A book recommendation

[quislibet]

So my commuter reading for the past few days has been Neal Stephenson's The Big U, a nightmarish satire of university life and the author's first novel back in 1984. I recommend it especially for BU students, since Stephenson went to BU himself as an undergrad, and the "Plex" in which the novel is set is clearly a dystopian and oversized Warren Towers gone feral. There's even an analogue to the Citgo Sign, which a cult of drug-addled students worship as a god.

Oh, and there are whacked-out LARPers and giant rats and a much higher body count than, I hope, anyone's real college experience.

Comments

[spriggan.livejournal.com]

i've read Zodiac, another of his early novels. it's about a wacky environmentalist who goes around in a outboard motor rubber boat plugging up illegal drain pipes. the style is still very stephenson. it too takes place in boston, so it's fun to pick out all the landmarks. a good quick read.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a good 'un. It also has one of the more coherent endings of any Stephenson novel I've ever read.

This one isn't explicitly set in Boston, but it's pretty clear if you're looking for it.