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Title details for The Elfish Gene by Mark Barrowcliffe - Available

The Elfish Gene

by Mark Barrowcliffe
ebook
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In this witty memoir of nerd life, the author reflects on "how D&D twisted his teenage development—and about how twisted teenage development is in general" (TheSeattle Times).

Summer, 1976. Twelve-year-old Mark Barrowcliffe had a chance to be normal. He blew it. While other teenagers were being coolly rebellious, Mark—and twenty million other boys in the 1970s and '80s—chose to spend his entire adolescence pretending to be a wizard, a warrior, or an evil priest. Armed only with pen, paper, and some funny-shaped dice, this lost generation gave themselves up to the craze of fantasy role-playing games. Spat at by bullies and laughed at by girls, they now rule the world. They were the geeks, the fantasy war gamers, and this is their story.

"Laugh-out-loud funny." —The Christian Science Monitor

"Readers will find this very funny memoir of Dungeons and Dragons to be just like the games themselves: unforgivably dorky but irresistibly fun." —Booklist

"There's not a whole lot written about gaming, especially from the inside, and The Elfish Gene belongs in every gamer's library." —Enter the Octopus Blog

"Barrowcliffe's retrospective self-awareness is by turns poignant and amusing . . . As fantasy movies dominate the box office; the author offers a timely, appropriate memoir of addiction recovery . . . Worth a few hours holed up in the basement." —Kirkus Reviews

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Publisher: Soho Press

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781569477540
  • Release date: November 1, 2008

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781569477540
  • File size: 1088 KB
  • Release date: November 1, 2008
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OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Biography & Autobiography Nonfiction

Languages

English

In this witty memoir of nerd life, the author reflects on "how D&D twisted his teenage development—and about how twisted teenage development is in general" (TheSeattle Times).

Summer, 1976. Twelve-year-old Mark Barrowcliffe had a chance to be normal. He blew it. While other teenagers were being coolly rebellious, Mark—and twenty million other boys in the 1970s and '80s—chose to spend his entire adolescence pretending to be a wizard, a warrior, or an evil priest. Armed only with pen, paper, and some funny-shaped dice, this lost generation gave themselves up to the craze of fantasy role-playing games. Spat at by bullies and laughed at by girls, they now rule the world. They were the geeks, the fantasy war gamers, and this is their story.

"Laugh-out-loud funny." —The Christian Science Monitor

"Readers will find this very funny memoir of Dungeons and Dragons to be just like the games themselves: unforgivably dorky but irresistibly fun." —Booklist

"There's not a whole lot written about gaming, especially from the inside, and The Elfish Gene belongs in every gamer's library." —Enter the Octopus Blog

"Barrowcliffe's retrospective self-awareness is by turns poignant and amusing . . . As fantasy movies dominate the box office; the author offers a timely, appropriate memoir of addiction recovery . . . Worth a few hours holed up in the basement." —Kirkus Reviews

Expand title description text
Biography & Autobiography Nonfiction
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