When Gravity Fails (1987) George Alec and 50 similar items

6" x 8.5", 290 page hardcover with dustjacket titled WHEN GRAVITY FAILS by George Alec Effinger/ Arbor House, ISBN # 0-87795-851-3, First Printing, Copyright 1987/ When Gravity Fails is a cyberpunk science fiction novel by American writer George Alec Effinger, published in 1986.It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1987 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1988. The title is taken from "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", a song by Bob Dylan: "When your gravity fails and negativity don't pull you through". Taking place in a futuristic Middle-Eastern setting, the series reverses some of the usual expectations of a future world order by painting the West in decline while Muslim countries seem to prosper. The book's other main themes are the effects of drug use and alternate personality technologies, as well as the personal interactions and increasing isolation of a flawed protagonist. It is the first book in Effinger's "Marîd Audran" series, named after the protagonist, and was followed by A Fire in the Sun in 1989 and The Exile Kiss in 1991. Effinger started work on a fourth Audran novel, Word of Night, but died before that work was completed. The existing chapters of Word of Night are now available in the posthumously published Budayeen Nights, along with some other Budayeen and non-Budayeen short stories. The book is complete and in LIKE NEW condition with some overall light wear. On the title page, George Alec Effinger inscribed and signed the book to me, "To Buddy -At ArmadilloCon 10- George Alec Effinger". I've had this book since I bought it in 1987 and I'm slowly beginning to thin out my collection.