Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Zadie Smith's "Meet the President!" (short story, augmented reality, free)

Illustration by Martin Ansin accompanying the original publication in The New Yorker of short story Meet the President by Zadie Smith. Image shows the teenage boy equipped with latest augmented reality gadgets leading a young girl to a funeral, while simultaneously playing a video game.While the story didn't do anything for me, I'm noting it mostly because I haven't read many stories involving widespread use of mobile augmented reality gadgets.

Story summary.

A world divided into rich elite having access to latest electronics, & provincials with only ordinary human senses. A world where an agency (government?) casually kills people.

This is the story of a teenage boy from electronic elite & his total disconnect from normal reality.

Fact sheet.

First published: The New Yorker, 12 August 2013.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.

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