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Au himself is part of Guest's narrative (as an irritated journalist Guest misquotes for an article), as is Wilde Cunningham, whom both authors depict in saccharine terms. But Guest's description of a visit to Second Life headquarters, where he's chided for the misquote, and of a real-life visit to the Cunningham group, during which he loses his computer, cellphone and baggage, are far more fascinating than all his unfettered digital journeys, which are tediously overthought and underwhelming.

Because who determines whether a technological toy will leave its ineluctable imprint or whether it's merely the electric carving knife of 2.0? The cellphone and e-mail have indubitably changed how we communicate. Blogging -- and Moblogging, Vlogging and Photoblogging -- have gone from a tool of the webby to the many, as have social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. YouTube crests at the top of the user-generated content wave, and Google has gone from one page to being the core of most users' online experiences.

But will Second Life prove second nature? Au and Guest stress the myriad practical uses of virtual worlds: for academics and economists to model large-scale social patterns; for the physically disabled to experience life on a level playing field; for the military to conduct simulations of dangerous operations; for universities, institutions and artists to reach a larger audience; for the good of the environment. (Far-flung staff meetings online, say).

But what about those of us who have plenty of access to those things in real life? Guest likens Second Lifers to the people who left Europe for America "to rediscover a freedom of movement and expression that in their native lands had become unbearable." Unfortunately, his examples seem to refer mostly to the hardship of maintaining oceanfront property and an apartment at real-world prices. Au looks toward the future, a "3-D datascape . . . where you move from one reality to another," not only through fantasy worlds but the whole Web writ large. "Providing constantly updated knowledge from about every corner of the world," he claims, "[it] will create total transparency over politics, the health of the globe's citizens."

But boosters have confused "virtual" with "virtue." In this true New World, Au claims, "You won't check Google News to read up on a coming storm in Southeast Asia -- you'll RSS the hurricane itself." They've been in Second Life too long. In the real world, you can't rebuild a house with the click of a mouse.