The Gernsback Continuum

"The Gernsback Continuum" is a 1981 science fiction short story by American-Canadian author William Gibson, originally published in the anthology Universe 11 edited by Terry Carr. It was later reprinted twice in 1986, in Gibson's collection Burning Chrome, and in Mirrorshades (the latter edited by Bruce Sterling), and then in the Norton Book of Science Fiction (1993). The story depicts the encounters of an American photographer with the futuristic American architecture of the Art Deco period; when he is assigned to document it for a British publisher, he experiences retro-futuristic hallucinations, which—according to one scholar—reflects the futuristic architecture's connection to fascism. Nader Elhefnawy, writing for Tangent, argues the story bears some similarity to Gibson's later appraisal of Singapore for Wired magazine in Disneyland with the Death Penalty—as much essay as fiction. "Gernsback" in the title alludes to Hugo Gernsback, the pioneer of American pulp magazines from the early 20th century, including Amazing Stories and Science Fiction Plus.