It has been a long long time since I've enjoyed reading a book as much as I did Ready Player One. I heard about the tale on Jackie Kashian's Dork Forest podcast. She described it once as "The Hunger Games for people in their 40's." Later she comment that it was chock full of 1980's geekdom and I ordered the book. The story takes place in what most people would call a dystopian future, though I think the correct term is "trickle down". People spend their time in a massive virtual world called OASIS to escape the harshness of reality. The creator of OASIS, James Halliday, hid an "easter egg" somewhere inside and left behind some cryptic clues. Whoever finds the egg first inherits Halliday's fortune and control of OASIS. James was big a fan of the video games, computer games, TV shows, and music from his youth in the 1980's. With over $100 billion at stake, lots of people are searching. The story involves intrigue both in the virtual and real world. Reading the book became a kind of game. I would get excited when I picked up some reference like "Gygax" (Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons& Dragons), then moments later feel utter defeat blanking on "Garriott" (Richard Garriott who created the Ultima series of computer games). I think I took a very atypical route through the 80's and I felt a rush of validation every time my reality intersected the author's imagination. There are a few things I have to let slide. The author assumes that years into the future many relatively recent web sites would still be around (YouTube, Wikipedia, etc). And the security of the OASIS system seems too airtight. [No one can read emails or spy on chat rooms]. Sometimes I found myself WANTING to accept everything presented. Kind of like rationalizing that a Pixie Stick is part of a healthy breakfast. But I hung my disbelief from the ceiling and never took it down. The author and publisher actually held a contest to find easter eggs hidden in the book itself. These would lead you to games on the Internet that you had to master. The Grand prize was a Delorean. Sadly the contest was over before I knew of the book. But it does make one a little paranoid. For example, Ernest is very good about explaining each reference. You don't need to have is exact life experience. When a reference goes by without comment, like dressing as a maintenance worker named Tuttle (can you say Brazil?) you have to wonder if its a clue. I came away from the book wishing I had spent more time playing video games. In truth I was only ever proficient at one arcade game. Since that very game actually plays a role in the storyline, I'll keep it to myself. (But talk about validation!). The reason I say I should have played more is that I think it would have taught me to better deal with trying and failing over and over. In my professional life I find solutions, but sometimes the ups and downs are a bit rough on the soul. Ready Player One is now my first choice if I need a book for a friend.