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Describes the geography, plants, animals, history, economy, religions, culture, sports, arts, and people of Idaho. ... Read more

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Presents a brief history and description of the Gem State. ... Read more

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The meat allotments given to the hungry Bannock Indians were late, and the tribe, never warlike or troublesome, had to leave their reservation to hunt for food. The army gathered to find the tribe but George Macdonald, who had two sons by a Bannock woman, intervened. ... Read more

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THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Describes how two 19-year-old, working-class kids from a small town in Idaho overcame their lives as outsiders, and reveals how they are using the Internet to redefine themselves and change tAmazon.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 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (82)

Excellent Read
This book was a great read~ I appreciated the insight and time brought forth to this real life journey of two people: which really represents much more in a larger picture. It's kind of a feel-good story of life chapters, as well as an interesting true depiction of where things are headed on a larger scale. Kudos~

Awesome read!I can't believe it took this long to pick it up...
I bought this book in 2000 when it first came out, but unfortunately it went on a bookshelf and was forgotten about until we recently moved.After running across it again a few months ago and finally reading it, I'm kicking myself for not reading it 10 years ago.It's still very relevant even today, and I wasn't too different from Jesse and Eric when I was out of high school in the mid 90's.

Amazing, and I'm anxious to do some research to see here Eric and Jesse are today.

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.

I identified a great deal with Jesse and Eric, the people whom the book is about. That may be why I like the book so much. I too grew up in a rather small (although much larger than the town in Idaho), agrarian community, wanted out and eventually found my stride in college.Although the book is a bit dated now in terms of the technology described, the very human story of triumph in the face of seemingly impossible odds is as true now as it ever was.

The book is very well written and an absolute joy to read. From the dedication to CmdrTaco and Hemos to the very last word it was absolutely spellbinding.It's one of the very few books that had me wanting more.

One last comment, I was also told by the University of Illinois to apply for a different degree program and transfer to my desired curriculum after the first year.Wonder if we had the same recruiter...

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 sense). When I was just randomly searching for a book at my schools library, I came across this.
Upon reaching the first few pages, I found myself reflecting on why I do the things I do.
Katz writes in way that makes you feel like you're there in shoes experiencing it all from first glance. When the boys run into a few problems, you feel like you want to help.. and then you read on that the author felt the same way.
I read it in about 4 days, note I did go about my daily life, but I felt like time passed me and I was there saying good-bye to the boys. Thanking them for teaching me that you need to prepare yourself, and be ready to embrace a world that may not treat you kindly.

Absolutely Infuriating
I could go on and on about how much I hate this book. The arrogance, the narrow-mindedness, the self-pity.

I'm definitely what people would describe as a "geek" (unless I'm not "counter-culture" enough for you), yet I absolutely hated everyone I read about in this book. Apparently, from what Katz tells us, we are to believe that geeks are super special superhumans who are just too good for ordinary people. Well, guess what - geeks aren't really that unique! Yes, I personally think that they are more interesting and are people I would more likely want to be friends with, but I could hardly go around espousing it as fact. ... Read more

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Examines the geography, history, natural resources, people, and sports of Idaho. ... Read more

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Discusses the land and climate, economy, government, and history of the Spud State. Includes Internet links to Web sites related to Idaho. ... Read more

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A profile of the Gem State, including its history, geography, resources, famous citizens, and places of interest. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more