Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive biography of the mythic
icon among geek and gaming culture, Gary Gygax--and the complete story
behind the invention of Dungeons & Dragons.
The godfather of all fantasy adventure games, Gary Gygax, has a life
story that has been told only in bits and pieces. Michael Witwer has
written a dynamic, dramatized biography of Gygax from his childhood in
Lake Geneva to his untimely death in 2008. Gygax's 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.
Gygax's involvement in the industry lasted long after his dramatic and
involuntary departure from D&D's 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--cultural, economic, and personal. Through
his creation of the role-playing genre, Gygax gave 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.
