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Second Lives: A Journey through Virtual Worlds Audiobook
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(3.05) - 74 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Second Lives takes us on a revelatory journey through the electronic looking-glass as Tim Guest investigates one of the most bizarre phenomena of the twenty-first century: virtual lives.
Each week, thirty-five to fifty million people worldwide abandon reality for virtual worlds. They create a virtual body, work virtual jobs, and make virtual friends and family. And as online communities like SecondLife, EverQuest, and MySpace attract more members, the lines between the real and the imaginary become blurry. After all, in these virtual realities, you can build houses, make and sell works of art, earn real money, and get married and divorced. On web sites like eBay, people sell virtual clothes and rent virtual property for real cash, for a total of nearly $800 million worth each year.
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"Fascinating. I had no idea. People are paying real money for stuff that doesn't really exist. I was intrigued enough to sign up for a free Second Lives account, but am not navigating through it very well. "
— Kate (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Rich and colourful…an important mapping of a new social frontier.”
— Guardian (London) -
“Astonishing.”
— Sunday Times (London) -
“Remarkably timely.”
— Sunday Telegraph (London) -
“Garcia is engaged in a laid-back sort of way but is open to expressions of surprise.”
— Audiofile
Second Lives Listener Reviews
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" I read this three years after it was published and it feels totally dated. The world he paints did not happen and the tone of the author was a little too excited, a little too vested. "
— David, 12/6/2012 -
" Fascinating. I had no idea. People are paying real money for stuff that doesn't really exist. I was intrigued enough to sign up for a free Second Lives account, but am not navigating through it very well. "
— Kate, 10/13/2012 -
" it helps me alot to guide me as newbie in Second Life. "
— Imanz, 7/28/2012 -
" It certainly opened my eyes to a world I didn't really know existed at the time although the book itself did drag a little in places. Not bad have read worse. "
— Steven, 6/26/2012 -
" It certainly opened my eyes to a world I didn't really know existed at the time although the book itself did drag a little in places. Not bad have read worse. "
— Steven, 12/11/2010 -
" I read this three years after it was published and it feels totally dated. The world he paints did not happen and the tone of the author was a little too excited, a little too vested. "
— David, 10/23/2010 -
" it helps me alot to guide me as newbie in Second Life. "
— Imanz, 5/18/2008 -
" As a Second Life resident, I wanted to love this book. It's not that it's bad as such, just a bit too much padding. Would have been better as a much shorter book or maybe a series of articles. <br/> <br/>Still, worth looking at if you're interested in finding out more about SL "
— Martinxo, 9/1/2007
About Tim Guest
Tim Guest’s first book, My Life in Orange, was a memoir about growing up in a series of communes. His journalism has been published in the New York Times, Guardian, Telegraph, New Scientist, and Vogue.
About Richard Powers
Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.