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| The Big U | 
 enlarge | Author: Neal Stephenson
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $1.00
You Save: $13.99 (93%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (76 reviews)
Sales Rank: 366060
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0380816032
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380816033
ASIN: 0380816032
Publication Date: February 1, 2001
Release Date: February 6, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The New York Times Book Review called Neal Stephenson's most recent novel "electrifying" and "hilarious". but if you want to know Stephenson was doing twenty years before he wrote the epic Cryptonomicon, it's back-to-school time. Back to The Big U, that is, a hilarious send-up of American college life starring after years our of print, The Big U is required reading for anyone interested in the early work of this singular writer.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 71 more reviews...
 An Uneven Novel, But Recommended for Stephenson's Fans August 6, 2008
The Big U is the first and least of Stephenson's novels. But if it ultimately fails to cohere, that's only because it was an ambitious attempt--with themes and a voice that Stephenson's fans will recognize from his later work.
An Interesting Perspective on Stephenson's Roots May 17, 2007
Although the writing tends to be a bit undisciplined and even unrestrained, I greatly enjoyed this book. It's little more than a funny story, but a funny story it is (at least from the point of view of a college junior). It provides a view of college that is exaggerated in a most comical way. It's a great read for anyone in college or anyone who has been to an American university.
It's also an interesting read that provides a look at Stephenson's early roots. I'm a huge Stephenson fan, and this novel is a good deal different from this later writer. It does, however, provide a look at some of his early ideas, especially ones that came out in his groundbreaking novel "Snow Crash". Many reviewers have made the obvious computer/technology connections, but I was much more surprised by the discussion of Julian Jaynes' "The Origin of Conciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" that was found in "The Big U". Fans of "Snow Crash" will know that Jaynes' work is a fundamental part of "Snow Crash", and it's interesting to see Stephenson talk about the research in "The Big U", if only on a much smaller scale than in "Snow Crash". Many of Stephenson's later ideas are touched upon in "The Big U", although it's clear that in 1984 he wasn't as adept at weaving them into a coherent, compelling story. Still, "The Big U" is worth reading for both entertainment and historical reasons.
The Big Start to the Big Career May 10, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
What's really fascinating about The Big U is how early Neal Stephenson hit upon so many of the themes that he follows through so much of his more recent fiction. Others have commented about the interest in computers, programming, and worms--these come in as plot points here, but Stephenson hadn't figured out how to use them in detail without losing the reader, as he did later in Cryptonomicon. The fascinating blend between absolutely ludicrous plot twists, believable detail, and weird, geeky heros is here already. And I noticed some more incidental ideas germinating here; I was struck by how the decaying University, once the epitome of higher education, resembled the decaying palace of Louis XIV, complete with bats and rats and crumbling ceilings and walls. Also, the dumping of cement into the hole occupied by the "B-men" in the Big U was surely a forerunner of two scenes in Cryptonomicon--if you haven't read it, I don't want to spoil it for you here. We are missing a red-headed immortal, but Stephenson was just getting warmed up. Fans should not miss this; but if you haven't gotten bitten by the Stephenson bug, you might want to start elsewhere.
 Don't know why it was out of print October 13, 2005
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
What a great book! I don't know about 80s college parody or whatever, but Stephenson writes some great characters and the style of narration is great. This book is great because of the exaggeration and because while I was reading it, Stephenson made the extreme stuff make sense. It's like watching a movie where the acting is so good you don't even go "She's a great actor" because the performance has got you. He sets the tone of the craziness right from the start, establishing the rules where this book takes place. Sure college kids can relate to this book but that's not what makes it great. Actually I read this book and didn't think about college too much at all and I was in a FRAT! hohoho. I definitely liked this more than his later books the whole Baroque Cycle, I barely got through cryptonomicon. I like his sense of humor so Zodiac, Snowcrash, and some of Diamond Age was more my style, along with the big U. So anyways check this book out especially if you liked snowcrash. It's pretty solid.
Fast Times at Boston University June 1, 2005
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Not his best, but a darn good read. Neal Stephenson, Boston U class of '81, made the most of his time at B.U. by writing his first partly sci fi novel. University life starts out as ordered chaos and gradually builds to a wild crescendo of open warfare in the lunatic asylum. Nothing is held sacred, well except for the Big Wheel Oil sign, in reality the Citgo sign in Kenmore square. Interestingly, it was actually turned off from 1979 to 1983, by Governor Ed King to save electricity. The book is full of gems such as an attempt to pie President Krupp (John Silber?), a brilliant computer nerd battling it out with an immortal computer virus, dungeons and dragons played in the sewers under B.U. infested with giant rats, and an incredibly bizarre method to raise money for the University (Silber again?). Laced with humor, some scares, but never a dull moment.
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