| "The Gernsback Continuum" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by William Gibson | |||
| Country | Canada | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Science fiction, cyberpunk | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Universe 11, Burning Chrome | ||
| Publication type | Anthology | ||
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) | ||
| Publication date | 1981 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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"The Gernsback Continuum" is a 1981 science fiction short story by American-Canadian author William Gibson, originally published in the anthology Universe 11 edited by Terry Carr. It was later reprinted in Gibson's collection Burning Chrome, and in Mirrorshades, edited by Bruce Sterling. With some similarity to Gibson's later appraisal of Singapore for Wired magazine in Disneyland with the Death Penalty, as much essay as fiction,[1] it depicts the encounters of an American photographer with the period futuristic architecture of the American Atomic Age and Art Deco when he is assigned to document it for British publishers Barris-Watford, and the gradual incursion of its retro-futuristic hallucinations into his world. "Gernsback" in the title alludes to Hugo Gernsback, the pioneer of early 20th century American pulp magazine science fiction.