Eastern Standard Tribe is a 2004 science fiction novel by Canadian writer Cory Doctorow. Like Doctorow's first two books, the entire text was released under a Creative Commons license on Doctorow's website, allowing the whole text of the book to be read for free and distributed without the publisher's permission.
The novel takes place in a world where online "tribes" form, where all members set their circadian rhythms to the same time zone even though members may be physically located throughout the world.
The protagonist, Art Berry, has been sent to an insane asylum as a result of a complex conspiracy. Told mostly in flashbacks, Art explains that he works in London as a consultant for the Greenwich 0 tribe. In reality, though, both he and his associate Fede are in fact double-agents for the Eastern Standard Tribe. Despite his talents as a human experience engineer, Art delivers subtly flawed proposals to the GMT tribe in order to undermine them and enable his own tribe to get a coveted contract.
He meets a girl, Linda, after he hits her with his car at 3am. Art has an idea for peer-to-peer music sharing between automobiles, and plans to give it to the EST (taking a cut to himself). However, his girlfriend meets his coworker, Fede, and they plan to double cross the EST and sell the idea to another tribe. Knowing Art won't approve of the plan, they do it behind his back.
Fede later claims he would have cut Art in on the deal afterwards. However, Art figures out what is going on, and as a result they have him committed to an insane asylum to protect their plot.
The book alternates between two points of view: Art meeting Linda in London, and Art in the asylum. The London plot culminates in his attack on Fede when he discovers his betrayal. The asylum plot takes place after his attack on Fede, and culminates in his escape from the asylum and founding of a new company to market health care products using his inside knowledge of psychiatric institutions.
Literary significance and receptionedit
Kirkus Reviews described this novel in their review as "A near-future yarn that would have worked better as a piece of speculative nonfiction."[1] Regina Schroeder in reviewing for Booklist said that "Doctorow’s fast, bizarre follow-up to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a reaction to the impact of instant global communication in which it is hard to tell whether the phenomena being reacted to have actually been observed or are the consequences of his imagination."[2]
Don D'Ammassa in his review for Chronicle addressed satire in science fiction saying "There was a time when broad satires had an honored place in SF, but that has changed over the course of years, and now novelists have to slip their satire in around an otherwise serious story most of the time. Cory Doctorow pushes the envelope a bit, because very little of the present story is particularly serious, but the satire is done with so light a touch that it's not intrusive at all." He described the novel as "funny and superficially lightweight, but when you're done, you might find yourself subject to troubling afterthoughts."[3]
eastern, standard, tribe, 2004, science, fiction, novel, canadian, writer, cory, doctorow, like, doctorow, first, books, entire, text, released, under, creative, commons, license, doctorow, website, allowing, whole, text, book, read, free, distributed, without. Eastern Standard Tribe is a 2004 science fiction novel by Canadian writer Cory Doctorow Like Doctorow s first two books the entire text was released under a Creative Commons license on Doctorow s website allowing the whole text of the book to be read for free and distributed without the publisher s permission Eastern Standard TribeAuthorCory DoctorowCover artistShelley EshkarCountryCanadaLanguageEnglishGenreScience fictionPublisherTor BooksPublication date1 March 2004Media typePrint Hardback amp Paperback Pages224ISBN0 7653 0759 6 Hardcover ISBN 0 7653 1045 7 Paperback OCLC52901604Dewey Decimal813 6 22LC ClassPS3604 O27 E23 2004 Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Literary significance and reception 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External linksPlot summary editThe novel takes place in a world where online tribes form where all members set their circadian rhythms to the same time zone even though members may be physically located throughout the world The protagonist Art Berry has been sent to an insane asylum as a result of a complex conspiracy Told mostly in flashbacks Art explains that he works in London as a consultant for the Greenwich 0 tribe In reality though both he and his associate Fede are in fact double agents for the Eastern Standard Tribe Despite his talents as a human experience engineer Art delivers subtly flawed proposals to the GMT tribe in order to undermine them and enable his own tribe to get a coveted contract He meets a girl Linda after he hits her with his car at 3am Art has an idea for peer to peer music sharing between automobiles and plans to give it to the EST taking a cut to himself However his girlfriend meets his coworker Fede and they plan to double cross the EST and sell the idea to another tribe Knowing Art won t approve of the plan they do it behind his back Fede later claims he would have cut Art in on the deal afterwards However Art figures out what is going on and as a result they have him committed to an insane asylum to protect their plot The book alternates between two points of view Art meeting Linda in London and Art in the asylum The London plot culminates in his attack on Fede when he discovers his betrayal The asylum plot takes place after his attack on Fede and culminates in his escape from the asylum and founding of a new company to market health care products using his inside knowledge of psychiatric institutions Literary significance and reception editKirkus Reviews described this novel in their review as A near future yarn that would have worked better as a piece of speculative nonfiction 1 Regina Schroeder in reviewing for Booklist said that Doctorow s fast bizarre follow up to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a reaction to the impact of instant global communication in which it is hard to tell whether the phenomena being reacted to have actually been observed or are the consequences of his imagination 2 Don D Ammassa in his review for Chronicle addressed satire in science fiction saying There was a time when broad satires had an honored place in SF but that has changed over the course of years and now novelists have to slip their satire in around an otherwise serious story most of the time Cory Doctorow pushes the envelope a bit because very little of the present story is particularly serious but the satire is done with so light a touch that it s not intrusive at all He described the novel as funny and superficially lightweight but when you re done you might find yourself subject to troubling afterthoughts 3 See also editTime zone abolitionNotes edit EASTERN STANDARD TRIBE Book Kirkus Reviews 72 1 18 January 1 2004 ISSN 0042 6598 Schroeder Regina February 15 2004 Eastern Standard Tribe Book Booklist 100 12 1047 ISSN 0006 7385 D Ammassa Don March 1 2004 Eastern Standard Tribe Chronicle 26 3 27 ISSN 0195 5365 External links editThe official site for the book on Cory Doctorow s homepage Includes the full free text of the book in many downloadable formats Eastern Standard Tribe at Project Gutenberg Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eastern Standard Tribe amp oldid 1211669938, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
