Jack's seriously in love with that book.

That story is the best ever. I'd like to buy the space and make the dude walk around for a month with "I am an asshat" or something on his forehead.

I very much enjoyed reading "The Diamond Age".
How does "Snowcrash" compare? The last book
I read was "Leaving Atlanta". It was sonderful.
It was quite bittersweet.

christina - I made nbh read snowcrash as a condition of our dating. :-) I've been a fan of stephenson's ever since.

Dude, I'll chip in for money for a phrase like that on his forehead!!!

Debra - Diamond Age and Snowcrash compare in the following way: they're both very, very good books. :-) I enjoyed The Diamond Age very much. It's one of my favs of his. Snowcrash is another. And then I liked his eco-thriller Zodiac. I have, however, read all of his and am currently reading his baroque trilogy.

Who wrote Leaving Atlanta?

How much do you think we could raise for a phrase like that? I would consider chipping in.

"Leaving Atlanta" was the first book
written by Tayari Jones. It is a
quick read. I loved it.

It had a number of story lines.
The most ominous that was always
in the backround of the entire book
was about children disappearing.
It is based on true events in Atlanta
in the 1970s. The Author lived there
during those horrible events.

The other story lines showed the ackwardness
of being a kid and the trials that children
go through. It was touching. I loved this
book.

ONe more cool thing. I looked up Tayari Jones
name on the web to make sure I spelled it correctly
before posting the last comment.

She has a web site. I clicked "Email Author"
and told her how much I loved her book.
She wrote back!!!!! How cool is that:

Debra! THANK YOU! This has been a haaard week for me. Thanks so much for sending me some good cheer this morning. I needed it!

Cheers,
Tayari

P.S. My new one will be out in April. Where do you live? Maybe your town is on my tour schedule!

debra - thanks for the recommendation, I shall check it out. Speaking of awkwardness as a child, have you ever seen "Welcome to the Dollhouse"? This movie definitely reminds you of how painful it was being a teenage girl and crushes.

That's so nice and cool of her to write back! Did you respond?

Oh yes. I wote back. I told her if she is in NYC
during a weekend for a book signing, that I will
be there. I thanked her for touching me.

It must be cool to be a good writer and to hear
praise from your fans. In my work, nobody ever
says I touched or inspired them. I think I do
creative and inspirational work, but in my line
of work, nobody gets it.

I love Stephenson, but his endings are sometimes weak. I prefered Snow Crash to Diamond Age by a large margin. It was more intricate and interesting to me. And the ending of Diamond Age was... out of left field maybe?

I don't remember if I've mentioned this author here before, so I will now (and will likely again). Go read Vurt by Jeff Noon. I like all his work, but Vurt is the best.

(Oh yeah, and don't read The Adept by Kurtz and Harris.)

deb - if I remember correctly, aren't you a trained EMT? Isn't that "inspiring"?

poz - oh yeah, stephenson has pre-mature ..well, issues with his endings. Most definitely. I think you've mentioned Jeff Noon, but I'd forgotten. I'll add that to my list..