The Belonging Kind

by William Gibson, John Shirley

Audiobook

Published January 1, 1981

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer (1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide.

While his early writing took the form of short stories, Gibson has since written nine critically acclaimed novels (one in collaboration), contributed articles to several major publications, and has collaborated extensively with performance artists, filmmakers and musicians. His thought has been cited as an influence on science fiction authors, academia, cyberculture, and technology.


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William Gibson. (2007, October 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:30, October 19, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...

Reviews

[Pushpendra Nagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant character study of mid-life urban alienation. Explores the extent of conformity that one has to develop in order to achieve a sense of belonging in modern metropolitan cities. Even the places frequented by the lead character and the settings of conversations are bars, cabs, hotels and elevators, which are depicted as increasingly transactional and formal in nature. The story ends with the logical extreme end of 'plastic individuality' and the allure of keeping up social performances with the lead character giving up his sense of self.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Cronenberg out of left field!

I really liked this one. We follow a down and out dude, who ends up bar surfing late at night and gets completely enamoured/intoxicated by a woman he meets. Thus ensues a downward spiral and stalking spree that went somewhere I never thought it would.

This starts out as a mystery noir that ends up sitting somewher in a David Cronenberg body horror nightmare.

Excellent stuff. Be careful who you have a drink with 👀

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

falling in love is
hard on the tentacles so
be careful out there