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Headcrash
When Jack Burroughs, a brilliant young computer programmer, is given his pink slip, he is offered the opportunity to use his skills for a little industrial espionage. Donning the guise of his online alter ego, Max Kool, Burroughs transforms himself into one of the hippest cybernetic surfers on the InfoBahn. "Bethke has taken the computer industry and thrown it in a blender . . . savagely funny".--"Seattle Weekly".
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
December 20, 2008
Devoid of any real lasting quality, but it did lend me the phrase "I BRAKE FOR HALLUCINATIONS"; with much joy and immediacy, this was keyed into the Media Play sign-making machine and turned into a bumper sticker for my 1980 Toyota Corolla Hatchback of Doom.
January 23, 2022
Loved this one!
March 5, 2023
Bruce Bethke is one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre and the man who invented the term "cyberpunk" itself. I love his short story of the same title which started it all!
Headcrash was his first novel and it's a crazy ride through the early days of cyberpunk.
Many authors and readers take the genre extremely seriously, some even see it as a political movement--which is, of course, total nonsense.
Others believe cyberpunk is dead while some purists don't want to touch anything that was written after 1990.
In Headcrash Bruce Bethke makes fun of this in a hilarious way. The book is a parody of the most common cyberpunk tropes and he even makes fun of the term cyberpunk itself.
At a certain point in the story, the hero of the book, a hacker named Max Kool is introduced to several secret groups in cyberspace. There are cryopunks, cipherpunks, ciderpunks...and the worst of them all: the cyberpunks.
This is clearly a very loving slap on the hand to those who complain there's not enough "punk" in cyberpunk...
Sadly, this wonderful book is out of print and hard to come by. But if you can find it somewhere secondhand, I highly recommend giving Headcrash a shot. It's brilliant and a must-read for all cyberpunks!
Headcrash was his first novel and it's a crazy ride through the early days of cyberpunk.
Many authors and readers take the genre extremely seriously, some even see it as a political movement--which is, of course, total nonsense.
Others believe cyberpunk is dead while some purists don't want to touch anything that was written after 1990.
In Headcrash Bruce Bethke makes fun of this in a hilarious way. The book is a parody of the most common cyberpunk tropes and he even makes fun of the term cyberpunk itself.
At a certain point in the story, the hero of the book, a hacker named Max Kool is introduced to several secret groups in cyberspace. There are cryopunks, cipherpunks, ciderpunks...and the worst of them all: the cyberpunks.
This is clearly a very loving slap on the hand to those who complain there's not enough "punk" in cyberpunk...
Sadly, this wonderful book is out of print and hard to come by. But if you can find it somewhere secondhand, I highly recommend giving Headcrash a shot. It's brilliant and a must-read for all cyberpunks!
March 27, 2016
An irrelevant take on the Cyber Punk novel. It'll be dated now (Gore never made President), but still a lot of fun. There is an experimental VR rig that can turn anyone into a super user, opening the entire net to their every whim, and everyone wants it.
April 20, 2010
so... i'm not even sure where to begin. good sci-fi is timeless. it utilizes universal truths, morality plays, ethics and political science to prove its points and point out the follys of current situations. what it does not do is lampoon itself as a genre. it does not attempt to create a MAD magazine skit out of something fleeting. this- this- this thing... was an abortion. i have no idea how this won the philip k dick award. i don't understand the criteria for the award, so far, honestly. this book wasn't fun or zany or original or anything of the sort. it was infantile. it was juvenile. it was worthless.
December 13, 2017
Headcrash is an early piece of cyberpunk. I tried to read Neuromancer by William Gibson, back in '96 or so and got absolutely nothing out of it. I had not as yet tried a computer. I must have gotten a bit more savvy. I found this book to be hilarious at times, but there was a lot of sophomoric humor. If you are looking for something light and funny to read, give it a try.
January 4, 2018
Twenty year old cyberpunk satire is a bit dated but still a good deal of fun.
July 13, 2019
Some fun ideas and interesting to read from an historical perspective, especially with the growth of global multinationals and the power they wield.
August 2, 2023
My friend’s dad was an English professor who taught a freshmen seminar on science fiction, with a focus on cyberpunk literature. The summer after my eighth grade year, he loaned me Snow Crash, a novel on his reading list, and my life was never the same after that. I ended up reading almost his entire course syllabus, which included Headcrash. I’m sure the novel made me laugh, but at the time I’m not sure I realized it was satire and that it was lampooning the cyberpunk genre. I thought that Headcrash was so cool; Snow Crash no doubt had an influence on me as a young writer, but having reread Headcrash, I can see how much it influenced by early science fiction writing as well (and perhaps my views on working and office life and the role of computers and technology in society). But now that my cynicism has been steeped by a decade of working in Silicon Valley, I can see more clearly what the novel was poking fun at (or mocking, as some might say).
But I also have to admit that the novel is not great. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s also really, really dumb at times; it’s hard to tell which parts are satire and which might just be earnest attempts at humor, but a lot of its humor gets a bit stale and repetitive over the course of the novel. And the ending is really, really dumb, maybe so dumb that my brain erased any memory of it.
Moreover, I have to wonder: why satirize cyberpunk? Was the genre ripe for satire by 1995? Perhaps cyberpunk had an outsized influence on the burgeoning personal computer industry, and Internet culture, but I can’t imagine it had much sway in any other literary circle; I can’t imagine anyone outside of computer nerds even reading cyberpunk, much less putting any stock into it. Lots of media, from Snow Crash to Headcrash to the movie Hackers, was satirizing cyberpunk in the mid-1990s, so maybe cyberpunk was bigger than I thought, or maybe the tech sector was drawing scrutiny even back then.
There is a great passage in Headcrash that (unintentionally) channels Naomi Klein’s No Logo to make fun of the commercialization of cyberpunk. If nothing else, this novel serves as a fun time capsule, especially in its sendup of corporate diversity programs, which were as earnest back in 1995 as they are now, and taken as seriously by the common worker in 1995 as they are now.
Unintentionally funny, too, was the novel’s depiction of technology. It’s set in or around 2005, and it features VR and even e-books, but it also talks with awe about OC1 and OC5 lines, references fax modems, and has characters exchanging CD-ROMs; I suppose all of those things were still around in 2005 but were definitely being phased out by then. An even bigger anachronism: the plot centers around novelist and his new book, as if anyone would care about books by 2005!
I give Headcrash a solid three stars: a fun romp, an interesting time capsule of pop culture, but maybe not as clever and savvy as the work of Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Bruce Sterling.
But I also have to admit that the novel is not great. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s also really, really dumb at times; it’s hard to tell which parts are satire and which might just be earnest attempts at humor, but a lot of its humor gets a bit stale and repetitive over the course of the novel. And the ending is really, really dumb, maybe so dumb that my brain erased any memory of it.
Moreover, I have to wonder: why satirize cyberpunk? Was the genre ripe for satire by 1995? Perhaps cyberpunk had an outsized influence on the burgeoning personal computer industry, and Internet culture, but I can’t imagine it had much sway in any other literary circle; I can’t imagine anyone outside of computer nerds even reading cyberpunk, much less putting any stock into it. Lots of media, from Snow Crash to Headcrash to the movie Hackers, was satirizing cyberpunk in the mid-1990s, so maybe cyberpunk was bigger than I thought, or maybe the tech sector was drawing scrutiny even back then.
There is a great passage in Headcrash that (unintentionally) channels Naomi Klein’s No Logo to make fun of the commercialization of cyberpunk. If nothing else, this novel serves as a fun time capsule, especially in its sendup of corporate diversity programs, which were as earnest back in 1995 as they are now, and taken as seriously by the common worker in 1995 as they are now.
Unintentionally funny, too, was the novel’s depiction of technology. It’s set in or around 2005, and it features VR and even e-books, but it also talks with awe about OC1 and OC5 lines, references fax modems, and has characters exchanging CD-ROMs; I suppose all of those things were still around in 2005 but were definitely being phased out by then. An even bigger anachronism: the plot centers around novelist and his new book, as if anyone would care about books by 2005!
I give Headcrash a solid three stars: a fun romp, an interesting time capsule of pop culture, but maybe not as clever and savvy as the work of Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Bruce Sterling.
February 20, 2018
This book was ridiculous but fun. It is corny, farcical and without great merit. This is the kind of book you read when you want something light that you can finish in a day or two without expending a great deal of mental energy. The three star rating may be a tad generous, but I did smile at a couple parts and appreciated the repetitive humor. The Who? No, not them.... I don't regret reading it though it certainly isn't at the top of the list of books I would recommend.
August 30, 2024
What a great book! It was cyber-snarky, tech-cool, phenomenally funny, and was not opposed to using bad puns, which I highly admire! Though this was written by the writer who is credited with creating the term “cyberpunk�, it was a Sci-Fi thrill ride that had no qualms about also being utterly ridiculous at the same time. There were so many times that I laughed out loud. A beautiful balance of smart and goofy. This� is my kind of book. An absolute joy to read.
November 8, 2019
Nice, funny book that make fun of all those way to serious Sci-Fi (and for this reason, quite often very boring, repetitive and obnoxious) cyberpunk classic. You have to read it only if you can have a good laugh at yourself.
March 23, 2018
I have an Orbit Books paperback published November 1995 with this cover and ISBN: 9781857233520
May 4, 2019
The parody cyberpunk novel we didn't need. Bro humour.
August 11, 2019
Brilliant! I enjoyed every page!
January 13, 2020
I'm an IT guy. It didn't age well.
November 23, 2020
This book had me laughing out loud. I enjoyed the adventure, I enjoyed the universe, and I liked the unexpected Brave New World ending.
Read
June 3, 2021ewan
July 20, 2023
Claus Nymann anbefaler
March 21, 2017
absolute garbage. written by a man-child. hated hated hated every page of it.
January 9, 2023
lost my sci-fi virginity to this and wanted to re-read it for nostalgia’s sake. it didn’t age very well. particularly the constant references to the proctoprod. i finished it, but the back half was a real slog.
May 9, 2024
I had to almost constantly remind myself that it is satire. Interestingly, the basic ideas of the plot feel a lot like the ideas of The Matrix.
July 22, 2014
I'm so pissed off I read this book. It took a real stretch of imagination to buy into the virtual reality world the author creates, but then you reach the ending and it's so insanely stupid, you wonder what the hell you just did and why. I'm never going to get those hours of my life back!
Jack Burroughs is a sysadmin for a large multinational corporation who loses his day job because of a vindictive new boss. However, in his off hours -- which he now has a lot of -- he resides in cyberspace, in a virtual reality world. He likes to hang out in a virtual bar called Heaven, where he has created a cool version of himself, unlike his mega-nerd reality. He hangs out there with his best friend. Strangely, a hot woman calling herself Amber comes along offering him a million dollars to commit cyberpiracy and steal some files from his former employer, or so he thinks. He takes her up on it, with the support of his buddy, and is shipped some cutting edge virtual reality gear, which includes gloves, footwear, a bra, and yes, an anal dildo. That took some doing on the author's part. Still, he jacks up, goes in, gets the info, delivers it and is told it was only a test. Now he has to do the hard part -- the real job. Well, you would think thievery from a large corporation with strong defenses would be hard, but now he has to go up against -- get this -- an author. Yep, a big, bad writer. Who works with the Department of Defense on his insipid novels, so he allegedly has all of the cutting edge cyber defenses. That was really hard to believe. Nonetheless, he and his virtual reality buddies storm the place and he gets waxed, waking up -- I think -- in what's supposed to be a semi-real courtroom, staffed by a teddy bear judge, a prosecuting doll, and a bird, among others. There he's sentenced to exile on a deserted island, where he apparently goes, only to wind up a beach boy in Hawaii. And that's the end. How freakin' STUPID is that??? It's like the author wrote himself into a corner with his craziness and decided to go balls to the wall with total insanity to end the book because he couldn't think of anything better. This was a stupid book and I can't believe I wasted parts of two otherwise good days on it. Certainly not recommended. Not even good cyberpunk. Oh, and the author claims to have invented the word "cyberpunk," just as an FYI. Whatever.
Jack Burroughs is a sysadmin for a large multinational corporation who loses his day job because of a vindictive new boss. However, in his off hours -- which he now has a lot of -- he resides in cyberspace, in a virtual reality world. He likes to hang out in a virtual bar called Heaven, where he has created a cool version of himself, unlike his mega-nerd reality. He hangs out there with his best friend. Strangely, a hot woman calling herself Amber comes along offering him a million dollars to commit cyberpiracy and steal some files from his former employer, or so he thinks. He takes her up on it, with the support of his buddy, and is shipped some cutting edge virtual reality gear, which includes gloves, footwear, a bra, and yes, an anal dildo. That took some doing on the author's part. Still, he jacks up, goes in, gets the info, delivers it and is told it was only a test. Now he has to do the hard part -- the real job. Well, you would think thievery from a large corporation with strong defenses would be hard, but now he has to go up against -- get this -- an author. Yep, a big, bad writer. Who works with the Department of Defense on his insipid novels, so he allegedly has all of the cutting edge cyber defenses. That was really hard to believe. Nonetheless, he and his virtual reality buddies storm the place and he gets waxed, waking up -- I think -- in what's supposed to be a semi-real courtroom, staffed by a teddy bear judge, a prosecuting doll, and a bird, among others. There he's sentenced to exile on a deserted island, where he apparently goes, only to wind up a beach boy in Hawaii. And that's the end. How freakin' STUPID is that??? It's like the author wrote himself into a corner with his craziness and decided to go balls to the wall with total insanity to end the book because he couldn't think of anything better. This was a stupid book and I can't believe I wasted parts of two otherwise good days on it. Certainly not recommended. Not even good cyberpunk. Oh, and the author claims to have invented the word "cyberpunk," just as an FYI. Whatever.
February 3, 2016
Книгу мне выпало читать в ежегодном флэшмобе, и мозги мои закипели через три секунды после того, как я увидела название, обложку и год издания. Ну вот, подумала я, какое-то киберпанковское старье.
Офигительное киберпанковское старье! Брюс Бетке написал классику киберпанка и одновременно очень хорошую пародию, респект чуваку. Читалось очень медленно, необходимы были передышки, ибо так много и знатно хохотать нельзя. Грубоватым, но беспроигрышным юмором Бетке очень напомнил де Ченси с его Замком Опасным. Не могу объяснить, почему я ржу как конь над такими вещами, ведь они пошлые и совсем не смешные! Но, видимо, головушку не обманешь :D
Главный герой, он же Пайл, сразу завоевал все мои симпатии. Неудачник, который в виртуальной реальности превращается в звезду. Ему сопутствуют обиженные виртуальные подружки, странные реальные, чеканутая мамаша, дебильная работа, начальница-узурпаторша, долги и чуть дальше по сюжету � полный карьерный беспросвет. Но при погружении в виртуальные реалии мальчик теряет все прыщи и неудачи, запрыгивает на свой харлей, тусит в местном притоне и раздает щелбаны нубам. И при всем при этом не теряет чувства юмора.
Особенной проработкой книга не отличается, джонни-мнемоники отсутствуют, экшн весь остается в виртуале, концовка диковата, зато есть хакеры. Все четыре балла � за юмор, который забивается в каждую микросхемку. И за нелепые совпадения, вроде того, что практически все значимые фигуры из реальной жизни Пайла так или иначе присутствуют в виртуальной, и серия ревелейшенов ближе к концу книжки доставляет конкретно. Первый раз думаешь: «вау». Второй: «ну не может быть!!». Третий: «Я ЗНАЛ, Я ЗНАЛ!!!». Четвертый, хмуро потирая лоб: «бл, я ведь так и думал».
Офигительное киберпанковское старье! Брюс Бетке написал классику киберпанка и одновременно очень хорошую пародию, респект чуваку. Читалось очень медленно, необходимы были передышки, ибо так много и знатно хохотать нельзя. Грубоватым, но беспроигрышным юмором Бетке очень напомнил де Ченси с его Замком Опасным. Не могу объяснить, почему я ржу как конь над такими вещами, ведь они пошлые и совсем не смешные! Но, видимо, головушку не обманешь :D
Главный герой, он же Пайл, сразу завоевал все мои симпатии. Неудачник, который в виртуальной реальности превращается в звезду. Ему сопутствуют обиженные виртуальные подружки, странные реальные, чеканутая мамаша, дебильная работа, начальница-узурпаторша, долги и чуть дальше по сюжету � полный карьерный беспросвет. Но при погружении в виртуальные реалии мальчик теряет все прыщи и неудачи, запрыгивает на свой харлей, тусит в местном притоне и раздает щелбаны нубам. И при всем при этом не теряет чувства юмора.
Особенной проработкой книга не отличается, джонни-мнемоники отсутствуют, экшн весь остается в виртуале, концовка диковата, зато есть хакеры. Все четыре балла � за юмор, который забивается в каждую микросхемку. И за нелепые совпадения, вроде того, что практически все значимые фигуры из реальной жизни Пайла так или иначе присутствуют в виртуальной, и серия ревелейшенов ближе к концу книжки доставляет конкретно. Первый раз думаешь: «вау». Второй: «ну не может быть!!». Третий: «Я ЗНАЛ, Я ЗНАЛ!!!». Четвертый, хмуро потирая лоб: «бл, я ведь так и думал».
March 21, 2011
My, how things change, and how they stay the same.
Headcrash brings us the story of one Jack Burroughs, a sysadmin for a multinational conglomerate, who keeps his day job only because it finances his excursions into cyberspace, where in virtual reality he is cool dude MAX_KOOL instead of a nerd. Unfortunately, due to internal politics and the innate inability to keep his mouth shut at inopportune moments, Jack loses said day job. Thus unemployed, he plunges head first -- or butt first, as the case may be -- into his virtual world, eventually taking on a commission to do a little cyberpiracy in exchange for a considerable remuneration. The fact that he'll be looting the database of his former employer has nothing to do with his acceptance of the job. Nope, nothing at all.
Written in 1995 and taking place in 2005, the storyline is somewhat dated and improbably technologically advanced from the perspective of 2011. Not being a gamer, I can't say whether the virtual reality environment as depicted here is realistic or even possible. The story moves at a frenetic pace, with hardly a break to catch one's breath. Regardless, it's great fun, full of inside geek jokes and pop culture references.
And seriously, how can you not like a book that begins:
C:\DOS
C:\DOS RUN
RUN, DOS! RUN!
Headcrash brings us the story of one Jack Burroughs, a sysadmin for a multinational conglomerate, who keeps his day job only because it finances his excursions into cyberspace, where in virtual reality he is cool dude MAX_KOOL instead of a nerd. Unfortunately, due to internal politics and the innate inability to keep his mouth shut at inopportune moments, Jack loses said day job. Thus unemployed, he plunges head first -- or butt first, as the case may be -- into his virtual world, eventually taking on a commission to do a little cyberpiracy in exchange for a considerable remuneration. The fact that he'll be looting the database of his former employer has nothing to do with his acceptance of the job. Nope, nothing at all.
Written in 1995 and taking place in 2005, the storyline is somewhat dated and improbably technologically advanced from the perspective of 2011. Not being a gamer, I can't say whether the virtual reality environment as depicted here is realistic or even possible. The story moves at a frenetic pace, with hardly a break to catch one's breath. Regardless, it's great fun, full of inside geek jokes and pop culture references.
And seriously, how can you not like a book that begins:
C:\DOS
C:\DOS RUN
RUN, DOS! RUN!
May 28, 2011
Over-the-top cyberpunk-ish humorous action novel. In the distant future (the year 2005 -- which was only 10 years out from when the book was written), an IT nerd gets laid off from his boring day job, but gets an huge contract to steal some files in virtual reality. Hijinks ensue.
Is this book satirizing cyberpunk, or reveling in it? Maybe a little of both. "Ha ha, isn't that silly -- and sort of awesome, too?" The story doesn't make a lot of sense, the adventure is wacky and outlandish, and the comedy is pretty shallow. And yet... even with all the flaws, the author keeps the novel moving, and it's easy to keep on reading.
I think some people will love the style of comedy in this book -- great. Other people may like to see what a mid 90's vision of computer and network technology of the future will look like -- sure. Anyone else can probably skip this book, and not be missing much.
Is this book satirizing cyberpunk, or reveling in it? Maybe a little of both. "Ha ha, isn't that silly -- and sort of awesome, too?" The story doesn't make a lot of sense, the adventure is wacky and outlandish, and the comedy is pretty shallow. And yet... even with all the flaws, the author keeps the novel moving, and it's easy to keep on reading.
I think some people will love the style of comedy in this book -- great. Other people may like to see what a mid 90's vision of computer and network technology of the future will look like -- sure. Anyone else can probably skip this book, and not be missing much.
September 13, 2022
Genuinely one of my favourite books. This is getting panned in the reviews for I guess not being on par with Neuromancer, which is a silly comparison to begin with. Yeah, similar genre, but this is 100% tongue in cheek. I love the early idea of how the information super highway will look and behave (if the Metaverse has its way maybe it will).
It has some unique quirks too like "ads" and popups in the text.
Won't ever be considered a classic on the literary front, but a fun and funny read none-the-less. Don't let the haters ruin this for you.
It has some unique quirks too like "ads" and popups in the text.
Won't ever be considered a classic on the literary front, but a fun and funny read none-the-less. Don't let the haters ruin this for you.
March 14, 2015
For the most part I had no clue where this book was going. I thought it was going to be a Geek office comedy but that ended at around page 100. It was a 90's vr data heist. I enjoyed the book. It had that 90's vr is going to change the world vibe. Now that vr is coming back in a big way this book is worth a read.
February 2, 2015
Esilarante parodia archeo-Cyberpunk,
terribilmente datato (specie nella parte technologico-informatica).
Traduzione difficoltosa - l'edizione originale e' fuori catalogo da anni.
Solo per nerd appassionati di epoche storiche IT ormai tramontate (quando andavano di moda la Realtà Virtuale e le Autostrade Informatiche)...
terribilmente datato (specie nella parte technologico-informatica).
Traduzione difficoltosa - l'edizione originale e' fuori catalogo da anni.
Solo per nerd appassionati di epoche storiche IT ormai tramontate (quando andavano di moda la Realtà Virtuale e le Autostrade Informatiche)...
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