My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World

My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World
by Julian Dibbell

My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World
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Book Summary Information

Author: Julian Dibbell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1999-01-20
ISBN: 0805036261
Number of pages: 324
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World

Book Review: An Avatar's Autobiography
Summary: 4 Stars

A rather interesting autobiography of a MOO player's life and experiences within LambdaMoo. Tends to drag in a few places, but interesting nonetheless when you consider the dilemmas still facing MMO players today: is it just a game? Is your avatar just a piece of geometry/text on a screen? Or is it more? When your avatar is assaulted, do you feel as though you yourself have been assaulted?

Summary of My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World

Being a true account of the infamous Mr. Bungle and of the author's journey, in consequence thereof, to the heart of a half-real world called LambdaMoo.

From In Cold Blood to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, readers have been gripped by the novelistic rering of eccentric communities torn apart by violent crime.

Julian Dibbell's reporting of the "Mr. Bungle" rape case first appeared as the cover story in The Village Voice. Since that time it has become a cause c?l?bre, cited as a landmark case in numerous books and articles and a source of less discussion on the Internet. That's because the scene of the crime was a "Multi-User Domain," an electronic "salon" where Internet junkies have created their own interactive fantasy realm. In a "place" where race, ger, and identity are infinitely malleable, the addictive denizens had thought they'd escaped all traditional cultural and moral limits. Yet Mr. Bungle's primal transgression challenged all their illusions, confronting even this electronic utopia with the same issues of order and social norms that humanity has faced since the Stone Age. When this fantasy imbroglio threatens Dibbell's actual marriage, we see how the virtual world at once mirrors and mocks real life.

This is the story of one user's experience at a virtual-reality community called LambdaMOO. A MOO--short for multiuser dungeon, object oriented--is a virtual place where participants can construct human-like graphical representations of themselves to interact in a simulated world. Author Julian Dibbell begins by relating the facts surrounding the case of Mr. Bungle, a character who committed the crime of "virtual rape" in this fantastic electronic world, shocking LambdaMOO's members. However, the thread of discussion about this case is minimal and the book ultimately becomes Dibbell's diary of his "research" of this virtual world, which grows gradually more obsessive, and how it affects his RL (real life).

Dibbell offers glimpses of his RL between rich, colorful, and entertaining chapters describing the online community's gossip, his interactions and relationships with the other members, and his first experience with cybersex. What is interesting is that the brief snatches of RL are bland and boring, written in a kind of script format with little more than stage directions for descriptions. This device, plus Dibbell's discussions of his dreams about the MOO, show the reader how deeply involved Dibbell becomes in this community. The turning point comes when Dibbell's membership at LambdaMOO threatens to ruin one of his closest RL relationships. --Cristina Vaamonde

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