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Unplugged: My Journey into the Dark World of Video Game Addiction Paperback – May 10, 2010
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Van Cleave is out to settle old scores, set the record straight, and share highlights from an 80-hour-a-week addiction to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft. With confidence verging at times on arrogance ("If you figure out how to make a girl or two howl -- I mean, like biblical noise -- word gets around"), Van Cleave shares the highlights of his early life. Despite an already-formed addiction, he was a "gifted classical guitar major" in college, and wrote a fantasy novel that could have, he has no doubt, been huge. Top-notch agents were calling, but a computer meltdown left everyone empty handed. "Like the... novel that Ernest Hemingway left in a suitcase that was stolen from his wife in Paris in 1922, my epic fantasy would never know an audience." Van Cleave returns often to two main themes: his adoption as a child (which still causes him great pain) and the failure of the world to embrace unique individuals like him. He finds fault with everyone, including himself, but stops short of real insight, and his interviews with other addicts likely won't satisfy readers seeking actual support.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"[Unplugged] reads like a thriller novel . . ." --Sacramento Book Review
"Unplugged is an important warning about the treacherous nature of any kind of addiction and about the possibilities of self destruction that are inherent when one is absent from one's own life."
--Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
"Video game addiction is a real and growing problem . . . I'm glad Ryan Van Cleave has been willing to tell his story and hope it helps many young men avoid similar patterns."
--Kurt Bruner, co-author of Playstation Nation
"The uncommon insights and personal insights make for a great read!"
--Dr. Darcia Narvaez, University of Notre Dame
"Unplugged is an important warning about the treacherous nature of any kind of addiction and about the possibilities of self destruction that are inherent when one is absent from one's own life."
--Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
"Video game addiction is a real and growing problem . . . I'm glad Ryan Van Cleave has been willing to tell his story and hope it helps many young men avoid similar patterns."
--Kurt Bruner, co-author of Playstation Nation
"The uncommon insights and personal insights make for a great read!"
--Dr. Darcia Narvaez, University of Notre Dame
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By
Beaucoup
on January 19, 2011
Format: Paperback
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The second half of the book deals with Van Cleave's journey out of his addiction from World of Warcraft (WoW) and has some honest self-reflection regarding the fall-out from gaming. The first half of the book (Ch. 2-7) however is not at all what I expected as a journey into the dark world of _video game_ addiction. Rather, it includes some grave tales concerning his childhood, many unfortunate misfortunes & misadventures, and a lot of details of his addictions while in college including with sex & booze with a much lesser emphasis on video gaming and gambling. The lack of details into his video game time-sink does not parallel the alarmingly dark nature of his sexual encounters, sexual abuse, and binge drinking. And the chapter about his time as a teacher at Clemson leaves me thinking he was a caring teacher who connected with & saved depressed students and the reason he lost his job was because he saw "Administrator Sally" cheating with a woman on her husband. He writes, "This was the beginning of the end of my days at Clemson" (p. 126). Perhaps these chapters are the side of Van Cleave that is looking everywhere outside of himself for the reason for his addictions or anything but video gaming as the cause of his problems--and therein lies the rub!
There seems to be a journey into a dark world definitely, but it seems to me to be into the dark world of an addictive person(ality) struggling to come clean and be truthful about anything and everything that matters to him. Perhaps this is more the journey _out of_ the dark world he has found himself caught in.Read more ›
There seems to be a journey into a dark world definitely, but it seems to me to be into the dark world of an addictive person(ality) struggling to come clean and be truthful about anything and everything that matters to him. Perhaps this is more the journey _out of_ the dark world he has found himself caught in.Read more ›
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By
Andrew Doan
on August 11, 2012
Format: Paperback
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As a society that struggles with accepting "video game & technology addiction" as being real because this is a new type of addiction, I commend Ryan Van Cleave for sharing his addiction and writing this book. The book spends a significant time discussing Van Cleave's struggles with other addictions: sex and alcohol, and then leads into his addiction to World of Warcraft. As a recovering addict myself, I know that addicts will trade one addiction for another. Regardless of whether the addiction is sex, drugs, alcohol, or video games, these addictive behaviors stimulate the brain's dopamine reward pathways, essentially becoming an anti-depressant people become addicted to.
I discovered Unplugged while doing research on video game addiction and found the book helpful as it gave me insight into the mind of the addict and how the addict thinks. Thank you for sharing your story in this book.
Andrew Doan, MD, PhD
I discovered Unplugged while doing research on video game addiction and found the book helpful as it gave me insight into the mind of the addict and how the addict thinks. Thank you for sharing your story in this book.
Andrew Doan, MD, PhD
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
Catholic Mom
on March 23, 2012
Format: Paperback
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I have a video game addict for a son, actually two. So I bought this and other books to help understand. I really appreciated that the author showed me the draw of this type of game, and I had no idea it could be so terribly addictive. I wondered throughout, though, if he had exaggerated, and reading some of the reviews here, I still have those doubts. However, it did offer a gateway of understanding, and so I still have to recommend it, especially if you have a loved one who is involved in WOrld of Warcraft.
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13 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By
Mr. Holland
on June 4, 2010
Format: Paperback
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If there were ever a time for a book like this, it's now. This book helps to understand how people affected by video game and electronic addiction behave - so that those affected by this can recognize how to help.
Normally, self-help books are a snooze - and really, this is a self-help book. But the fact that it's an expertly written memior keeps it interesting and engaging. I can only imagine the people that this book can help.
It's sad that some will choose to see this addiction as less legitimate because it doesn't introduce chemically addictive drugs into your metabolic system. In fact - I think it's worse. Essentially, your body is hooked on itself.
I know many people who need to read this book.
Normally, self-help books are a snooze - and really, this is a self-help book. But the fact that it's an expertly written memior keeps it interesting and engaging. I can only imagine the people that this book can help.
It's sad that some will choose to see this addiction as less legitimate because it doesn't introduce chemically addictive drugs into your metabolic system. In fact - I think it's worse. Essentially, your body is hooked on itself.
I know many people who need to read this book.
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12 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By
SeekerOfTruth
on August 28, 2011
Format: Paperback
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This book is yet another inappropriately targeted look at addiction, marketed towards fearful parents who worry about their kids because they let video games do more parenting than they do. The book paints a picture of a man with an obviously addictive personality who spent his time in college following other vices like alcohol and sex before moving to a much less harmful one in video games. If he hadn't discovered video games and become addicted to them, chances are this book would be titled "My Journey into the Dark World of Gambling/Alcohol/Drug/Sex Addiction". If there is any valuable information to be taken from this, its that the author's addiction to video games may have saved him from numerous other addictions that would have done a great deal more damage to his life and family.
As such, this book reads a lot more like an ex-addict looking to make excuses about why he acted the way he did, and marketing it to people who don't know enough about video games or addiction to know better. He even says in his own book that the truth of some of his stories may be questionable - which only supports the idea that this book is written from a flawed perspective. Do not be fooled; this is simply another ex-addict's cry for attention and money, and one that supports the misinformed view of video games as a 'dangerous substance'.
As such, this book reads a lot more like an ex-addict looking to make excuses about why he acted the way he did, and marketing it to people who don't know enough about video games or addiction to know better. He even says in his own book that the truth of some of his stories may be questionable - which only supports the idea that this book is written from a flawed perspective. Do not be fooled; this is simply another ex-addict's cry for attention and money, and one that supports the misinformed view of video games as a 'dangerous substance'.
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