While I had read a few of his short stories in
OMNI without knowing really who he was, my introduction to William Gibson came when I picked up a copy of the paperback of the novel
Neuromancer when I flew off to my freshman year of college. I picked up the book after I had read a review of it, and an interview with Gibson, in
Rolling Stone a month or two before hand. It blew my mind, and was probably the book that I've had copies stolen from me the most.