Customer Reviews

Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century

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This book is a compendium of essays that have originally appeared on Rick Klaw's web column "Geeks With Books" over at SF Site, as well as some other scattered sources. Klaw is something of a name in Texas science fiction and comics fandom and publishing, but his principal career is that of a bookseller, and this is where his love of books truly shines.

You wouldn't think a load of essays about the art of bookselling would be all that interesting, but they are, thanks to Klaw's ready wit and the way any bibliophile can dive right into his stories knowing they are listening to a kindred spirit. There are several amusing and incisive tales, ranging from shoplifting (where Klaw reveals that the Bible is the #1 most shoplifted book), to dealing with author signings, to the economics of used book stores and why so few of them turn anything resembling a profit. It's breezy and fun reading all the way through.

Elsewhere in the book Klaw lets his geek flag fly with everything from book and movie reviews to interviews with the likes of Michael Moorcock, to some enjoyable dirt-dishing concerning his brief run as a graphic novel editor.

Depending upon your own interests, some essays will be more interesting to you than others. They are all, however, good quick reading, with few in excess of five pages. Still, it must be said that the price tag is pretty steep here for what you get. Still, that's the economic reality of small press publishing. Klaw would be happy to explain it all to you in detail.

Get your hands on a copy. Look at the excellent cover by John Picacio, and then imagine this: as good as that cover is, what's inside it simply blows it away, and that's no mean feat, gentle reader. Rick Klaw is jarring at times, abrasive, witty, intelligent, laconic, challenging, an expert in many fields from bookselling to the composing of effective comic books, science fiction or how to hold a book signing. His ruminations on censorship are white-hot and deserve to be read by anyone who holds on to the foolish notion that what will protect children is ignorance, his understanding of what makes effective writing is vast, his ability to interview (in this case, Michael Moorcock, an authentic genius... much like Rick himself is) holds startling clarity. I simply cannot say enough good things about this book. It should be required reading for anyone who fancies him or herself a writer.