223 pages
English language
Published Nov. 10, 2005 by Tor.
Art is a member of the Eastern Standard Tribe, a secret society bound together by a sleep schedule. Around the world, those who wake and sleep on East Coast time find common cause with one another, cooperating, conspiring, to help each other out, coordinated by a global network of Wi-Fi, instant messaging, ubiquitous computing, and a shared love of Manhattan-style bagels. Or perhaps not. Art is, after all, in the nuthouse. He was put there by a conspiracy of his friends and loved ones, fellow travelers from EST hidden in the bowels of Greenwich Mean Time, spies masquerading as management consultants who strive to mire Europe in oatmeal-thick bureaucracy. Eastern Standard Tribe is a story of madness and betrayal, of society after the End of Geography, of the intangible factors that define us as a species, as a tribe, as individuals. Scathing, bitter, and funny, EST examines the immutable truths …
Art is a member of the Eastern Standard Tribe, a secret society bound together by a sleep schedule. Around the world, those who wake and sleep on East Coast time find common cause with one another, cooperating, conspiring, to help each other out, coordinated by a global network of Wi-Fi, instant messaging, ubiquitous computing, and a shared love of Manhattan-style bagels. Or perhaps not. Art is, after all, in the nuthouse. He was put there by a conspiracy of his friends and loved ones, fellow travelers from EST hidden in the bowels of Greenwich Mean Time, spies masquerading as management consultants who strive to mire Europe in oatmeal-thick bureaucracy. Eastern Standard Tribe is a story of madness and betrayal, of society after the End of Geography, of the intangible factors that define us as a species, as a tribe, as individuals. Scathing, bitter, and funny, EST examines the immutable truths of time, of sunrise and sunset of societies smashed and rebuilt in the storm of instant, ubiquitous communication.
I thought it started out a bit slow, plus the story was hard to keep track of with the ever-changing narrations/timelines. But it gets interesting at some point and is a somewhat decent Doctorow.
Funny: I like some of Doctorow's books, but not others.
This one's too preachy in places ("Art" appears to have - hey - thoughts on copyright, brilliant, how unusual for a Doctorow book). The book's written in an odd way, looping back on itself and back to the present; and it doesn't actually work for me too well. But still, at the price I paid I don't suppose I can complain too much.
"Makers" and the excellent "Little Brother" remain my favourites; I'd recommend them over this.
short review in ukrainian:
http://www.tivasyk.info/2010/08/blog-post_17.html
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ще одна повість корі докторова, і приблизно в тому ж жанровому міксі детектива і майже-не-фантастики, але дещо вправніше виписана, — принаймні читається цікавіше і швидше завдяки напруженішій інтризі.
центральний персонаж — молодий чоловік, котрий практично живе онлайн і заробляє на життя простими, але оригінальними винаходами в галузі інформаційних технологій, котрі наче й лежать на поверхні, проте не є очевидними. він закохується в дівчину — проте в якийсь момент його життя раптово робить крутий поворот і приводить його до психічної лікарні… далі — по суті історія монте крісто, але осучаснена й динамічна. читається на одному подиху.
текст доступний в незліченній кількості форматів, вільно.
I mostly liked this book, but there were a couple of places where I was, "And now we've reached the proselytizing portion of our program!" Ah well, the good stuff was very enjoyable.
