I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life (New Riders)
"Gorgeously illustrated by both imagery and personal recollections, 'I,  Avatar' is a whimsical, well-informed introduction to the virtual world  experience and its broader implications by a seasoned guide with  valuable secrets to impart."- Wagner James Au, author of "The Making of Second Life"."The explosive popularity of virtual worlds like Second Life and World  of Warcraft has thrown a bright cultural spotlight on the avatar -- the  ephemeral body that represents us in these worlds -- but nothing has  illuminated it quite like Mark Stephen Meadows' I, Avatar. Deeply  thoughtful, and vibrantly informed by Meadows' lived encounters with  virtual worlds, the book makes a compelling case for extending the  concept of the avatar beyond the boundaries of those worlds, across the  full range of digitally mediated experience, and into the core of what  makes us human."- Julian Dibbell, author of "Play Money: Or How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot""Mark Meadow's virtual creatures are not your next door neighbours--or  are they? Leaving behind 1990s cyberculture and its underground  aesthetics, with Meadows we descend into a maelstrom of Identity 2.0 in  which business, leasure, sexuality, labour and fashion melt into one."- Geert Lovink, Media Theorist, Net Critic and Activist"In this sweeping and impressive work, Mark Meadows traces the history  of online avatars and explores the profound roles that they play in our  online lives by mediating our communication with others and  contributing to our social interactions, activities, and group  narratives. The work is thus not just about avatars, but ultimately  about the strategies that humans use to present themselves when they  communicate, work together, and play together. It will be an invaluable  resource for disciplines ranging from virtual world design to narrative  theory to sociology."- Peter Ludlow, Professor of philosophy, University of Toronto, and co-author of The Second Life Herald."Mark Meadows explores and explains one of the most intriguing  phenomena of digital life: the fantastic (psychological) reproduction  of a SELF who inhabits a range of virtual worlds. He narrates how our  avatars/ourselves have co-evolved with the development of new virtual  worlds, revealing new modes of human-becoming in a digital age."- Anne Balsamo, Author, Designing Culture: The technological Imagination at Work and Professor, Interactive Media at USC"Mark Meadows is fully immersed in an evolving new culture and  reporting back from the heart of the action. Ultimately, what he  reports on isn't informing us about Second Life, World of Warcraft, or  online chat rooms. Instead, what he reveals is a reflection of  ourselves a the beginning of the 21st Century in all our weirdness,  wonder, and humanity."- Nathan Shedroff, Experience Strategist"What Bruce Chatwin did for the exotic far reaches of the physical  world, Mark Stephen Meadows does for the virtual. "I, Avatar" is a  richly informed and intensely personal set of travel dispatches from  the thriving frontier that is Second Life. The author/artist's  picaresque narrative records his journey through the construction of  his online persona "pighed" as well as the shifting social contexts in  differing online communities. The result is a thought-provoking and  illuminating exploration of the social and philosophical underpinnings  of perceived realities both physical and virtual."- Maribeth Back, Senior Research Scientist, FX-PAL"I knew Mark Meadows was a weird mix: smart, adventurous, well-read,  well-spoken, nerdy, but most of all open minded. He has managed to work  all this into his book. That should tell you what kind of a trip this  read is. If anyone was to bring something fresh to the table, it had to  be Mark Meadows."- Alexis Nolent, Ubisoft's Game System Story Director, and author of world-famous graphic novel "The Killer"."As anyone who has heard Mark Meadows speak on portraiture,  interactivity and narrative knows, he connects with the imagination and  intellect of his audience in a way that is both thrilling and artistic.  Little wonder then that his new book, I, Avatar, connects with the  reader in much the same way."- Matt Costello, Co-creator of ZoogDisney and Writer of Doom 3 and The 7th Guest"Pighed takes us on a whirlwind road trip through this century's most  exciting new medium, the exploding cyber-suburbs of virtual worlds  inhabited by millions of avatars. Do you want to know how your avatar  reflects back on you? Are you asking the question: where will this  strange journey take us? Don't just stand there, the front seat is  free, so get yourself strapped in for upload!"- Bruce Damer, virtual worlds pioneer and author of "Avatars""Avatars are fast becoming the main vehicle through which we navigate  an ever more complex online landscape. Mark documents with vivid  imagery the blurring line between our real and virtual identities, the  multi-faceted ways in which we project ourselves into bodies ranging  from a simple string of text to furry, phantasmagoric creatures. A  recommended read to anyone interested in the current and future culture  of cyberspace."- Nicolas Ducheneaut, Researcher, Xerox-PARC