ISBN 0-9642505-1-9 (US pbk, 1996)

"Club owner Stu Cole and rock singer Catz Wailen are struggling to keep Stu's club afloat in the face of Mob harassment. Then they are visited by a strange brutal 'man' -- an avatar of the city of San Francisco crystallized into a single enigmatic being. Thus begins a terrifying journey through a rock'n'roll demimonde in the wake of the most compelling character in contemporary SF. This surreal masterpiece, out of print since 1980, is one of the most influential precursors to the cyberpunk movement; a searing journey into the soul of the first punk explosion." [jacket blurb, US pbk, June 1996]

"City Come A-Walkin', with its overt punk stance, its darkly ecstatic imagery of a city-soul stretching muscles of asphalt and steel, was published in 1980". --William Gibson (in the introduction to Heatseeker ).

"John Shirley serves up the bloody heart of a sick and rotting society with the aplomb of an Aztec surgeon on dexadrine." -- (in ALA Booklist ).

"Readers who enjoy living a little dangerously are likely to appreciate the sheer, headlong exuberance of Shirley's imagination." -- (in the San Francisco Chronicle ).

"I've been searching after this book for years. Many thanks to Stephen P.Brown for sending me a review copy of this reprint.

"What to say about a work which defies categorisation. This is a typically Shirley-esque story, a fast-paced plunge into a surreal mental universe which echoes elements of our own. Reading this book is more like taking some weird experimental drug, uncertain where it's going to take you, but guaranteed to alter your perceptions. Hallucinatory? Definitely!" --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space, September 1996).

Bookcover
(this is the cover of the 1996 reprint... courtesy of Eyeball Books)

John Shirley Homepage
(designed and maintained by DarkEcho Design... contains bio, bibliography, reviews, interview, current projects)

Photo of John Shirley
(John Shirley in a punk-rock stance... courtesy of Eyeball Books)

Science Fiction Weekly
(contains a review by L.R.C.Munro of City Come A-Walkin' ... uncertain how long this review will be here)