I kicked off 2011 by diving into several books. Using a couple of Christmas gift cards I picked up two music related books, Henry Rollins’ Get in the Van and Anthony Kiedis’ Scar Tissue. I also picked up the two 2600 books, both by Emmanuel Goldstein: Dear Hacker and The Best of 2600. Finally, I picked up a book that’s been on my want list for about a year: Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System.
I’m about halfway through Get in the Van, Rollins’ memoirs about being in Black Flag. It’s a good read for anyone who likes Henry Rollins, or ever wondered what it might be like to be in a up-and-coming (but perpetually broke) band. Page after page, we read about the guys getting spit on at shows and chumming up with fans in exchange for a floor to sleep on. I started Racing the Beam last night, which takes a fairly technical look at the Atari 2600 game console (you remember those, right?) by taking six different games and talking about the technical limitations of the system. It really is amazing to see how much programmers were able to do with such tight memory constraints (we’re talking 2k and 4k program sizes here).
Oh, I almost forgot; for Christmas, I also got a copy of the new book The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. This book is a must have for any Star Wars fan, and contains not only the stories behind the film, but hundreds and hundreds of behind the scenes photographs, most of which were even new to me. I have since found several other “The Making of” Star Wars books, and hope to pick them all up eventually.
Racing The Beam is a fascinating read, but it’s not entry-level stuff. I’m pretty sure you’ll dig it though.
Oh, a book by Henry Rollins? Chalk up my mother’s day gift for this year! (my mom ADORES Rollins)
Good stuff! I was a horrible reader in 2010, but I hope to get back the horse, as it were, this year. I did Get LEGO: A love story for Christmas. After that, I will aim for my backlog…
Thanks for the tip on “Riding the Beam” and the best of 2600. I bought them both for my Kindle.
No Kindle version for the “Making of Empire Strikes” (or for the “Making of Star Wars”). Darn. I guess I’ll have to get the real thing.
I’ve been meaning to pick up Racing the Beam for a long time now but too much on my plate with Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots Is Boldly Privatizing Space and rereading Fire in the Valley. My English copy of The History of Nintendo Volume 1 just arrived today from Pix ‘n Love Publishing – you might want to check it out. Great encyclopedia of every product Nintendo ever released from 1889 to 1980.