Some Remarks
Essays and Other Writing
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3.9 • 24 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson is, quite simply, one of the best and most respected writers alive. He’s taken sf to places it’s never been (Snow Crash, Anathem). He’s reinvented the historical novel (The Baroque Cycle), the international thriller (Reamde), and both at the same time (Cryptonomicon).
Now he treats his legion of fans to Some Remarks, an enthralling collection of essays—Stephenson’s first nonfiction work since his long essay on technology, In the Beginning…Was the Command Line, more than a decade ago—as well as new and previously published short writings both fiction and non.
Some Remarks is a magnificent showcase of a brilliantly inventive mind and talent, as he discourses on everything from Sir Isaac Newton to Star Wars.
What happens when one of fiction’s most inventive minds turns his gaze to the real world?
The Future of Innovation: A provocative look at why we’ve stopped making big things and what it takes to get humanity’s ambition back on track.Deep Dive Journalism: The legendary, book-length report from his journey following the laying of the longest wire on Earth—a masterclass in hacker tourism.The Philosophy of Science: An exploration of the epic intellectual battle between Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the nature of God, space, and time.Classic Cyberpunk Fiction: Includes the iconic short story "Spew," a foundational text of the cyberpunk movement, available alongside other rare fictional gems.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
