May 182004
 

I went to Bruce Sterling’s reading for The Zenith Angle last night at Bookpeople. I haven’t been to very many book signings, but it was a modest turnout, definitely smaller than the Neal Stephenson signing last October. Sterling is in the middle of his largest book tour ever and seemed relieved to be back on his home turf for a day. He even commented that he decided to wear some old sandals as opposed to socks and shoes, something he wouldn’t normally do at a signing in another city.

He started off talking about his annual SXSW party which has apparently grown to such a proportion that he’s vexed as to whether or not to continue the tradition. He’s convinced that cell phones and text messaging were a contributing factor to the size of the party this year. He used the story of the party to tie into a brief commentary on on globalization and then also related it to his new book. I managed to read the preface while waiting and he read the first chapter aloud. I found his reading style a little odd. His delivery was enthusiastic and endearingly geeky. There were certain passages where he clearly looked up and paused briefly, expecting laughter from the audience.

While I’ve read many of his articles in various magazines, the only book I’ve read is his collaboration with William Gibson, The Difference Engine, which I didn’t particularly care for. So far, the new one seems like it’ll be a fast read. It’s set in the recent past with the first chapter occurring on 9/11 and looks like it’ll be part thriller and part commentary on recent events. He mentioned during that signing that he’s currently working on a book set fifty years into the future.

 Posted by on May 18, 2004 at 6:53 pm

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