Some Remarks

March 1, 2012

Surprise! Not another juicy work of speculative fiction from best-selling award winner Stephenson but a collection of essays he has contributed to magazines, symposia, websites, and blogs. It will be interesting to see the expansive Stephenson work in a smaller format. With a 75,000-copy first printing; cool.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2012
Known for his doorstop-size (but wildly imaginative) novels, Stephenson is also adept at short pieces, as evidenced by this collection of essays, interviews, and other nonfiction, most previously published. Here are excerpts of an interview for Slashdot, a technology-oriented website; a spunky lecture given at Gresham College; a piece about Britain's Royal Society; an examination of the appeal of the movie 300; Mother Earth, Mother Board, a sort of travelogue from the point of view of the hacker tourist; a brand-new essay, Arsebestos, about sitting (really); a brief article published in Time on his then-latest novel, Anathem; and other products of the author's unique and wide-ranging intellect. A must-read for Stephenson's fans, of course, but also for readers who enjoy thought-provoking, entertaining, and (occasionally) just plain out-there nonfiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

June 25, 2012
This meandering collection of short works by speculative/science fiction writer Stephenson (Reamde) compiles his published nonfiction and short stories from 1993 to the present, and includes two new pieces: “Arsebestos,” a pertinent and enjoyable essay about the dangers of sitting, and “Under-Constable Proudfoot,” a bemusing one-sentence opener to an unfinished work of fiction. The collection covers a diversity of topics and genres, ranging from long-form journalism about the wiring of transcontinental submarine cables and a foreword written for David Foster Wallace’s Everything And More to interviews with Salon and Slashdot and an essay on the ignorance of secularists in response to the 1993 Branch Davidian massacre in Waco. Selected shorter works such as “Locked In” and “Innovation Starvation,” which perform the unthinkable task of insightfully critiquing modern energy policy in general terms, provide concise and thoughtful arguments. Many pieces, however, are frustrating in their flimsy claims, such as his argument for the getting more respect from the literary world for science fiction. However, the collection’s range and the author’s lively voice keep it entertaining—despite the cumbersome selection “Mother Earth, Mother Board” —and Stephenson fans will surely find much to enjoy. Agent: Liz Darhansoff, Liz Darhansoff Agency.