Burning Chrome

A collection of ten stories, with a preface by Bruce Sterling. Three are set in the Sprawl. In "Johnny Mnemonic," a courier who stores data inside his head is hunted by the yakuza and guarded by Molly, and they turn the tables with help from Jones, a cyborg dolphin. In "New Rose Hotel," two operatives help a scientist defect between corporations using the beautiful Sandii, who betrays them, and the plan ends in a massacre. In "Burning Chrome," hackers Bobby Quine and Automatic Jack use a Russian program to drain the accounts of Chrome, a mob-tied brothel owner. The heist works, but Rikki, the girl Jack loves, uses her share to leave for Chiba.

1. Behind the scenesWhere cyberspace was born

   The word cyberspace first appears in the story "Burning Chrome," published in Omni in July 1982. Gibson coined it for computer networks pictured as a graphic space.

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2. Behind the scenesA reading for four

   Gibson first read "Burning Chrome" aloud in Denver in 1981, to four listeners. One was Bruce Sterling, who, Gibson said, "completely got it." Sterling wrote the collection's preface.

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3. Behind the scenesTwo stories on film

   "Johnny Mnemonic" became a 1995 movie starring Keanu Reeves, written by Gibson himself. Abel Ferrara filmed "New Rose Hotel" in 1998. The trilogy's novels never made it to the big screen.

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4. ReferenceMolly came first

   The mirrorshaded hired gun who guards Johnny in 1981's "Johnny Mnemonic" is Molly. Gibson liked her enough to bring her back in his first novel.

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5. Behind the scenesThe most quoted line

   "The street finds its own uses for things" comes from "Burning Chrome." It's about people using technology in ways its makers never planned, and it still gets quoted today.

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