This Other Eden

We would all like to save the world, but there is a lot of it and the individual seems so puny. but personal salvation - especially if marketed with a sexy consumer durable - is seductive. Hence the appeal of the Claustrosphere, a self-contained, stunningly tough eco-shelter for the domestic user. It is also the most irresponsible idea in the history of the planet: the death of the Earth becomes survivable. This is the background to This Other Eden , a brillieantly realized thriller of the near future. Head of the Claustrosphere Corporation and despotic ruler of a vast media empire, Plastic Tolstoy is a marketing man of genius. His dreadful Second Law - the marketing is itself the product - contains more cynical wisdom than any other utterance except for his terrible First Law. When mere Nathan Hoddy, a self-absorbed British film writer, gets access to the great man to make his movie ptich in person, he knows his time has come. But why is Nathan's script so dangerous? After all, he's only a writer. And he has the perfect vehicle for Max, the ex-jeans model and multi-media megastar. And is it a wise career move for Max to fall for an eco-terrorist even if she is utterly lovely and fiercely stroppy Irishwoman called Rosalie? What is it about the Claustrosphere marketing campaign that requries the loss of innocence and the slaughter of the innocent? All these questions, and many more poignant ones, are resolved in This Other Eden , a global adventure of stupendous pace and engery.