Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace

I found this book truly intriguing. The bits about the rave culture were a little off, and in the cases of his ecstasy coverage, very far off, but in general, it hits very close to the mark. I and many others that I associate with touch on the Technoshamanic view of the world. Rushkoff does an exceedingly good job demonstrating the relationships between psychadelics and innovation in areas like silicon valley and chaos theory mathematics. Read for yourself, judge for yourself.

I read lots of these books. I have read most of Neal Stephenson's, Bruce Sterling's, and William Gibson's novels. This is a good book if you have interests in this area. The people who gave bad reviews are just not smart enough to understand the book's content, if they even finished reading it.

Even though Rushkoff is apparently a foreigner to rave culture, I have to give him credit. Few people understand how techno/house, raves, drugs, chaos theory, and philosophy can blend together. As a math/philosophy/computer/music student, and curator of hillhaus.com, i have to give him credit for being able to write such an encompassing piece of literature all the while being a stranger to the culture. The tone of the book towards traditional capitalism and conservatives reminds me of Naked Lunch.

After reading this book, I thought about technology and all that encompasses it in a completely different way. Simply excellent.

_Cyberia_ is a refreshingly complete account of what Leary called "Cyber Culture." Focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area, this book explains the various means by which people travel to 'cyberia'. From all night raves, to paganism, to super potent hallucinogens - people attempt to adapt themselves for the future. Each section of the book is well balanced and covers its topic well. The book is still current, and the one flaw that comes to mind is that the rave section focused too much on house, ignoring other types of music. All in all, an excellent book.