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~ (Author) "THE BOISE airport boasts several "fresh" French-fried potato vending machines, spaced at intervals throughout the facilty, to let visitors know that they are in the..." (more)
Key Phrases: Jesse Dailey, Jon Katz, University of Chicago (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Teenage hackers Jesse Dailey and Eric Twilegar are the heroes of Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho, a thoughtful, affecting pop ethnography--and heroes is exactly what Jon Katz wants you to see them as. To the rest of the world, themselves included, they are geeks, which is a complicated thing to be these days. With the rise of the networked economy, the world and its wealth have become increasingly dependent on the expertise of Star Wars-loving, cola-swilling propellerheads everywhere. Yet at the same time, the typical geek--especially the typical adolescent geek--remains a consummate outsider, with passions for technological arcana that are both alienating and empowering.

Katz, a writer for both Rolling Stone and the profoundly geeky Web site Slashdot.org, does a fine job of mapping this ambiguous new state of affairs (the Geek Ascendancy, he calls it). But the book's heart and soul is the well-told tale of Jesse and Eric's adventurous flight from lonely, dead-end lives in Idaho Mormon country to brighter possibilities in Chicago.

Katz argues that this great escape couldn't have happened without the networks (both social and technological) that are the lifeblood of '90s geekdom, but he doesn't let his celebratory argument get in the way of the story. Although he's a tireless advocate for geeks (the last chapters retrace his impassioned advocacy for brooding teenage weirdos in the face of post-Columbine media attacks), he presents their culture warts and all, with its tendencies toward social awkwardness and arrogance recognizably intact. He doesn't demand your sympathy for his heroes and their world--but he wins it anyway, by bringing them vividly and honestly to life. --Julian Dibbell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



From Publishers Weekly

While promoting his book Virtuous Reality, journalist Katz was introduced to the world of "geeks," those smart, technically savvy misfits who are ostracized by their high school peers. Katz wrote in his column on the slashdot.org Web site about the isolation, exclusion and maltreatment--from dirty looks to brutal beatings--such kids routinely face. Tens of thousands of anguished e-mails confirmed his story. One of the e-mailers was Jesse Dailey, a working-class 19-year-old trapped in rural Idaho, where he and his friend Eric Twilegar fixed computers for a living, and hacked and surfed the Web, convinced that they were losers and outcasts. Katz, also a writer for Wired and Rolling Stone, traveled to Idaho to meet the pair, intending to chronicle their lives. He wound up encouraging and sometimes assisting Jesse and Eric as they tried to improve their lives by moving to Chicago, where they sought better jobs and even considered applying to college. Sometimes intensely earnest, Katz cuts back and forth between Jesse and Eric's story and more general discussions of the geeks' condition. Over the course of the book, Jesse and Eric come to represent geeks' collective weaknesses and strengths. While the bulk of the book has broad social and educational implications (concerning the fate of bright kids who don't come from socially and educationally privileged backgrounds), it is a highly personal tale: Katz takes us inside the lives of these two young men, shows us their sense of isolation, their complete absorption in the cyberworld, their distrust of authority and institutions, and their attempts to negotiate an often hostile society. He breaks through the stereotype and humanizes this outcast group of young people. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Broadway (February 20, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0767906993
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767906999
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #214,722 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Jon Katz
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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THE BOISE airport boasts several "fresh" French-fried potato vending machines, spaced at intervals throughout the facilty, to let visitors know that they are in the proud Home of the Spud. Read the first page
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Jesse Dailey, Jon Katz, University of Chicago, Richton Park, Geek Club, Middleton High, New York, Dean O'Neill, Rolling Stone, New Jersey, University of Illinois, Bad Spirits, Sam Hunter, Taco Bell, Trenchcoat Mafia
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Customer Reviews

81 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (81 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book, February 27, 2000
This review is from: Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho (Hardcover)
Some Amazon reviewers have argued that "Geeks" is simply about two disenfranchised kids and that their geek-ness is only incidental to the story. I couldn't disagree more. The story of Jesse and Eric, while profoundly moving, is only illustrative of the larger movement about which Katz is writing. Geeks are in the ascendance in our culture -- despite the fact that that culture looks down upon them and makes many of their lives nearly unbearable. That is the interesting central theme of the book. Their exile from the mainstream world has helped spur their technological savvy, which the rest of the world now needs to survive. It is the ultimate revenge of the nerds. "Geeks" describes the nascent changing of the guard that can be seen everywhere (with differing results): in the bellies of American corporations; in American high schools; in the Dow Jones; at the University of Chicago; and in journalism. Usually, one can only write intelligently about such an event after it has long past; Katz is writing about it now. Thanks.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling and compassionate look at Geekdom, March 9, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho (Hardcover)
Mr. Katz is a generation removed from most of contemporary Geekdom, but his perspicacious comments and critical observations on our society show that his distance only makes his view clearer. I would count him as one of the best commentators of our time on pop culture.

This book is supposedly about two young men from Idaho who, by their intelligence and pluck, as well as their Geekhood, make their way out of a bad situation to one where a good future is possible. It is about them, and their story is important. It is also about Geekdom in general and our society's reaction to it. It is about being an outcast in a world with some stupid values. It is about the power of ideas. It is about the importance of individuality. It is about the positive and negative sides of such intelligence.

Many of us had read Katz's articles on Slashdot, particularly those concerning the aftermath of the Columbine shootings. Months later, those articles are still important, and the snippets of them contained in this book are entirely relevant to the story of Jesse and Eric. They are concurrent phenomena, and the book is stronger for including them.

I would highly recommend this book if you are interested in Geekdom, pop culture, outcasts in high school, and understanding 20-somethings (and teenagers) in general. Katz is a solid, compelling writer, and this book is fantastic.

And I'm not even a Geek!

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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for all Geeks and their parents, February 18, 2000
This review is from: Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet out of Idaho (Hardcover)
The book "Geeks" arrived in the mail at 2:30 this afternoon. It is now 5:45. The last page has been turned, and I'm sitting here trying to get a grip on my emotions. The story of Jesse and Eric is resonating within me like no other ever has. I confess that I pretty much broke down when I turned to page 184 (I won't spoil what happens). In many ways my life has been an almost exact parallel with Jesse's and Eric's, and it was a powerfully moving and personal experience to read their story. I strongly recommend this book to other Geeks, and also their parents.

I'm an older geek (32) who came to terms with the alienation and isolation common to our ilk many years ago. I think the thing that helped me hang on during the darkest days of my childhood was a letter I received from Carl Sagan when I was about 12 or 13. A family friend had written to him with a description of me and my plight. The letter of encouragment and understanding I received from him showed me that I was not alone.

The tragedy at Columbine hit especially close to home for me, since Columbine is literally a couple of miles from where I live. While what they did was horrific and tragic I can understand in some way what those two had gone through. This book has given me the urge to reach out to young geeks in an effort to show them that there are others who understand. I'm not quite sure how to go about this yet, but I have some ideas.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Finished in one sitting...
...of course that sitting was a transatlantic flight. Even still, I don't often feel so compelled to read a book straight through. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Brian Nixon

5.0 out of 5 stars Picked up on
Surprisingly, I came across this book when I was in the 7th grade. During that time as one may imagine, I was all about frolicking and smiling with my head stuck in a cloud (in a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mei_Mei

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Infuriating
I could go on and on about how much I hate this book. The arrogance, the narrow-mindedness, the self-pity. Read more
Published 7 months ago by ChaosAkita

4.0 out of 5 stars Geeks Review
The book Geeks by Jon Katz is a story that the reader won't want to put down. It takes the reader through the story and hard times of Eric and Jesse, two boys who used their... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Amy Ziegenfuss

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Life Lessons
I have always liked fiction much more than nonfiction. I like the adventure and creativity of fiction. Read more
Published 20 months ago by M. Hunt

2.0 out of 5 stars Less about "geeks" and more about kids moving out and being victims of bullies and society..
When I first looked at Jon Katz book about a couple of geeks leaving an Idaho community and it's Mormon values for mainstream Chicago, I was expecting they would do something... Read more
Published 20 months ago by darkguardian2

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ!
Every teenager and college student - especially those super smart and those who are computer savvy - should present this book to an adult in their world! Read more
Published on August 14, 2006 by Nanc

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read
I found this book while wandering aimlessly through the library, so I didn't really know what to expect. Jesse and Eric's story is very intriguing and quite well written. Read more
Published on November 19, 2005 by R Perkins

4.0 out of 5 stars Geeks
I wasn't too thrilled when my mother told me to read this book over the summer. It didn't appear to be all that interesting, and since I have no experience with computers, and... Read more
Published on July 18, 2005 by Willow and Jasmine

1.0 out of 5 stars Not entirely what it claims to be...
Bottomlessly self-congratulatory, Geeks' unfortunate flaw is that it is more about Katz's savior complex than it is the two real-life protagonists it claims to champion. Read more
Published on July 11, 2005 by J.C.

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