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.
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, 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.
