William Gibson - No Maps for These Territories

I've read everything of Gibson's and have owned this DVD for years, but just watched it for the first time today. Gibson is talking in the back of a car in 1999, and it was only occasionally when he would refer to something time-specific that I would be pulled back into a mindset of framing that his context on this DVD is before the iPod, 9/11, and the iPhone. I would then pause and think of what that same interview would be like today, and what is just around the corner of today.

A brilliant long-form interview with William Gibson, one of the founders of the 'Cyberpunk' movement; a futurist and best-selling author of books on the near future - or are they about today? A must watch. DVD, prime rental or purchase. Amazing editing, sound design, excellent interview with Mr. Gibson.

This documentary is a rare insight into the mind of William Gibson. Listening to him talk about how he writes and how he sees the world never ceases to be fascinating. 'No Maps' is especially interesting given our present-day context, it rather shows how William Gibson once again accidentally predicted, if not subconsciously helped to give birth to, our modern culture.

Buy anything by William Gibson, anything at all. His books are amazing and deserve to be read, and this video is just as wonderful.

now I know where the term cyberspace comes from

I don't ever seem to have the wherewithal to see my favorite authors (when/if they come around) - so here was the converstion I would have liked to have had with Mr. Gibson.

Recently I finished reading "Distrust That Particular Flavor," the new book of William Gibson essays covering about 30 of his nonfiction pieces for various magazines. I'd read short interviews with Gibson before, but "Distrust" really got me to wondering about this man and his ideas and what ends up in his books.This documentary is an excellent introduction to William Gibson the man and the writer. He covers a lot of topics in his 88 minutes, including a number you've heard him talk about before, like the mediated world and his drugs habits when younger, and some topics you probably haven't heard him talk about before, like pornography as a prime mover of mass media. He talks a good bit about his writing background, how he got started and how he got famous, and he gives interesting insights into how his writing process works. There are readings of some of his works by Bono of U2 and others interspersed into the interview, which grounds Gibson's comments with his written words as opposed to spoken words.Other reviewers havn't liked the visual tricks the filmmakers employed in their documentary, but I did like them; they seemed appropriate to the subject matter and weren't over the top, as far as I was concerned. The moving car added visual interest to what was essentially a talking head interview, and the fast takes and video clips of the world outside the car tied the words to the world. I thought they could have done something more with computers, since computers are such a part of his earlier works, like pictures of computers firing up, or network maps, etc. There is some imagery of search functions which works with the subject of the film, but I thought there could have been more.Overall this documentary gives good insight into an important writer's creative process and the ideas that move him to write what he does, and how he does. Some of it I have picked up on before in Gibson's written works and interviews, but the documentary is mostly fresh and stimulating. If you've read some of Gibson's work and are curious about the man behind the words, this is a great way to get that information with a small investment on your part. Cheers!

If you've read William Gibson, or are at all interested in the ethnographic aspects of technology, then this is a film you will probably want to see. At times the music video techniques of the too-hip-for-its-own-good cinematography is headache inducing. Likewise, some of Gibson's rambling rumination is a little self-indulgent - he doesn't always have much to say about technology or humanity that hasn't been uttered to the point of cliché. He's at his best when talking about his own work, although he is often maddeningly self-effacing. Like his novels, he always seems like he's about to say something huge and mind-blowing, but never quite gets there. Still, he is a fascinating and often eloquent interview subject and there is much more good here than bad. The readings from Gibson's novels by U2 singer Bono are especially fun, and the tomandandy soundtrack provides a lovely melancholic atmosphere for the proceedings.