Coming off the stunningly beside-the-point thread on IDM about gay electronica in which I just participated, here's another one:
I read science fiction novels all the time, always have, probably always will. It's up there on my list of grand obsessions along with electronic music. In fact I frequently put on techno and read sci fi. Both techno and sci fi are redolent of the same sort of inverted nostalgia for the future: We're in the future now, and it has both surpassed the Sci Fi I was reading 30 years ago, and come out a lot meaner and sadder. Anyways, I've read a couple of books lately that touch on Detroit: "The Impossible Birds" Patrick O'Leary http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=52798875 I won't synopsize because synpopses of Sci Fi novels always sound absurd and dorky, but it is concerned with a weird virtual-reality afterlife brought about by aliens who appear as hummingbirds. The end of the book takes place in and around Detroit, including Greektown and the RenCen. A pivotal character lives in a house out in the burbs that for some strange reason reminded me of Ron Murphy's old place. "Accidental Creatures" Anne Harris http://www.epiphyte.net/SF/accidental-creatures.html Just getting into this. Pretty wicked kinda post-cyberpunk dystopia set in Detroit. The Fisher Building plays a large role, and the pitting of a large corporation against a disenfranchised population is a not-too-subtle allegory for Detroit and the auto industry. Anne Harris according to the jacket copy lives in Royal Oak, and she really nails the feel of Detroit. I wouldn't be surprised if someone on 313 knows her -- if you do tell her she done good.
