Zeitgeist was published by Bantam Books in 2000. Leggy Starlitz is a hustler — a con man, fixer, and cultural parasite who has managed to profit from every major geopolitical upheaval of the 1990s. As 1999 ends, he is managing “G-7” — a girl group composed entirely of fakes (lip-syncing, manufactured backstories, no actual musical talent) — touring through Turkey and Cyprus.
As the Y2K deadline approaches, reality itself begins to break down. Sterling plays with the millennium as literal rather than symbolic apocalypse: the novel’s narrative becomes increasingly fragmented, unreliable, and surreal as the twentieth century fails to transition smoothly into the twenty-first. Characters multiply, timelines overlap, and the distinction between real events and hallucination dissolves.
The novel is Sterling’s most experimental — a deliberate attempt to write fiction that captures the experience of a cultural paradigm shift from inside. It is also his funniest: Starlitz’s cynicism, his ability to profit from chaos, and his commentary on global culture’s absurdities provide constant entertainment even as the formal structure becomes challenging.
Collecting Zeitgeist
First edition (Bantam Books, New York, 2000): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $15–$35
- Very good/very good: $8–$15