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Title: Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho by Jon Katz ISBN: 0767906993 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 20 February, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.38
Rating: 3
Summary: Firmly "okay". Not the best, but not bad.
Comment: It's difficult for me to say much about this book. The story is short, easy-to-read, and empathic as hell, but really didn't move me to tears, as it did prior reviewers. Katz well describes the turmoil that exists inside his young friends, and creates within the reader a strong empathy. However, even as a geek, I am compelled to agree with a prior reviewer who described the story as a "story about disenfranchised youth"... who happen, in this case, to be geeks. I did not get the feeling that the book really had anything to do with geeks, but could be about any pair of isolated persons, following their hearts to "ascendancy". The book spoke to me, but I suspect it would speak to any person with a past or present filled with isolation. It's an easy, quick read, and well worth your time, but it just didn't get to me. Thus, it's stuck with an okay - 3 stars.
Rating: 5
Summary: Read This Book
Comment: Some Amazon reviewers have argued that "Geeks" is simply about two disenfranchised kids and that their geek-ness is only incidental to the story. I couldn't disagree more. The story of Jesse and Eric, while profoundly moving, is only illustrative of the larger movement about which Katz is writing. Geeks are in the ascendance in our culture -- despite the fact that that culture looks down upon them and makes many of their lives nearly unbearable. That is the interesting central theme of the book. Their exile from the mainstream world has helped spur their technological savvy, which the rest of the world now needs to survive. It is the ultimate revenge of the nerds. "Geeks" describes the nascent changing of the guard that can be seen everywhere (with differing results): in the bellies of American corporations; in American high schools; in the Dow Jones; at the University of Chicago; and in journalism. Usually, one can only write intelligently about such an event after it has long past; Katz is writing about it now. Thanks.
Rating: 5
Summary: Geeks unite!
Comment: Jon Katz explores a subculture of society alien to mainstream America in Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho. While most people have heard the term "geek" and have a vague idea of its meaning and to the type of person it refers (Bill Gates?), they have no idea of the depths of geekdom as a culture and way of life for its members. Through his work as an Internet techie columnist, Katz discovers Jesse and Eric, the "lost boys," and delves into their lives as misunderstood, persecuted and rebellious outsiders. High school's emphasis on popularity through sports, looks and personality is torture for these intelligent, computer-oriented kids. Teens labeled "different" in the past had little outlet for their anguish, but the online world today provides a lifeline to like-minded people, and the computer skills learned by geeks give them a way out, that is, if they can overcome the dead-end mindset learned during childhood. An understanding teacher and the author himself provide Jesse and Eric with just enough guidance to give them a chance. They do escape their isolated town in Idaho to a new life in Chicago, but will it be different? Can they move beyond their well-paying, but ultimately stultifying jobs in the corporate world to earn an education that will truly free them to lead fulfilling lives? Katz's compelling book keeps the reader wondering what will happen, not only to Jesse and Eric, but to that whole generation of young people known as geeks. A great story for disaffected teens, this book is a must-read for educators concerned about the well being of fringe groups in schools today.
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Title: Running to the Mountain: A Midlife Adventure by Jon Katz ISBN: 0767904982 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud, James Strachey, Peter Gay ISBN: 0393301583 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: July, 1989 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me by Jon Katz ISBN: 0375502971 Publisher: Villard Pub. Date: 05 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Summer of '98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America by Mike Lupica ISBN: 0809224445 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Game and the Glory, The by Michelle Akers, Gregg Lewis ISBN: 0310235294 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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