This is a nice capsule; probably nothing but a nugget or two new here for many MemeStreams regulars.

“The Last Whole Earth Catalog,” published in 1971, which ended up selling a million copies and winning the National Book Award, has the eerie luminosity of a Sears catalog from the turn of the last century. It is a portrait of an age and its dreams.

As Fred Turner points out in his revealing new book, “From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism” (University of Chicago Press), there is no way to separate cyberculture from counterculture; indeed, cyberculture grew from its predecessor’s compost.

The book earns plugs from Kevin Kelly and Douglas Rushkoff. The Publishers Weekly review calls it "a compelling genealogy", but that's about as glowing as they get.

You can read excerpts courtesy of the publisher.

Fred Turner - From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism