came first. In my case, the
novel. Nearly Roadkill: An Infobahn
Erotic Adventure by Caitlin Sullivan and
her cohort Kate Bornstein began as an
online discussion of gender in
cyberspace, by two provocative souls
whose battle to define male and female, I
imagine, continues.
I followed it in the
novel with interest, rooting for the
characters to reach an understanding.
Though the gender issue seems to be the
prominent one in Nearly Roadkill, I was just
as intrigued by its presentation of the online
world in light of the predictions for ubiquitous
intervention by corporations and government
(For further discussion on this aspect, visit
http://www.new-kewl.com/lollygag/blow.html)
Fictional protagonists Scratch and Winc become
martyrs to the cause of corporate avarice
by refusing to undertake Registration, a
process of answering demographic and
lifestyle questions to build a user profile.
Registration is a mandated by the
government, in order for corporations to
best target email advertisements to
ostensibly ready and willing recipients.
Needless to say, Scratch and Winc's
resistance becomes the catalyst for
people online everywhere to rebuke their
previous co-operation with the scheme. A
riot, a rally, a complete shutdown of the
Internet ensues, while our heroes limp
into the underground, bewildered that
their personal agenda became a worldwide
cause sufficient to change the way
government and big business freely
exploit the personal tastes of the
worldwide populace for their own
commercial gain.
A terrific read on many levels (though a bit
of an edit on mid-book dialogue would
be welcome), it will be interesting to see
if or how this novel foreshadows
the future!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
If you're online, you need to read this one..., 12 Nov 1998
By A Customer
Scratch and Winc capture the best of all arenas in their sexual exploits, moving from boy, to grrrl, to vampire, to punk, etc...living in freedom over the internet that makes me cringe at the banality of my own life. The prospect of regulation in this final frontier is abominable, if not unavoidable, and the social commentary this book evokes is relevant. I read this book and surfed the web a *new* person, using my newfound creativity to have tons of fun! Jabbathehut & Gwynyth are great players in this game as well, adding a sense that we're not alone in this fight...just read it!
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