More fully, Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. It’s one of those books where, when they ask you what the genre is, you just kind of shrug. Cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, hard SF, classic steampunk; you picks your number and you takes your chances, neighbor. Suffice it to say that it’s a cracking good read and has gotten even more cheerfully subversive since it was written twenty years ago, which takes some doing. Well worth your time, in other words.
And so, adieu to The Square Deal.
A bit of a side topic, but I’ve found that assigning genres can be a very slippery business. For instance, while curating my music collection, I pondered what genre to assign to the Beatles’ first album, Please, Please Me. Classic Rock? Early Rock? Pop? An argument could be made for each. (And don’t even start on what alleged difference there might be between “Rock” and “Rock & Roll”).
.
Ultimately, I ended up settling with “Rock” as a good-enough catch-all.
What do you file Johnny Cash under? Rockabilly? Rock? Rock & Roll? R&B? Country?
.
The problem, seems to this cat, is .. so many pieces are missing ..
.
http://cathyday.com/2011/05/imitation/rockhistorychart/
.
.. from the picture. Where *does* Johnny Cash fit? Where does War fit? Do the Beatles move over time?
.
Mew
‘Johnny Cash.’
Is this something I can give to my turning 16 honorary granddaughter to get her invested in reading?
The best way I can put it: my mother would have freaked out if she had caught me reading it at 16, but my mother would have been wrong. 🙂
Been a long time since I’ve read this one, but I recall it as one of the faster moving Stephenson novels and it would probably be a good fit. I’d also recommend introducing your subject to the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, not because they are especially suited for 16 year olds, but because they are amazing books.