3 book recommendations from Eliot Peper
This edition of the newsletter is arriving a few days late because I was hard at work completing the first revision of a new manuscript. This was a challenging edit. I had to figure out exactly what I want this book to be—or perhaps more accurately, what exactly this particular novel wants to be.
Ultimately, the effort was well worth it and made me fall in love with the characters all over again. I can't wait to share it with you, which, given the realities of publishing, won't be for a long while yet. Luckily, I have some top-notch reading recommendations for you in the meantime.
And now, books I love that you might too:
Nexus by Ramez Naam is a fast-paced, deeply-researched science fiction thriller about the implications of a new nano-drug that connects human minds as seamlessly as cell networks connect phones. The freewheeling thought experiments and frenetic action pair well with enlightening digressions into Buddhist philosophy and rave culture.
Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro is a poignant portrait of two old friends reconnecting, and discovering more than they expect (or want to) about each other. Haunting and intimate, it documents the odd choreography of fate, the ludicrous but inevitable traps in which we snare ourselves, and the strange ways in which we grow, or don't.
Hackers & Painters by Paul Graham is an essay collection so dense with big ideas that it might set off a Geiger counter. Paul will challenge your assumptions on everything from software architecture and Renaissance history to business strategy and the craft of writing. More than anything, these essays capture and illuminate a comprehensive philosophy of Silicon Valley, providing a rare glimpse inside the worldview of hackers and founders seeking to build the future.
Bonus recommendation: Mike Masnick edited and published Working Futures, a speculative short story anthology filled with thought-provoking visions of tomorrow that offer compelling, fresh perspectives on how automation is shaping our economy and culture.
In other news:
A few weeks back, I was lucky enough to perch under an original Dalí space elephant in the middle of an ancient city originally settled in 10,000 BC to watch the filming of the opening chase scene in the forthcoming Bond film.
Going Viral: A History of the Social Media Age, 1973-2073: "They were so desperate to document their lives that they forgot to live them."
ICYMI, Richard MacManus had me on Creator Interviews: "I shared work I was proud of with people I cared about, people whose work I respected and championed, people who had real, personal, specific reasons for wanting to take a chance on my novels. Over time, that group of people grew."
There aren't even any endings: "A rainforest renders self-evident life's destiny to become other life."
Formal instruction is never a prerequisite for making good art.
My conversation with Eva Hagberg Fisher, author of How To Be Loved: "I had to find the heart of the story, which was really my transformation from someone who was loved but couldn’t feel it, into someone who could feel it. And once that became the central catharsis, everything else—eventually, with tremendous rewriting and editing—fell into place."
Borderless just passed 100 reviews on Amazon. You are the best readers any writer could hope for and your reviews make a huge difference. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
If you enjoy this newsletter and want to support it, tell your friends. I love sharing amazing stories that explore the intersection of technology and culture. The goal of this newsletter is to recommend books, both fiction and nonfiction, that crackle and fizz with big ideas, keep us turning pages deep into the night, challenge our assumptions, help us find meaning in a changing world, and make us think, feel, and ask hard questions. In an age of digital abundance, quality is the new scarcity. The right book at the right time can change your life.
I also pull back the curtain on my creative process. When I'm not reading books, I'm writing them. If you're interested, you can find my books right here. They've earned praise from the New York Times Book Review, Businessweek, Popular Science, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, io9, and Ars Technica. I'd love to hear what you think if you give them a read.
Cheers, Eliot
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Eliot Peper is the author of Breach, Borderless, Bandwidth, Cumulus, Neon Fever Dream, True Blue, and the Uncommon Series. Subscribe to his blog here.
"Outstanding. Totally nails it at all levels. Incredibly powerful female characters who are simultaneously introspective and totally kickass heroic leaders. I read the whole book in one evening and loved it."
-Brad Feld, managing director at Foundry Group, on Neon Fever Dream
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