Michael Witwer

Empire of Imagination (eBook, ePUB)

Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The life story of Gary Gygax, godfather of all fantasy adventure games, has been told only in bits and pieces. Michael Witwer has written a dynamic, dramatized biography of Gygax from his childhood in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to his untimely death in 2008. Gygaxs magnum opus, Dungeons & Dragons, would explode in popularity throughout the 1970s and 80s and irreversibly alter the world of gaming. D&D is the best-known, best-selling role-playing game of all time, and it boasts an elite class of alumni--Stephen Colbert, Robin Williams, and Junot Diaz all have spoken openly about their experience with the game as teenagers, and some credit it as the workshop where their nascent imaginations were fostered. Gygaxs involvement in the industry lasted long after his dramatic and involuntary departure from D&Ds parent company, TSR, and his footprint can be seen in the genre he is largely responsible for creating. But as Witwer shows, perhaps the most compelling facet of his life and work was his unwavering commitment to the power of creativity in the face of myriad sources of adversity, whether cultural, economic, or personal. Through his creation of the role-playing genre, Gygax gave two generations of gamers the tools to invent characters and entire worlds in their minds. Told in narrative-driven and dramatic fashion, Witwer has written an engaging chronicle of the life and legacy of this emperor of the imagination.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 6. Oktober 2015
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781632862044
• Artikelnr.: 44220471

Autorenporträt

Michael Witwer is an author, lifelong gamer and gaming enthusiast. He holds a master's degree from the University of Chicago, where Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons first emerged as the subject of his thesis. He is also a film and theater actor and is the brother of Emmy-nominated actor Sam Witwer. He is married to Kalysta Harmon Witwer, with whom he has two children, Vivienne and William. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Rezensionen

It turns out that while we were down in the basement exploring his world, Gary Gygax was having a tremendous adventure up here in ours. Thanks to Michael Witwer's book, I finally got to experience it.