Prisoner's Dilemma is a 1988

1988 in literature

The year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age*Iain M...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author Richard Powers

Richard Powers

Richard Powers is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology.- Life and work :...

. It is the story of a dysfunctional family living in DeKalb County, Illinois

DeKalb County, Illinois

DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 105,160, which is an increase of 18.2% from 88,969 in 2000. Its county seat is Sycamore. DeKalb County is part of the Chicago metropolitan statistical area.-History:DeKalb County...

. The novel explores the impact of history on contemporary life.

The novel centres around the father of the family, Eddie Hobson, who is trying to find a solution to the "prisoner's dilemma

Prisoner's dilemma

The prisoner’s dilemma is a canonical example of a game, analyzed in game theory that shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W...

" posed by mathematicians at the RAND

RAND

RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...

 Corporation. He wishes to solve the dilemma through writing an alternate reality, explaining how human beings could live together peacefully. To do this, he uses many elements from real life twisted slightly.

Non-fiction portrayed in the novel

Many of these events are portrayed differently. For example, Disney is portrayed as having Japanese ancestry, when he did not.

• Americans of Japanese Ancestry
  Japanese American
  are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
  
   and their internment
  Japanese American internment
  Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
  
   during World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  .
• Century of Progress
  Century of Progress
  A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
  
  , the 1933 World Fair held in Chicago.
• Der Fuehrer's Face
  Der Fuehrer's Face
  Der Fuehrer's Face is a 1943 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in Nazi Germany, was made in an effort to sell war bonds and is an example of...
  
  , animated cartoon made by Disney in 1942.
• Disney's Nine Old Men
  Disney's Nine Old Men
  Disney's Nine Old Men were the core animators at The Walt Disney Company who created some of Disney's most famous works, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward to The Rescuers. Walt Disney jokingly called this group of animators his "Nine Old Men," referring to Robert S...
  
  , chief animators at Disney.
• Walt Disney
  Walt Disney
  Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
  
  , American animator.
• Trinity test
  Trinity test
  Trinity was the code name of the first test of a nuclear weapon. This test was conducted by the United States Army on July 16, 1945, in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, at the new White Sands Proving Ground, which incorporated the Alamogordo Bombing...
  
  , the first testing of a nuclear weapon in 1945.
• Victory Through Air Power, part-animated propaganda movie made by Disney in 1943.

External links

• Bibliography of editions of Prisoner's Dilemma.
• Listing of reviews and writings about Prisoner's Dilemma.