War Of The Worlds Cyberspace And The High-tech Assault On Reality

Warning: A technological revolution is unfolding that promises, in the words of its creators, to redefine what it means to be human. Face-to-face communication ("F2F" to those in the know) is quickly becoming obsolete; already we turn to computers for information, entertainment, companionshipeven love. Science fiction? Hardly. This is the brave new vision of the digital avant-garde, computer crusaders leading a high-tech assault on what was once known as reality. Sophisticated, well-funded, unabashedly messianic, they have the power, the technological know-how, and the marketplace savvy to make good on many of their wildest prophecies. WithWar of the Worlds,Mark Slouka gives us a funny, but eerily disturbing, humanist's look at the culture of cyberspace.

Mark Slouka is a lecturer in literature and culture at the University of California, San Diego. He’s currently writing a book on the decline of the physical world in modern life, and his fiction has appeared in Harper’s magazine.