| read
maybe too young* |
computer geek** |
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 Portnoy's
Complaint(Philip Roth) Read this when I was about 13 or 14. It was very entertaining, but I may have missed some subtleties. |
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Microserfs (Douglas Coupland) This is a GREAT book! Don't have to be a computer geek to enjoy, but it of course has special relevance to me given my involvement with the industry. Love the descriptions of Silicon Valley! |
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Fear
of Flying (Erica Jong) Another one I read at about 14. Maybe I missed a few of the more advanced themes, but I was fascinated nevertheless. (Saw Erica Jong give a lecture at USC many years later.) |
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Soul
of a New Machine (Tracy Kidder) Ironically, read this book in a writing class. Was hero of the day for being able to provide the correct pronunciation for kludge. Guess the book is rather dated now, but an accurate picture of computer development at the time. |
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The
Graduate (Charles Webb) Probably I was about 15... Not really too young for the book I guess, but young enough to feel like the main character was "old" (21)! |
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Cuckoo's
Egg (Clifford Stoll) This is a great book! Don't have to be a computer geek to really enjoy this true story of how Stoll tracked and finally caught a famous hacker. More... |
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The
Erection Set (Mickey Spillane) My first R-rated noir... BTW, that's Spillane's ex-wife Sherri posing nude on the cover. I read this at about 14. (Spillane actually lives in South Carolina now.) |
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Neuromancer (William Gibson) Great science fiction story which spurred a whole new genre, i.e. "cyberpunk." Surfing the net (for real) in a kind of virtual reality, before there ever was such thing! |
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*Arguably too young... But maybe not. (I turned out kinda okay, didn't I?) |
**Given my long career with computer companies you gotta expect some of this! |
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