Clune’s book is about Clune, and that turns out to be much better than Clune’s book being about computer games ... It is its own thesis and antithesis: a song of praise to the world of numbers that can never fully earn that praise, except by entering the world of letters.
in the unconventionally plotted and oddly moving Gamelife, there’s no world to save, just Clune’s younger self weathering the shock waves of alienation and struggling to connect with others.
Gamelife is a spectacular accomplishment. It’s written in a kind of yearning voice that defies easy classification as simple nostalgia; it reanimates the old discs and cartridges convincingly, without cloying.
