Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms - Hardcover

Gilsdorf, Ethan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1599214806 ISBN 13: 9781599214801

Publisher: Lyons Pr, 2009

Synopsis

An amazing journey through the thriving worlds of fantasy and gaming.
In this enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, forty-year-old former Dungeons & Dragons addict Ethan Gilsdorf embarks on a quest that begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future. He asks, Who are these gamers and fantasy fans? What explains the irresistible appeal of such "escapist" adventures? And what could one man find if he embarked on a journey through one fantasy world after another?
In Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds--from Boston to Wisconsin, France to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to Middle-earth to the realm of Aggramar. He asks D&D players, LARPers, medieval re-eanctors, World of Warcraft players, Harry Potter fans and convention goers--old, young, male, female, able-bodied and disabled--what attracts them to fantasy worlds, and for what reasons. What he discovers is funny, poignant, and enlightening.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Forget Frodo Ethan Gilsdorf guides readers through fantasy lands far more enchanting than anything you’ll find in Tolkien’s books.
Pagan Kennedy, New York Times Notable author Fantasy. Science fiction. Role-playing games.
Tens of millions of people around the globe turn away from the real” world to inhabit others. Movie fan-freaks design costumes and collect Lord of the Rings action figures. Some attend comic book conventions and Renaissance fairs, others play live-action role-playing games (LARPs). The online game World of Warcraft (WoW) has alone lured twelve million users worldwide. Even old-school role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) are still wildly popular. Who are these gamers and fantasy fans? What explains the irresistible appeal of such escapist” adventures? And what could one man find if he embarked on a journey through fantasy world after fantasy world?
In an enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, forty-year-old former D&D addict Ethan Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds from Boston to Wisconsin, New Zealand to France, and Planet Earth to the realm of Aggramar. On a quest that begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future, he asks gaming and fantasy geeks how they balance their escapist urges with the kingdom of adulthood. He questions Tolkien scholars and medievalists. He speaks to grown men who build hobbit holes and speak Elvish, and to grown women who play massively multiplayer online games. He seeks out those who dream of elves, long swords, and heroic deeds, and mentally inhabit faraway magical lands. Gilsdorf records what lures them old, young, male, female, able-bodied, and disabled into fantasy worlds, and for what reasons, whether healthy, unhealthy, or in between. Delving deeper and deeper into geekdom, our noble hero plays WoW for weeks on end. He travels to pilgrimage sites: Tolkien’s hometown, movie locations, castles, and archives. He hangs out with Harry Potter tribute bands. At a LARP, he dresses as a pacifist monk for a weekend. He goes to fan conventions and gaming tournaments. He battles online goblins, trolls, and sorcerers. He camps with medieval reenactors 12,000 of them. He becomes Ethor, Ethorian, and Ethor-An3. He sews his own tunic. He even plays D&D. What he discovers is funny, poignant, and enlightening.

From the Back Cover:

This is a delightful book more fun than being a Dungeon Master to a group of high-level mages and thieves.” A. J. Jacobs, New York Times best-selling author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically   
Witty, downright funny, poignant, honest and . . . well, wistful. Anyone who has ever embraced escapism’ will understand, and those who haven’t taken that leap of imagination will want to after reading Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. Reading Ethan Gilsdorf’s tale conjured my own Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy
experiences, vividly.” R.A. Salvatore, New York Times best-selling author of The Dark Elf Trilogy, and lead storyteller of 38 Studios game company
A fun, quirky, and fresh perspective for those wanting to know more about the amazing world of gaming.” David Brin, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards, and author of The Postman, Kiln People, and The Transparent Society
Ethan Gilsdorf’s quest for himself leads through the fantasy world of millions of gamers in a breathless adventure/quest/memoir that is uniquely contemporary. This is at once a primer on the world of gaming, a self-help manual, and a wistful meditation on the passing of real time in a (nearly) virtual world.”
  Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of The Posthuman Dada Guide
An orcs-and-all journey through geekdom, told with affection for every elf, wizard, and Dungeon Master it meets along the way. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is for anyone who’s ever been lured by the enchantment and secrets of faraway fantasy worlds; it gives a personal face to the cloak-swishing, wand-wielding, lightsaber-rattling gamer in us all.” Melissa Anelli, author of Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Pr
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1599214806
• ISBN 13: 9781599214801
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336