In the Land of the Unreal

“With careful, easy, and fun-to-read prose, Lisa Messeri examines the efforts to build and promote a new technology and related industry, thereby introducing readers to current hot-button concerns in our culture: about the role and power of technology, the changing nature of the real and fantasy, and the assaults on truth and humanity. A compelling ethnography.” - Alexandra Juhasz, Distinguished Professor of Film, Brooklyn College, City University of New York

“In the Land of the Unreal is a fantastic, groundbreaking, and beautifully written ethnography covering the nexus between place and technology. Lisa Messeri meticulously examines how Los Angeles, a hub for the entertainment industry with a rich history of urban fantasy, uniquely influences the virtual reality industry. She also provides a comprehensive yet precise vocabulary for grappling with thorny epistemological questions related to reality, the unreal, the virtual, the hyperreal, and fantasy. Her concepts shed light not only on virtual reality and digital life but also on American political culture in a post-Trump era, when ‘reality’ has itself become a battleground, as Messeri argues so persuasively.” - Gabriella Coleman, author of Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous

"Absolutely one of the best books I've read about virtual reality, full stop." - Kent Bye, Voices of VR podcast

"In the Land of the Unreal is an intellectual gem, a wondrous, well-historicized, ethnographic journey to the epicenter of VR to explore its social possibilities." - Jeffrey Yost, Blockchain and Society blog

"Parsing through the construction, management, and use of virtual reality, this accessible and innovative ethnography expertly weaves anthropology, science, and technology studies in nuanced ways that will leave readers asking after their own realities. In short, this is a must-read volume for anthropologists of technology and anyone wondering about the fractured realities in which we live. Essential. General readers through faculty; professionals." - T. Gitzen, Choice

"In the Land of the Unreal provides a timely alternative narrative by emphasizing LA, a place that
uniquely frames VR as an entertainment format and emerging technology. . . . By the end of the book, a detailed and nuanced picture of VR emerges that exposes how 'real' the technology is and has been for many decades. At the same time, Messeri showcases how VR (and LA’s) 'unreality' will sway users and practitioners in the years ahead." - Maxwell Foxman, International Journal of Communication

"In the Land of the Unreal is a brilliant example of how a good ethnography can prompt readers to change their perceptions of the world."

  - Guilherme Orlandini Heurich, Journal of Anthropological Research

"More than a book about a failed and disillusioned community, In the Land of the Unreal offers a cautionary tale of building fantasies wherein a technology is lazily assumed to be a panacea for social ills. VR cannot be assumed to unify those across radically unequal and polarized segments of society. Rather, the book illustrates how one of VR’s more modest yet strongest applications might be in fostering discussion and connection amongst those already within a community."
  - Rob Eagle, Anthropological Quarterly

"The kaleidoscopic storytelling moves at the pace of a cyber-punk novel to reveal a deeper integration of place, ideology, and technology." - Danya Glabau, Journal of Cinema and Media Studies