William Gibson is a treasure. Having helped create the cyberpunk genre in the 1980s with novels like Neuromancer and Count Zero, Gibson continues to write contemporary fiction (most recently Zero History) with themes and tone similar to his earlier, more easily categorized science fiction. It is a rare gift, then, to read Distrust That Particular Flavor, a collection of essays firmly rooted in the moment in which they were written.
These essays were done for diverse audiences--articles for Wired and Rolling Stone are set alongside talks for BookExpo and the Vancouver Institute. Distrust That Particular Flavor shows us a less authorial William Gibson, laying himself and his ideas out with humility. He writes autobiographical essays about his own encounters with history, covers technology and speaks at length on the possible futures that he did (and did not) presage in his fiction.
As in his fiction, Gibson writes with a precise vocabulary and a density of phrasing that lies in comfortable contrast to an open, engagingly transparent style. He is equally at ease talking about Tokyo, filmmaking and the reality of the early World Wide Web (a medium he was late in coming to). Pick this book up, even if only for the brilliant use of language throughout, and you'll likely find yourself staying for a glimpse into the brain of a culturally significant modern author. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor