Thursday, October 29, 2009

Ethan Gilsdorf will speak about his book "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks"




Hi!

Just found out about your organization.

I'm a New York Times and Boston Globe freelance journalist and a PsychologyToday.com blogger --- and Somerville resident --- and I think members of your group might be interested in my new book and attending an event I'm having at Brookline Booksmith Tues Nov 3.

Would you be willing to pass this on to your peeps?

Thanks!

Ethan Gilsdorf
author of "FANTASY FREAKS AND GAMING GEEKS: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms."


***The Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks dog-and-pony (and orc) show comes to the Brookline Booksmith on Tuesday, November 3**

hope you can come and bring your friends (sworn enemies welcome too)... details below...

Tuesday, November 3
7pm
Brookline Booksmith
http://www.brooklinebooksmith.com/
279 Harvard St, Brookline MA
617-566-6660

Ethan Gilsdorf presents his travel memoir / pop culture narrative "FANTASY FREAKS AND GAMING GEEKS: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms." The book is an exploration and celebration of fantasy and gaming subcultures. The event begins with a "geek trivia contest" with prizes that tests the audience's knowledge of all things Tolkien, Harry Potter, Dungeons & Dragons and more. Gilsdorf will then read an excerpt from "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks," followed by a Q&A and book signing.

More info: http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com


PRAISE AND REVIEWS:

>"For anyone who has ever spent time within imaginary realms, the book will speak volumes. For those who have not, it will educate and enlighten."
 –WIRED.COM

>"Imagine this: Lord of the Rings meets Jack Kerouac's On The Road"--- National Public Radio's "Around and About"

>"Gilsdorf is an engaging and personable guide. Like many who will pick up his book, he’s got one foot squarely in the real world, the other in the fantasy one. This is a journey well worth taking. " –BOOKLIST

“A breathless adventure/quest/memoir that is uniquely contemporary.”
—Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator

“A vicarious peek into an escapist pastime."
–Kirkus Reviews

>"[A] fascinating memoir/travel/geek-world exploration." --- The Onion's A.V. Club

“Witty, downright funny, poignant, honest and ... well, wistful.”
—R. A. Salvatore, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Elf Trilogy

“Fun, quirky and fresh.”
—David Brin, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards

“An orcs-and-all journey through geekdom.”
—Melissa Anelli, author of Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

“More fun than being a Dungeon Master to a group of high-level mages and thieves.”
—A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically


+++

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:
Come commune with your inner fantasy fan or gaming geek with Ethan Gilsdorf, author of the travel memoir / pop culture narrative "FANTASY FREAKS AND GAMING GEEKS: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms."

"Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks" is travel-memoir exploration and celebration of fantasy and gaming subcultures. As you know, online gaming, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are huge and topical these days. The book is an effort to understand the appeal of fantasy and gaming.

On a quest that begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future, former D&D addict Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds—from Boston to Wisconsin, France to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to Middle-earth to the realm of Aggramar. He asks game-players and fantasy fans---old, young, male, female, able-bodied and disabled—what attracts them to fantasy worlds, and for what reasons. What he discovers is funny, poignant, and enlightening.

ABOUT ETHAN GILSDORF:
Ethan Gilsdorf is the author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms.

After playing Dungeons & Dragons religiously in the 1970s and 1980s, Ethan Gilsdorf went on to become a poet, teacher, and journalist. In the U.S. and in Paris, he’s worked as a freelance correspondent, guidebook writer, and film, book and restaurant reviewer. Now based in Somerville, Massachusetts, he publishes travel, arts, and pop culture stories regularly in the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Christian Science Monitor,and has been published in other magazines and newspapers including National Geographic Traveler, Psychology Today, and the Washington Post. His blog "Geek Pride" is seen regularly on PsychologyToday.com and he has also been a guest on talk radio as a fantasy and escapism expert. He does not own elf ears, but he has kept all his old D&D gear, and has been known to host a Lord of the Rings party or two. Follow Ethan’s adventures at http://www.ethangilsdorf.com.

More information at http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com

Please feel free to check out my website, http://www.ethangilsdorf.com as well as my press room for photos and book jacket art: http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/pressroom/

Thanks for your consideration and I can be reached at 857 756 9101 or this email, or you may reach my publicist Bob Sembiante at Globe Pequot Press: robert.sembiante@globepequot.com, 203-458-4555

all best

Ethan Gilsdorf


Ethan Gilsdorf
ethan@ethangilsdorf.com
http://www.ethangilsdorf.com
http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com
617-718-7007

My book "FANTASY FREAKS AND GAMING GEEKS: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms" will be published September 1, 2009, by The Lyons Press/Globe Pequot Press.

* All-new website here: http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com/ *

* Blogging for Psychology Today -- "Geek Pride": https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/geek-pride *

* Read my blog: http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/ethanfreak-blog/ *

* INTRODUCTORY VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0knQcSAaws *

* Join the Facebook Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks Fan page! http://www.facebook.com/fantasyfreaksbook *

* Enter the Great Geek Giveaway contest! cool prizes! http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/greatgeekgiveaway/ *

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ethanfreak *



Ethan Gilsdorf
ethan@ethangilsdorf.com
http://www.ethangilsdorf.com
http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com
617-718-7007

My book "FANTASY FREAKS AND GAMING GEEKS: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms" is now available from The Lyons Press/Globe Pequot Press.

* All-new website here: http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com/ *

* Blogging for Psychology Today -- "Geek Pride": https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/geek-pride *

* Read my blog: http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/ethanfreak-blog/ *

* INTRODUCTORY VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0knQcSAaws *

* Join the Facebook Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks Fan page! http://www.facebook.com/fantasyfreaksbook *

* Enter the Great Geek Giveaway contest! cool prizes! http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/greatgeekgiveaway/ *

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ethanfreak *

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