It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet-Incarnaete as the Metaverse -- looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist -- hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. WHen his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue.