Futuristic strangeness

Distrust That Particular Flavour, by William Gibson, Viking, RRP£12.99, 272 pages

William Gibson, author of such groundbreaking novels as Neuromancer (1984) in which he coined the term “cyberspace”, describes non-fiction writing as “being paid to solo on some instrument vaguely related to one I actually knew how to play”.

There is no reason to suspect Gibson of false modesty, and some of his non-fiction pieces collected here are less successful than others. But what is most apparent is how ahead of the curve he has been: pieces from the 1990s could have been written yesterday.

The tone throughout this collection falls somewhere between jocular and wry. Gibson delights in scaring Hollywood directors with visions of digital technology, glories in the futuristic strangeness of Japan and, in one of his finest pieces, rails against “Disneyland with the death penalty” – Singapore. His singular mind, whether tackling hikaru dorodango (shiny mud balls from Japan) or the “capital-F Future”, is a wonderful instrument and he plays it well.