Neal Stephenson’s ‘Cryptonomicon’ is one of my favorite books of the past five years. I’ve given it out as Christmas, birthday presents, etc., more times than I can count. What I loved about that book is that, to me, it really described how math-oriented people THINK, and I have so seldom seen that represented in literature anywhere. That and the pure chaotic frenzy of some of the World War II stuff …

Neal Stephenon doesn’t write short, but he does write good. I mean, well. I mean, I likee his writing.

I dug Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash,’ but it was his 70-odd page story in an old ‘Wired’ magazine about the laying of undersea fiber-optic cables and its historical precedents that first truly impressed me with this guy’s writing (and reporting) prowess. He hasn’t let me down since.