Monday, June 21, 2010

Review: The Elfish Gene

The winner will be chosen and announced tonight!  

The Elfish Gene
Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange
By Mark Barrowcliffe


I had several people recommend me this book... after I'd already finished it, which I thought was funny. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The problem is that the author very obviously has mixed feelings about D&D and the role (or is that roll) it played in his life. While he tries to look back at it and laugh, it also seems like he blames it for how poorly things went for him as a child. At the end, after writing most of he book he tries to game again, and the group he finds as an adult was pretty much as dysfunctional as the one he played with as a child. I think that's sad, and I hope that since then he's gotten the chance to play with some well adjusted people.

1 comment:

  1. I've read that book, and agree. Oddly, last year I tried to play with a local group after not playing since 1991, and all the ambivalence about gaming came flooding back. I did one session and never went back, so I know where he's coming from.

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