Doctorow, Cory, DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM

Cory, Doctorow. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. New York: Tor, 2003. Available on line in downloadable format (see Wikipedia site cited for hyperlink).

Set on a 22nd-century Earth, primarily Walt Disney World in an economy based on "Whuffie" — electronically recorded degrees of esteem —in which death is temporary and optional. See for a seemless interface of humans and high-tech cybernetic gear, and for a plot depending on whether the old-fashioned amimatronic robots of Disney World will be replaced by technologically-mediated memory implanting. CD's title alludes in complex ways to George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London (1933); CD's novel is usefully handled on Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_the_Magic_Kingdom>.

3. FICTION, RDE, 13/VI/12