Global Network Navigator (GNN)' Brings the Cyber-Spirituality of Alexander
Besher's Rim to Internet Readers

Publishes Critically Acclaimed Work in GNN's Book Story

Berkeley, CA -- August 8, 1995 -- Readers of the Global Network Navigator
can now enjoy a tour of Alexander Besher's highly praised novel, Rim in
GNN's Book Story. Nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award, this campy and
wildly inventive story reveals a bizarre future in which technology and
consciousness converge.

"If you can imagine a world with interactive sushi, virtual T'ai Chi, and
software programs that digitize consciousness, then you're ready for Rim,"
said Barbara Yoder, editor of GNN's Book Story. "Besher's book transports
us to a fascinating future universe perched on the edge of a previously
unrealized potential. It is a place where technology promises human
liberation and at the same time threatens complete slavery of the mind.
Even today these ideas are both magnificent and unnerving."

GNN is posting several chapters from the book, along with a lengthy
interview with the author. Readers can send their comments and questions
via email to the author directly from the site.

About the Book

Rim takes place thirty five years from now when Satori, the world's largest
-- and creepiest -- multinational corporation, runs a virtual reality
metropolis, or virtuopolis, that simultaneously entertains, educates, and
titillates millions. Suddenly, in the midst of cut-throat megacorporate
warfare, the company's genius CEO disappears and the system crashes with
millions of users trapped inside.

Dr. Frank Gobi, professor, corporate consultant, and pioneer in the psychic
downloading of consciousness, is recruited to track down the CEO, fix the
system, and end the public health nightmare. Gobi has a personal stake in
this mission: to save his son, the perpetually online "Kundalini Kid,"
who's trapped in a virtual game that's turned sinister and all too real.

How to get there

Book Story is available to anyone with a full connection to the Internet
and any WWW browser. Point browsers to http://gnn.com, the GNN home page,
and click on the Book Story icon. Then simply point and click your way to
Rim. GNN is also available as text to users of Lynx, a test-only browser.

About Alexander Besher

Alexander Besher was born in China to White Russian parents and raised in
Japan. An expert in business, technology, and trends of the Asia-Pacific
region, he wrote an internationally syndicated column, "Pacific Rim" and
the highly regarded compendium, The Pacific Rim Almanac.. Besher has been
editor-in-chief of Chicago Review, has developed a line of Japanese
mystery novels, has been a contributing editor for InfoWorld magazine, and
has served as consulting futurist for Global Business Network.

About GNN

GNN was acquired by America Online, Inc. in June 1995. First launched in
August 1993, GNN is widely recognized as an Internet publishing pioneer.
GNN provides its readers with "The Whole Internet Catalog" -- a reviewed
directory of the best resources on the Internet organized by subject area.
It is one of the leading sources for online publications on travel,
personal finance, sports, and insightful and entertaining articles about
the culture and people of the Internet. GNN can be accessed on the
Internet at http://gnn.com.
 
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