He’s already died and been rebooted three times, so it’s not that big a deal, but when Jules’s competitors have him shot and killed, it’s still irritating. When a new team of engineers plan to remake the old-school Disney attractions like the Hall of Presidents and the Haunted Mansion into virtual reality all-sensory assaults, Jules feels strangely protective. In this time of endless luxury, and a ridiculously endless buffet of life choices, Disney World remains a primary tourist attraction, and its most ardent supporter is clueless protagonist Jules, who works there with girlfriend Lil. Further, everyone has a Whuffie score, a constantly updated log of how much respect is afforded to you by your peers (it’s an insecure type of meritocracy). In the Bitchun world, everyone is wired within an inch of their lives and their personalities are backed up several times a year so that if their current body dies, a cloned one is simply grown for them and programmed with their last backup. Cyber culture maven and first-novelist Doctorow (no relation to E.L.) sets his perky little dystopia in a future world where the regular old society of today has been taken over by the Bitchun (pronounced, one would imagine, “Bitchin’ ”) Society. Walt Disney’s vice-like grip on the American imagination continues unabated, even many long years into the future when one might hope that people would know better.
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