All Tomorrow's Parties [Import] [Hardcover]

William Gibson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: E-Penguin (November 7, 2003)
• ISBN-10: 0141886854
• ISBN-13: 978-0141886855
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (135 customer reviews)

More About the Author

William Gibson was born in the United States in 1948. In 1972 he moved to Vancouver, Canada, after four years spent in Toronto. He is married with two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has a sudden (and slightly incomprehensible) ending..., June 19, 2000

By 

L.C. "l_conover" - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Tomorrow's Parties (Hardcover)

I've been a longstanding fan of Gibson's cyberpunk work since his groundbreaking novel, Neuromancer. This book continues his legacy of well-developed characters from the underbelly of the city. Gibson's virtuosity of prose is best shown in his vivid descriptions of the homeless living in Japan in a city of cardboard boxes.

Gibson's continual obsession with Japanese culture continues in this novel, and any anime otaku (extreme fan) will find many tributes to the pop culture of Japan. His finely tuned attention to detail in the scenes set in Japan made for highly entertaining reading.

In All Tommorow's Parties, we find ourselves once again associated with many of the characters in his previous novels, Idoru and Virtual Light. (Fortunately, the reader is not expected to 'know' these characters, so a previous reading of Idoru or Virtual Light will not preclude your enjoyment of this novel.)

However, by mid-novel, all this talk of nodal points fails to satisfy the reader - Gibson assumes too much of our understanding of the world that he has illustrated for us. Hints and allegations are made as to the significance of nodal points (that these points have the potential to bend the course of human history) but then these hints are never truly realized in any major way at the end of the novel. The novel ends suddenly, with no real feeling of resolution of the action that has come before. (I almost felt as if someone may have ripped the 'real' last chapter out of my copy.) We are dropped suddenly into this ending that does not seem nearly as elegantly constructed as the events leading up to it. Gibson's conclusions at the end of the novel are hardly cut-and-dry -- it takes work on the reader's part to try to understand his ending.

In conclusion, it's a worthy read, however, you may find yourself disappointed with the ending.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This ain't your daddy's Sci-Fi., January 6, 2000

By 

Sprydle Mandlebrot (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Tomorrow's Parties (Hardcover)

Gibson ,who created the word "cyberspace" and who was describing the "matrix" before Keanu put on black spandex, has kept his position solid as the king of sci-fi. While he'll probably never top his own book "Neuromancer" which is the only book in history to win the Neubla,Phillip K. Dick and Hugo award at once."All Tommorrow's Parties" is chock full of suprises and unites characters from "Virtual Light" and "Idoru" and brings in new characters. The book hits high notes with it's use of cool tech toys and all too human characters the world he creates is a reflection of our own for it is our own his children are our children.Gibson's writing style packs a punch you'll be feeling for the rest of the month because it presents a reality that'd make a Goth kid's website look like disney.com.This book also has more twists and turns than an Egyptian labyrinth and at the end you'll put the book down blink and want to start over again.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant prose poem from Gibson, November 20, 1999

By 

G. Styles (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Tomorrow's Parties (Hardcover)

Gibson always draws criticism when his latest book turns out not to be the new Neuromancer. But then, it's not 1984 any more, either. All Tomorrow's Parties is a mature work, with the previous pyrotechnics toned down and handled as much offstage as on. And the most enigmatic character bears a remarkable resemblance to the jacket photo of the author.

As I read, I could hear Gibson's laconic drawl reading the words deliberately. This is definitely not a book to speed-read. Can't wait for the audio books version.