Ebook: As if: modern enchantment and the literary pre-history of virtual reality

"Many people throughout the world "inhabit" imaginary worlds communally and persistently, parsing Harry Potter and exploring online universes. These activities might seem irresponsibly escapist, but history tells another story. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, when Sherlock Holmes became the world's first "virtual reality" character, readers began to colonize imaginary worlds, debating serious issues and viewing reality in provisional, "as if" terms rather than through essentialist, "just so" perspectives. From Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Tolkien's Middle-earth to the World of Warcraft and Second Life, As If provides a cultural history that reveals how we can remain enchanted but not deluded in an age where fantasy and reality increasingly intertwine."--Publisher's website.;Living in the imagination -- Delight without delusion: the new romance, spectacular texts, and public spheres -- Clap if you believe in Sherlock Holmes: Arthur Conan Doyle and animistic reason -- From "virtual unreality" to virtual reality: H.P. Lovecraft and public spheres of the imagination -- The middle positions of middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and factionalism.