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"An ingenuous satire"

Sometime in the future, youngster Jules (just over a hundred years old) enjoys being a member of the Bitchun Society. He relishes the freedom to enjoy life by doing whatever he wishes as long as he does nothing to lose respect from others, which would cost him "points". .

Jules decides he wants to be part of the volunteer crew that works the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. However, he soon finds himself recovering from being murdered and forced to relocate his consciousness in another cloned body. Quite upset with his fourth death, Jules believes the innovative idiots destroying the Hall of Presidents by turning it into a virtual showcase where visitors become the president killed him for being in the way of someone's dream. As he tries to enact revenge for his death and for the heresy committed in the name of progress, Jules loses much of what he values especially the esteem of others, but obtains perceptions shared by few. He wonders about the cost, but war is hell.

DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM is an interesting satire that leaves no doubt what Cory Doctorow expects the heritage the twentieth century will leave behind. The story line is kept low-keyed, which adds a realistic feel to the plot, but also leaves the audience wanting more action. Jules is a delightful character ironically worshipping the purity of Disney World as if the place is Mount Olympus, with Mickey and Walt as the Gods.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 18, 2003

Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.

Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long- ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.

Now, though, it seems the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes.

Bursting with cutting-edge speculation and human insight, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom reads like Neal Stephenson meets Nick Hornby: a coming-of-age romantic comedy and a kick-butt cybernetic tour de force.