For fans of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, THE FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST and ET. 'A MOST UNUSUAL AND DELIGHTFUL BOOK' Alexander McCall Smith Funny, touching, charming, wise: a friendship novel that explores what it is to be human. Some time in the future: Ben Chambers wakes up to find an old robot - rusty and dazed- sitting underneath the willow tree in his garden. It's not a new android model, the type people now use for domestic chores around the house, but an antique one, no longer of any use. Refusing to throw it on the skip as his wife Amy advises, he brings it inside. He names it Tang. Tang turns out to be needy, he has a chronic oil leak and some inside parts don't work properly. As Ben - who has never wanted children or even a job - grows closer to his new friend, he and his wife, Amy, grow further apart. When Amy finally walks out, Ben begins to realise he has now alienated all the human beings in his life. But his new friend needs to be fixed, if he is to have a future. And so Ben decides to take Tang back to his maker, half way across the world, on a remote island in the Pacific ... Soon to be a major Warner Brothers Japan movie, starring Kazunari Ninomiya from Arashi READERS LOVE IT TOO: There were so many funny parts in this book and i did not want it to end' 5 ***** 'A lovely book about friendship and discovery. Heartwarming' 4 **** 'i knew nothing about this book when i started it and i could not put it down' 5 **** 'Wonderful. i did not want it to stop' 5 **** 'The characters are drawn with such tenderness' 5 ****

An interdisciplinary collection of essays on telepistemology—the study of knowledge acquired at a distance. The Robot in the Garden initiates a critical theory of telerobotics and introduces telepistemology, the study of knowledge acquired at a distance. Many of our most influential technologies, the telescope, telephone, and television, were developed to provide knowledge at a distance. Telerobots, remotely controlled robots, facilitate action at a distance. Specialists use telerobots to explore actively environments such as Mars, the Titanic, and Chernobyl. Military personnel increasingly employ reconnaissance drones and telerobotic missiles. At home, we have remote controls for the garage door, car alarm, and television (the latter a remote for the remote). The Internet dramatically extends our scope and reach. Thousands of cameras and robots are now accessible online. Although the role of technical mediation has been of interest to philosophers since the seventeenth century, the Internet forces a reconsideration. As the public gains access to telerobotic instruments previously restricted to scientists and soldiers, questions of mediation, knowledge, and trust take on new significance for everyday life. Telerobotics is a mode of representation. But representations can misrepresent. If Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds" was the defining moment for radio, what will be the defining moment for the Internet? As artists have always been concerned with how representations provide us with knowledge, the book also looks at telerobotics' potential as an artistic medium. The seventeen essays, by leading figures in philosophy, art, history, and engineering, are organized into three sections: Philosophy; Art, History, and Critical Theory; and Engineering, Interface, and System Design. Contributors: Albert Borgmann, Tom Campanella, John Canny, Judith Donath, Hubert Dreyfus, Ken Goldberg, Alvin Goldman, Oliver Grau, Marina Gržinić, Blake Hannaford, Michael Idinopulos, Martin Jay, Eduardo Kac, Machiko Kusahara, Jeff Malpas, Lev Manovich, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Eric Paulos, Catherine Wilson

A group of fanatical religious tourists from the future travel back in time to meet Adam and Eve. Unfortunately, their time ship crashes, killing the majority of the crew (including the leprechauns) and leaving them stranded in this strange shark-infested land. Among the survivors are: Ernest who has the ability to turn people into mannequins, Ira who wields a razor-edged bible for a weapon, Wayne a giant wizard head with fat lizard legs, Donkey the hunchback halfwit, Anton the birdman, Rattlesnake Doctor, Ancestor, and Sturgeonwolf. This cult of deranged priests soon discover that Eden is a far more surreal and dangerous place than they could ever have imagined. It is going to take everything they've got in order to survive long enough to find another way home--Publisher's description.