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. Agent: Liz Darhansoff, Liz Darhansoff Agency. (Sept.)
Kirkus Reviews
The author of The Baroque Cycle series and works of speculative fiction offers a miscellany of stories and essays, some of classic Stephensonian length. In a breezy, self-deprecating introduction, Stephenson (Reamde, 2011, etc.) credits (blames?) others for the idea for this collection. The pieces range from mildly hectoring essays of advice (we should move around more) to more learned pieces about the intellectual war between Newton and Leibnitz, to fluff about the differences between "geeking out" and "vegging out." Stephenson also includes the text of a speech at Gresham College, a revealing interview with Salon and a massively long but massively interesting piece of investigative journalism for Wired, which deals with the history, technology and logistics of the submarine cable industry. The author traveled across the world--and back in time--to explain in ways surely comprehensible to most readers how all of this started, how it works, and what it costs. Although the piece is now dated a bit (as are a number of the others here), the historical significance of his work is sizeable. Readers will emerge from that labyrinthine piece with a more comprehensive understanding of how the Internet works, how information gets from here to there and back again. Stephenson also includes some fiction, including a speculative tale about e-money and a single-sentence beginning to an otherwise-unwritten crime novel set in Middle-earth. In some of the op-ed-like pieces, the author urges more reading, defends his genre against those who disparage it, wonders why we don't understand religious zealots, and bemoans what he views as a lack of will to pursue the sort of innovation that characterized the era of space exploration. He ends with an explanation and apology for not answering emails from his fans. A occasionally uneven but mostly engaging assortment from a talented literary mind.
