Minutes of the Lead Pencil Club: Second Thoughts on the Electronic Revolution (Paperback)

~ Bill Henderson (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Contributions from such diverse and intelligent voices as Russell Baker, Cliff Stoll, David Gelernter, and Doris Grumbach elevate this collection of essays criticizing our computerized lives above the usual Luddite screeds found in the daily media. Many of the essays are skeptical of cyber-life, but even those of us who use computers constantly can gain insights into how technology may be affecting us in ways that hardly constitute progress. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In letters, essays and testimonials, Russell Baker, Sven Birkerts, Nicholson Baker and others inveigh against the evils of the computer revolution.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Pushcart Press (December 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916366200
• ISBN-13: 978-0916366209
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #943,607 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walden Pond Revisited, February 24, 2000

By	Chiang Hai Tat (Jupiter) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had never known such a book exists until I stumbled upon it at my local bookstore. What surprised me even more was that there is a place for such a club in this world of 1,000 mhz computers and super pocket pcs.

It seems ironic that you are actually reading this review on a computer and even more so that this review was written on a pc at my work place. But isn't this book targetted more on computer users than those who never touch a computer?

Read the Lead Pencil Club manifesto, it will help you get your life back before it's all too late.

Long live the Leadites!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Voices in the wilderness, May 28, 1999

By A Customer

Minutes of the Lead Pencil Club is an interesting collection of bits and pieces related to the shunning of technology or the minimal use of technology. Electronic gadgets, including computers like the one on which you read this review, are complained about, fretted over, and lampooned. Some of the contributors are techies who have realized the limitations or deficiencies of modern technology over previous methods. Some contributors take after Luddites, wishing to live a simple life. This is a book that may be taken lightly or seriously. This reader found it to be a welcome voice in the wilderness of tech-dom. Using a pencil once in a while won't hurt anyone.

5.0 out of 5 stars Its critique has come true, April 15, 2009

By	E. Willi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The essays here sound a warning: technology has become our god. Granted, many technologies such as the telephone, water purification plants, airplanes, are given a pass. The main culprit is the computer (and related technologies), which have taken over our consciousness -- lives plugged into the electronic web of Internet, email, "virtual sex", video games, cell phones (and now Twitter, Broadband, Facebook, etc.) We have created a culture that cannot do anything without a computer.