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It's undoubtedly old hat to many Smiths fans, but if you're even slightly interested in science fiction, there is a Mancunian author named Jeff Noon who has released several virtual reality/cyberpunk books. I'm reading the one that broke him, 1993's "Vurt". About a group of cyber-addicts running around Manchester in the not-so-distant future, looking for lost things and the perfect score.
Noon incorporates devices that will be familiar to Smiths/Moz fans, from emotions like longing, loss, and loneliness, to visual and tactile references like digging shallow graves on the Moors, and he does so in a way that fleshes-out the virtual reality/futuristic aspects of his story telling quite well. The Smiths/Morrissey influence (or perhaps just shared experience, Noon and Morrissey are roughly the same age) are even more apparent in a few stolen or borrowed lines:
"I was stretched out full length on an old settee, in a rented room in Whalley Range..." (p. 196, showing a striking similarity to Miserable Lie, and a nod to Stretch Out and Wait).
Pick up "Vurt" if you like to find Smiths/Moz influences outside of the ordinary, and if you have an itch for slightly difficult yet very satisfying virtual reality (Philip K. Dick, William Gibson) with a Mozchester feel.
Interview with the author
Noon incorporates devices that will be familiar to Smiths/Moz fans, from emotions like longing, loss, and loneliness, to visual and tactile references like digging shallow graves on the Moors, and he does so in a way that fleshes-out the virtual reality/futuristic aspects of his story telling quite well. The Smiths/Morrissey influence (or perhaps just shared experience, Noon and Morrissey are roughly the same age) are even more apparent in a few stolen or borrowed lines:
"I was stretched out full length on an old settee, in a rented room in Whalley Range..." (p. 196, showing a striking similarity to Miserable Lie, and a nod to Stretch Out and Wait).
Pick up "Vurt" if you like to find Smiths/Moz influences outside of the ordinary, and if you have an itch for slightly difficult yet very satisfying virtual reality (Philip K. Dick, William Gibson) with a Mozchester feel.
Interview with the author
