In Read Write Own, tech visionary Chris Dixon presents a potent exploration of the power of blockchains to reshape the future of the internet—and how that affects us all. This book is a critical examination of the internet's evolution and a vision for a better future powered by blockchain networks.
Dixon provides a compelling narrative of the internet's history, describing its early promise of a decentralized and democratic network, and how it shifted towards centralization by corporations such as Apple, Google, and Facebook. Read Write Own marks the emergence of the 'read-write-own' era, also known as web3, where blockchain technology empowers communities rather than solely corporations.
With his twenty-five-year career in the software industry, Dixon separates the blockchain movement from cryptocurrency speculation, emphasizing the former's potential for fostering creativity, entrepreneurship, and comprehensive digital ecosystems. This book is a must-read for internet users, business leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs looking to understand the past and navigate the future of the internet.
An account of the emergence of creative nonfiction, written by the "godfather" of the genre. In the 1970s, Lee Gutkind, a leather-clad hippie motorcyclist and former public relations writer, fought his way into the academy. Then he took on his colleagues. His goal: to make creative nonfiction an accepted academic discipline, one as vital as poetry, drama, and fiction.
In this book, Gutkind tells the true story of how creative nonfiction became a leading genre for both readers and writers. Creative nonfiction--true stories enriched by relevant ideas, insights, and intimacies--offered liberation to writers, allowing them to push their work in freewheeling directions. The genre also opened doors to outsiders--doctors, lawyers, construction workers--who felt they had stories to tell about their lives and experiences.
Gutkind documents the evolution of the genre, discussing the lives and work of such practitioners as Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Rachel Carson, Upton Sinclair, Janet Malcolm, and Vivian Gornick. Gutkind also highlights the ethics of writing creative nonfiction, including how writers handle the distinctions between fact and fiction. Gutkind's book narrates the story not just of a genre but of the person who brought it to the forefront of the literary and journalistic world.