Booksquare

Back in the day, when this Worldwide Web thing was so new you could mention it to your friends and get blank stares (huh? why would you want to do that?), we would spend Friday evenings, uh, chatting with likemineded geeks located in San Francisco and Oakland (this was, oddly, the only time they ever got together, albeit in separate locations). This was a lot of fun because it was so unique: hey, ma, we’re talking over the computer!

Around this time, Snow Crash was released. Actually, earlier, but the husband read it first — he’s never been one to devour books. So, because we only had one computer and a paltry dial-up connection (not reliable), we would would sit on the floor offering helpful commentary while he typed. He’s good for a hundred words a minute or so. At some point, we’d insist on ordering pizza. Never came via a Deliverator.

Since then, Neal Stephenson has gone on to publish many books with many more words. We think he’s solved the problem where he ends badly by, well, not ending. His latest offering, three books at about 900 pages each (The System of The World is the final installment), is complete and occupying bookshelves across the nation. We figure we’ll have time to tackle it within the next decade — such effort requires commensurate attention from the reader. In the meantime, Stephenson (who very graciously autographed a battered copy of Snow Crash for our cat, among other books; this was around Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer time) has left the world of vi (or not, as the case may be) to answer questions.

Warning: it’s long…but you could have guessed that.

• Neal Stephenson Responds With Wit and Humor
• Going for Baroque (yes, we know, why did we have to get this link via Beatrice when the husband reads like SlashDot like we read gossip? Well, probably because Beatrice has the better headline)