Walter Kirn’s characters are lost in the world, although they negotiate it with apparent success, at least on the surface. Kent Selkirk works for AidSat, a kind of super non-vehicle OnStar service that can locate, monitor, track and help people with just about any problem they encounter or create. Selkirk describes himself as having had “no self, no soul” prior to AidSat. Another character describes him as banal with a “certain dazzle” and “the prince of the kingdom we wish we didn’t live in.”

Selkirk’s foil is Rob Robertson, the alias of a “silvery, predatory” agent of the government who has been sent to investigate Selkirk, who himself changes identities as necessary. Robertson wants out, and decides to retire somewhere near the water with Selkirk’s ex-girlfriend, Jesse.

There’s also Colonel Geoff, a retired Marine who claims the government was instrumental in the career success and influence of Tom Cruise, simply because the entertainment industry was one area in which they couldn’t get a foothold.

With The Unbinding, Kirn creates a world of glib and meaningless characters, overwhelmed and underconcerned with how technology allows for their movements, actions, private moments and thoughts to be tracked and cataloged ( )

http://www.book-blog.com/2007/11/kirn-walter-the.html ( )

I really enjoyed this book - it was clever. The author used a sort of mixed media approach which seemed so real to my life now as opposed to more traditional literature. It just seemed natural. ( )