William Gibson’s DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR Now Available in UK Audio!


William Gibson‘s acclaimed collection of essays, DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR is now available in the UK as an audiobook! Published by W. F. Howes, here’s the synopsis…

Distrust That Particular Flavor — an acclaimed nonfiction collection by William Gibson, bestselling author of NEUROMANCER William Gibson was writing fiction when he predicted the internet. And as his stories bled into reality so he became one of the first to report on the real-world consequences of cyberspace’s growth and development.

Now, with the dust settling on the first internet revolution, comes Gibson’s first collection of non-fiction — essays from the technological and cultural frontiers of this new world. These and many other pieces, collected for the first time in Distrust that Particular Flavour, are studded with revealing autobiographical fragments and map the development of Gibson’s acute perceptions about modern life. Readers of Neal Stephenson, Ray Bradbury and Iain M. Banks will love this book.

The print and eBook editions of DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR are published in the UK by Penguin.

Here are just a few of the great reviews the collection has received…

‘Gibson is a prophet and a satirist, a black comedian and an astounding architect of cool. He’s also responsible for much of the world we live in.’Spectator

‘William Gibson’s collected essays mark him out as a remarkable visionary.’ — Guardian

‘Gibson is, of course, one of our greatest science-fiction writers, exalted for his talent for depicting futures that are just around the corner… Gibson’s writing enters the bloodstream like a drug, producing a mild hallucinogenic effect that lasts for hours… Such is the power of his prose that when I glanced up from the pages of this book and surveyed the street-side around me, I felt as if I were wearing Gibson-glasses…’ — New York Times

‘While his dark and glittering novels still provide the best introduction to his work for newcomers, anyone already in thrall to his sidelong perspective on the world will find lots to enjoy here.’ The Telegraph

‘William Gibson is one of our finest science fiction authors, because he knows that people are the strangest products science has ever produced. And his new essay collection, DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR, gives us insight into how he came to understand that so well, when many other SF authors struggle to see it. DISTRUST does not disappoint: Gibson completists will definitely need the book, but I also recommend it for Gibson newbies who want to get a grip on where he’s coming from. Fans of Gibson’s voice will recognize in his non-fiction the luminous, open-ended sound of his novels. Part of that sound comes from the nature of his ideas; the rest, from his skill in bringing the dream-state of our culture to us in lucid yet elusive prose… Gibson’s fiction is in some ways deeply autobiographical: after reading this collection of lovely essays, it’s clear where his characters get their joy for art, music, The Footage, and blue jeans of inscrutable provenance.’ io9.com

‘… it’s a testament to Gibson’s clinical skills as a writer (and first-class observer) that he can make a fleeting, long-ago first impression sound like a revelation, albeit one on a very deliberately small scale… for all Gibson’s self-effacement, he has highly evolved powers of observation… Though he’s often lauded as a big-picture man, these pieces make one thing clear: He’s even better with the little details.’ — Onion AV Club

Zeno represents William Gibson in the UK and Commonwealth, on behalf of Nell Pierce at Sterling Lord Literistic.

LOCUS Award Winners!


The 2013 LOCUS Award Winners were announced this weekend, and we have some great news: two of our clients have won in their categories!

LOCUS2013-ZenoWinners

First up: we told you she was unstoppable! Aliette de Bodard has won in the Short Story category, for IMMERSION! This is the second win this year for Aliette and IMMERSION, having already nabbed a Nebula Award last month – the story is also nominated for a Hugo AwardIMMERSION appeared in Clarkesworld #69, June 2012.

In addition, we’re delighted to report that William Gibson‘s DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR won the Non-Fiction award! The book is published by Viking (Penguin). DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR is a collection of essays on a wide array of subjects, including:  Metrophagy (the Art and Science of Digesting Great Cities), eBay (an account of obsession in ‘the world’s attic’), why ‘The Net is a Waste of Time’, Singapore as ‘Disneyland with the Death Penalty’, a primer on Japan (‘our default setting for the future’), and others.

Congratulations to all the winners, and especially Aliette and William!

Can you Hear Us? Yes You Can! Multiple Audible Deals…


We’re delighted to announce several recent sales to  Stacy Patton-Anderson at Audible.

First up, a slew of titles by Lavie Tidhar – including his PS Publishing novel OSAMA, a work that has been on everyone’s lips of late, not least because it was name-checked in Christopher Priest’s now infamous ranty  blog post as one of the titles (along with WAKE UP AND DREAM by fellow Zeno client, Ian R. MacLeod) that should have made this year’s Arthur C. Clarke award shortlist. We, of course, couldn’t possibly comment on this matter… except to say how absolutely correct Mr Priest is!

Along with OSAMA, Audible will also be releasing Lavie’s entire BOOKMAN trilogy in audio – THE BOOKMAN, CAMERA OBSCURA and the recently published THE GREAT GAME, and the final title in this superb batch is Lavie’s collaboration with fellow Israeli author Nir Yaniv, THE TEL-AVIV DOSSIER, a scarcer Tidhar title, originally published by Chizine Publications in Canada.

Joining Lavie at Audible is another client, Ian McDonald – himself often seen on awards and ‘best of’ shortlists. Audible will be publishing an audio edition of Ian’s THE DERVISH HOUSE, a novel that was nominated for last year’s Clarke and Hugo awards and which won the Campbell, the BSF and the SFSite poll. They will also be publishing BRASYL (also nominated for the Clarke) and RIVER OF GODS (nominated for the Clarke, Hugo and the Tiptree).

World Fantasy Award and Philip K. Dick award winner James P. Blaylock will see his new novel ZEUGLODON (to be published later this year by Subterranean) and also his classic work THE DIGGING LEVIATHAN published in audio.

And finally – very much in the sense of ‘at long last’ –  an author with too many award wins and nominations to list here, William Gibson. To accompany their release of Gibson’s new non-fiction collection DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOUR, Audible have acquired a number of backlist titles – namely NEUROMANCER, THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE, PATTERN RECOGNITION, SPOOK COUNTRY and ZERO HISTORY.

Happy listening!

William Gibson Signs New Deal with Penguin…


Penguin have bought UK and British Commonwealth rights to William Gibson‘s non-fiction collection DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR and an untitled new novel.

The deal was negotiated by John Parker on behalf of the author’s primary agent Martha Millard and Zeno is absolutely delighted to add this marquee name to our list of clients.

News on the novel is strictly under wraps for now, but this superb collection should certainly whet your appetite whilst we wait. Here’s the cover copy…

William Gibson was writing fiction when he predicted the internet. And as his stories bled into reality, so he became one of the first to report on the real-world consequences of cyberspace’s growth and development.

Now, with the dust settling on the first internet revolution, comes Gibson’s first collection of non-fiction essays from the technological and cultural frontiers of this new world. Covering a variety of subjects, they include:

  • Metrophagy: The Art and Science of Digesting Great Cities
  • An account of obsession in ‘the world’s attic’:eBay
  • Reasons why ‘The Net is a Waste of Time’
  • Singapore as ‘Disneyland with the Death Penalty’
  • A primer on Japan, our default setting for the future

These and many other pieces, collected for the first time in DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR, are studded with revealing autobiographical fragments and map the development of Gibson’s acute perceptions about modern life.

Here, then, is a guide to the new territory we find ourselves in written by one of its discoverers.