Everyone’s headed for Second Life – the clothing outfitters, the motor vehicle companies, and now the book publishers. Penguin Books seem to be the first big player on the scene, that Doctorow fellow notwithstanding. Their first project was a launch of a virtual version of Neal Stephenson’s seminal Snow Crash, the novel in which the term ‘Metaverse’ was first coined. Now they are working on a proper bookstore, complete with books on the shelves that link to Amazon for your purchasing convenience. If the shopping malls in meatspace seem weird, the meta-mall is shaping up to put them in the shade.