Kalifornia

by Marc Laidlaw

On the eve of California's bicentennial, Poppy Figueroa, a woman who, through the miracle of the wires, can share her every sensation with television viewers, plans to broadcast the birth of her baby.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312088302
• ISBN13: 9780312088309
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Entertaining and savvy

The premise of this book is that everyone (or almost everyone) is now wired to receive continuous media broadcasts, and a few lucky people are wired so they can also send broadcasts. the main characters are all family members, has-beens who were once the stars of a reality-tv-meets-the-brady-bunch type show of unmatched popularity. now, after the show ended in tragedy, they are all depressed, burned out, and suffering from various varieties of naivete. not quite a family member but almost is the lovable butler, a transgenic seal-man. the plot of the book is entertaining, but kind of seems to fall apart towards the end, maybe because it seems to be striving for a happy ending after setting us up for bloodshed, despair, and nonchalant mayhem. i mean, the whole world is watching TV 24/7, aren't they asking for it? the book is surprisingly well written. laidlaw takes a fairly predictable subject matter and premise, and turns it into a really entertaining satire on contemporary popular culture. the language is fresh and unexpected and the characters are compelling and believable, even the seal-man. "kalifornia" is a pretty rare find: science fiction that is immensely readable but still has literary quality and a discerning edge.