Some Remarks
Neal Stephenson
William Morrow
<p>One of the most talented and creative authors working today, Neal Stephenson is renowned for his exceptional novels—works colossal in vision and mind-boggling in complexity. Exploring and blending a diversity of topics, including technology, economics, history, science, pop culture, and philosophy, his books are the products of a keen and adventurous intellect. Not surprisingly, Stephenson is regularly asked to contribute articles, lectures, and essays to numerous outlets, from major newspapers and cutting-edge magazines to college symposia. This remarkable collection brings together previously published short writings, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a new essay (and an extremely short story) created specifically for this volume. </p><p>Stephenson ponders a wealth of subjects, from movies and politics to David Foster Wallace and the Midwestern American College Town; video games to classics-based sci-fi; how geekdom has become cool and how science fiction has become mainstream (whether people admit it or not); the future of publishing and the origins of his novels. Playful and provocative, <em>Some Remarks</em> displays Stephenson's opinions and ideas on: </p><ul><li>The Internet, our dwindling national attention span, and the cultural importance of books and bookishness</li><li>Waco, religion, and the cluelessness of secular society</li><li>Metaphysics and the battle between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz </li><li>The laying of the longest wire on Earth—and why it matters to you</li><li>Technology, freedom, commerce, and the Chinese </li><li>How <em>Star Wars</em> and <em>300</em> mirror who we are today and what that spells for our future</li><li>Modern Jedi knights, a.k.a. scientists and technologists, and why they are admired and feared by both the left and the right</li></ul><p>By turns amusing and profound, critical and celebratory, yet always entertaining, <em>Some Remarks</em> offers a fascinating look into the prismatic mind of this extraordinary writer. </p>About the Author<p>Neal Stephenson is the author of <em>Reamde</em>, <em>Anathem</em>; the three-volume historical epic the Baroque Cycle (<em>Quicksilver</em>, <em>The Confusion</em>, and <em>The System of the World</em>); <em>Cryptonomicon</em>; <em>The Diamond Age</em>; <em>Snow Crash</em>, which was named one of <em>Time</em> magazine's top one hundred all-time best English-language novels; and <em>Zodiac</em>. He lives in Seattle, Washington. </p>