Gravity's Rainbow (essay)

Leonard, John. "Gravity's Rainbow." The Nation 257.16 (15 Nov. 1993): 580, 582-88.

Review article of five books of interest, with allusions to a number of other works, adding up to a knowledgeable attack from the political Left against postmodernism ("pomo") generally, and even its cyberpunk incarnation—but mostly against "pomo" in academic criticism as a substitute for political action: "When was this meeting where they voted out existential humanism and voted in pomo? Why wasn't I invited?" (588). Books rev. are Virtual Light by W. Gibson, Snow Crash by N. Stephenson, Synners by P. Cadigan(see under fiction); Spasm . . . by Arthur Kroker, and Terminal Identity by S. Bukatman (see under literary criticism). Excellent survey of cyberpunk for "intermediary" and advanced students of the subject. CAUTION: Written in an anti-postmodern version of what has been called in 19th-c. literature "the Spasmodic style." (RDE, 30/12/94)