Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century (Paperback)

by Rick Klaw (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...a veritable treasure trove of insider info on how the increasingly mad world of publishing actually operates." -- Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle, September 5, 2003

"Geek Confidential sucked me in and refused to let go." -- Jayme Lynn Blachke, Green Man Review, October 26, 2003

"He writes with the heart of a book-lover and the brain of a bookseller--an unbeatable combination." -- Mike Shea, Texas Monthly Online, September, 2003

"The best thing about Rick is that he knows what he's talking about (most of the time, anyway)." -- Neil Walsh, SF Site

"[I]t's all delivered in Klaw's smooth, chatty prose that reads like you're sitting with him in a bar somewhere." -- Sandy Auden, The Alien Online, February 4, 2004

Product Description
Geek Confidential: Echoes From the 21st Century is a collection of Rick Klaw's finest columns, reviews, and other observations. With two all new essays, a never-before-seen script adaptation of a Joe R. Lansdale story, and an introduction by science fiction grandmaster Michael Moorcock, this book promises to be become a must have for science fiction fans, booksellers, and anyone with an interest in pop culture.

Weighing in at about 70,000 words and 52 essays, Klaw tackles such diverse subjects as censorship, the state of science fiction, movies, graphic novels, editing, monster movies, westerns, book buying, book covers, bookselling, book theft and other interesting topics. Geek Confidential is more than a collection of works. It is a loving chronicle of pop culture at the beginning of a new millennium.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: MonkeyBrain Books (December 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932265066
• ISBN-13: 978-1932265064
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,549,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable collection of essays by a true book lover, November 5, 2003

By	Martin Wagner (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is no way to express this book in a short review, September 6, 2004

By	Matthew W Rossi (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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.