«A studied and nuanced interrogation of VR’s potential, as well as a gentle critique of what he sees as a failure of imagination when it comes to the medium’s current proponents ... interspersing the general ideas, principles and promise of VR with intimate autobiography ... aided by the fact that Lanier's childhood was preposterously unusual … combin[ing] tragedy, whimsy and peril in ways that might seem far-fetched for even a David Lynch film»

Observer

«Lanier is a visionary who sees a world suffused with the possibility of good ... As with William Blake, you might first be repelled by the strangeness of it all, the sense of teetering on the edge of madness, but, on looking closer, you realise you are in the presence of a gifted truth-teller»

Brian Appleyard, Sunday Times

«Fascinating as life itself … a modern history of the industry that changed the world»

Hugo Rifkind, The Times

«A terrific book by a supremely intelligent guy ... vivid and absolutely extraordinary»

Evening Standard

«Essential reading, not just for VR-watchers but for anyone interested in how society came to be how it is, and what it might yet become»

Economist