“Forget Frodo; Ethan Gilsdorf guides readers through fantasy lands far more enchanting than anything you’ll find in Tolkien’s books. Donning his cloak of invisibility, he takes readers along on a mind-blowing tour of nerd universes—from a knighting ceremony in a Pennsylvania park to vampire slayers in a Marriot Hotel. The result is a compassionate, humorous and magical trip that makes reality seem like a poor substitute for the realms of imagination.” —Pagan Kennedy, author of New York Times Notable Book Black Livingstone and The First Man-Made Man
“Ethan Gilsdorf takes us on a vivid, funny, poignant trek through geekdom . . . and somehow, before we’ve caught on to his tricks, he makes a genuinely important contribution to understanding fantasy, pop culture and their roles in our emotional and cultural lives. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is entirely worthy of that fantasy Pulitzer Prize the author’s been coveting.” –Gerard Jones, author of Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence and Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
“This book—part memoir and part insider’s guide—is both poignant and hilarious, baffling and informative, disturbing and entertaining. It is a must read for anyone whose idea of a good night involves dragons, spaceships, or one-eyed monsters dripping with slime.”—Jake Halpern, NPR Commentator and author of Fame Junkies
“With the authority of an initiate and the curiosity of the seeker Ethan Gilsdorf leads us through the world of role-playing games that — for both better and worse — provided the arena for his coming-of-age. Part memoir, part travelogue, part investigative report, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is a compelling exploration of a moment in our cultural history. What you learn about the games and the players is considerable, but stands as nothing compared to what you learn about the human heart.”
–Richard Hoffman, author of Half the House: A Memoir
“After his mother’s brain injury Ethan Gilsdorf saved his childhood through the Dungeons and Dragons game. Now Gilsdorf sets out on a quest to revisit his childhood and to explore the expansive post-Tolkien landscape in this fascinating travelogue. Potter Rock in Harvard Square, Bilbo Baggins in New Zealand, and much more.” –Doug Whynott, author of Giant Bluefin and A Country Practice
“Ethan Gilsdorf’s Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is alternately hilarious, surprising, poignant, and odd, but always utterly compelling. Beginning with his own teenage geekdom and addiction to Dungeons & Dragons, Gilsdorf transports us to the fantastical worlds of live-action role playing, Harry Potter tribute bands, creative anachronism, and Lord of the Rings tourism, reminding us that these substitute realities are not just amusements, but at times, life-savers. A must-read book for trolls, orcs, hobbits, or anyone interested in the quirky corners of popular culture.” –Dinty W. Moore, author of The Accidental Buddhist and Between Panic and Desire
“Ethan Gilsdorf is a poet and explorer, a gentle soul with a spirit for adventure. He is a deft storyteller, too, and here he leads us into realms real and imagined, personal and universal. It is a moving journey for fantasy freaks and gaming geeks, and for anyone curious to wander into their world.” –Tom Haines, award-winning travel writer, Boston Globe
“This is at once an affecting memoir, a thorough survey of the subculture of fantasy gaming, and an immersion journalist’s journey into strangeness. It’s also a wincingly honest self-portrait of a man who reaches forty and resolves to confront the role-playing escapist adolescent hidden not so very deep within him.” –Carlo Rotella, author of Cut Time: An Education at the Fights
“If you think fantasy culture is just a bunch of pimply-faced kids shouting about dragons in a finished basement, you haven’t been paying attention. From wizard rock to chic French geeks, Gilsdorf catches you up on everything you need to know about the modern state of make-believe. And he does it with such humor, honesty, and, yes, cool, you’ll almost wish you had an orc-slaying, princess-saving past of your own to suppress.” –Yael Goldstein Love, author of Overture: A Novel and The Passion of Tasha Darsky
“Intensely personal yet universally appealing, Gilsdorf’s work speaks to the geek in all of us. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, with its exploration of an emerging marginalized culture, rolls a natural 20.” –Larry D. Curtis, TheOneRing.net
“Unfortunately for the establishment, the geeks—like Frodo and Sam slipping into Mordor quietly and unobserved by the Dark Tower—have come out of the quiet and peace of the Shire, or the gaming dungeon, and merrily taken over a large portion of the world, as illustrated by this book…. Ethan Gilsdorf looks critically at gaming and fantasy and finds out how wonderful they can be for bringing people together across wage, ability, and ethnic divides, or from disparate places around the world, for developing imagination and creativity, and all in the name of fun! Cogito Ergo Geek.” —Ian Collier, The Tolkien Society
“Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks is a lively exploration of the fantasy realms into which boys and grown men retreat. Moms of teenage boys will find new insights about what makes these worlds so compelling as well as some encouraging stories about the friendships and communities they foster.” –Michelle Seaton, co-author of The Ways of Boys
“For every adult hiding his D&D books like they were Playboy magazines, behold Mr. Gilsdorf as he undertakes his Greatest Adventure, one that any geek will envy. Gilsdorf takes a Kerouac meets Cliffs Notes approach and gives us On the Road for the Star Wars generation, sharing his impressions while allowing the people he meets to share theirs.... Chapter after chapter, the author puts the geek psyche on the dissection table, and tries to get to the root of our escapist society. It’s fascinating to watch him peel back each layer, and wildly entertaining to cavort with the motley cast of outcast characters he digs up. In his more introspective moments Gilsdorf remembers his own troubled youth, and a love/hate relationship with his own geekhood. It’s a self branding that seems all too familiar, as we all have difficulty with who we are....Too many of us will find this book hitting joyously close to home. Call it ‘Confessions of a Closet Geek.’” –Juan Carlos Piñeiro Escoriaza and Victor Piñeiro, creators of the award-winning documentary Second Skin