Battle of the Sexes, Part II

John Montgomery

THE WAR OF DESIRE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE CLOSE OF THE MECHANICAL AGE by Allucquére Rosanne Stone, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-19362-0, $22.50

The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age by Allucquére Rosanne Stone is exactly the kind of book you'd expect to find the word hermeneutics in. It's also the kind of book in which you'll find the word s***head . Between strings of obscure words and captivating stories, you'll discover a philosophical analysis of what it is to interact with other people in our increasingly digital world.

Stone employs several writing styles, ostensibly in an attempt to echo the confusion of a digital culture. It's a little like reading an article from Esquire r ight after one from the Journal of Sociology Nerds : a bit startling but invigorating. But Stone is at her best when telling stories. Her recounting of the trial of a man accused of raping one of the personas of a woman with multiple personality disorder is interesting, enlightening, and dramatic.

Throughout the book, though, she resorts to academic prose. One example is in her description of how a customer of a phone-sex service will supply missing information (e.g., how a partner looks) with idealized fantasy. Her explanation goes on for nearly two pages and says nothing more than that people who listen to phone sex use their imaginations. Surprise.

The book concludes with an attempt to draw together these diverse styles: "In this brief time of upheaval and promise that always accompanies the transition between modes of experience and thought there is a window of opportunity to transform the way academic discourse in the humanities and social sciences works." After making this point, S tone goes off on a peculiar extended metaphor -- that of the vampire Lestat as anthropologist. Hmmm.

There are a few wonderful stories in The War , but there are too many places, particularly in the beginning, where it's just too easy to put it down and reach for your worn copy of Neuromancer or Snow Crash . These pieces of fiction relate most of what Stone is trying to convey far more effectively and memorably.

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John Montgomery, who is located in BYTE's San Mateo office, heads the features department. He can be reached on the Internet or BIX at jmontgomery@bix.com .