Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom » 2006

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Full-cast audio adaptation of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

The talented folks at DaveFilms have produced a full-cast audiobook adaptation of my award-winning novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. They're transmitting it in ten parts, as a podcast -- part 1 just went live.

This is the second audio adaptation of Down and Out -- the podcaster Mark Forman read the book aloud on his podcast in August 2005.

I love the different adaptations of the book -- it's amazing to hear my words read by so many different people, with so many different choices about how to dramatize it. Often, the reading isn't how I heard it in my own head when I wrote it, which is cool -- it's wild to hear how your own words sound to someone else.

Link to part 1 as MP3, Link to part 1 as streaming Quicktime, Podcast feed

Comments (6) | Posted on October 20, 2006 03:25 PM

Whuffie is now running code

Joseph Petviashvili is a fan of my novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom -- he likes it so much that he's created a software version of "Whuffie," the reputation currency that forms the basis of the Bitchun Society I described in the book.

Bitchun.org is runs on open source code (still in alpha release), creating a marketplace for trading and rewarding favors for your friends and like-minded strangers. It's pretty amazing to have something I invented for a science fiction novel turned into running code!

What's the Bitchun Society and what's whuffie?
Whuffie is a high five, it's that look of appreciation you give for a job well done, it's a thumbs up. It's your personal capital with your friends and neighbors. It's whuffie! People who give out and receive whuffie are in the Bitchun Society. It was first mentioned in Cory Doctorow's novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

What is the Bitchun Society for?
Right now, being part of the Bitchun Society lets you find people who share your interests and can help you through the use of a special Skype bot we call the Bitchun Butler.

(Thanks, Joe!)

Comments (0) | Posted on October 4, 2006 09:14 PM

‘Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom’ is a novel of ideas. It shares more in common with the work of Stanislaw Lem than with William Gibson. Cheap laughs and deep thoughts jostle one another, having a swell time as the reader enjoys the painful revelations that await Jules. Doctorow covers a lot of conceptual ground in a small space, and he makes something that’s rather complex look ridiculously easy. But don’t try this at home kids. You may injure your brain. If you’re not backed up, then you might not be able to recover. We may think we’re bitchin’ — but we’re not Bitchun yet, not by a long shot.

Rick Kleffel,
Trashotron

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Paperback ISBN: 076530953X
Hardcover ISBN: 0765304368

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