I mentioned somewhere (maybe Twitter, though, to be honest, my online correspondence has largely become a blur in the last few months) that I am considering developing an independent study graduate course dealing with cyberpunk and capitalism. This interest follows my attempts to conceptualize cyberpunk as a genre and the pressing curiosity as to the capitalistic claims of the genre. With that in mind, I’ve started putting together a preliminary “reading list.” I am, of course, quite open to suggestions or modifications to this list. Your thoughts are most welcome here.
So, here goes (new additions added at 7:12 PM on Sept. 28th, 10:17 AM on Oct. 1st, and 12:34 PM on Oct. 8th — more additions are on the way, I just haven’t been able to update yet).
Novels:
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Vurt by Jeff Noon
Dead Girls, etc. by Richard Calder (love him)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Crash by J. G. Ballard
The Integrated Man by Michael Berlyn
The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner
When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem
Spin State/Spin Control by Chris Moriarty
Spacetime Donuts by Rudy Rucker
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
Theory, etc.:
Postmodernism by Fredric Jameson
Marx and Lenin (or works on them, at least)
(This section is really where I need suggestions, particularly for books that are not Marxist critiques of capitalism)
So, any thoughts?
