If you have ever thrown a 12-sided die or have game character accessories in your closet, you might want to check out this book event. Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks & Gaming Geeks, will be at Green Apple Books next Tuesday, November 10 at 7pm.
In an enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, Gilsdorf crisscrossed America, the world, and other worlds—from Boston to Wisconsin, France to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to the realm of Aggramar, on a quest to ask gaming and fantasy geeks how they balance their escapist urges with the kingdom of adulthood.
In his story of why he wrote the book, Gilsdorf says “I needed to put myself face-to-face with these escapist pursuits. Before, as a kid, my D&D obsession was a haphazard consequence, a symptom of being lost. I was oblivious. This time, I would get lost on purpose. I wouldn’t be escaping again; I would be excavating. Examining the unexamined in an effort to find out what fantasy meant to me, to all of us.”
Gilsdorf himself was a big gamer, playing D&D religiously every Friday night for five years when he was a teenager. “D&D had helped me “escape” a difficult adolescence,” he says.
Check out the short video below with Gilsdorf. Then head to Green Apple on Tuesday night to ask him about his hit point count and choice of warrior class. No mead allowed. 😉
Sarah B.