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Three to see
Ethan Gilsdorf talks about fantasy gaming and gamers tonight
Unlike their predecessors, today’s adolescents are embracing their inner nerd. The very word “geek’’ is being taken back from its days as a John Hughes-era slur. Some people obsessively collect LPs. Future Ivy Leaguers wear their mathlete jackets like a badge of honor. And then there are those who turn to fantasy. When confronted with loss or simply the ache of being a teenager, some seek solace in the world of Hobbit holes, imaginary wars, and 20-sided dice.
This was the path Ethan Gilsdorf followed in his formative years and it is the catalyst for his new book, “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks,’’ a memoir that looks at the evolving culture of fantasy gaming and gamers.
“There has been a huge change in the culture since when I was a young gamer,’’ says Gilsdorf, a writer, poet, and writing teacher who lives in Somerville. “Geekiness had always been associated with antisocial behavior. Since then it was like geeks have inherited the earth.’’
The book begins just after Gilsdorf’s mother has suffered a debilitating brain aneurysm. The malady leaves her a “Momster,’’ an unrecognizable and terrifying creature who compels the 12-year-old Ethan to retreat deep into the opiate of Dungeons & Dragons through his middle and high school years.
When college comes, Gilsdorf emerges from his gaming cocoon, puts away his D&D figurines, and reaches out to develop a broader network of friends and lovers.
Decades after swearing off dates with the Dungeon Master, Gilsdorf finds himself inspired by Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings’’ films to revisit the world he inhabited long ago.
No longer a boy living in a world where “geek’’ is a dirty word, Gilsdorf begins what he describes as a “personal quest married with cultural investigation.’’ The journey takes him back to his start as a gamer - and to Middle Earth.
To write “Fantasy Freaks,’’ Gilsdorf traveled across the world, playing everything from World of Warcraft to Live Action Role-Playing (where grown men and women take the fantasies off the Xbox and onto the field, wielding swords and wearing elfish ears).
Gilsdorf describes the avid players he meets as “storytellers’’ and “playwrights.’’ And while every teen genre film casts young gamers as exiles, Gilsdorf rediscovers the sense of community these games evoke, a set of connections that sustained him through difficult times and served as a bridge to a more complete life.
Gilsdorf will read from his new work tonight at 7:30 at Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St.
BRUTAL MEMORY
Mary Karr, a poet, essayist, and literature professor at Syracuse University, has gained a following through her no-holds-barred memoirs. Her first, “The Liars Club,’’ was a bestseller and her third and newest offering, “Lit: A Memoir,’’ describes her “journey from blackbelt sinner and lifelong agnostic to unlikely Catholic.’’ Karr will read from “Lit’’ Thursday at 7 p.m. at Brookline Booksmith.HIS EYE IS ON THE ICEBERG
Al Gore, everyone’s favorite politician-turned-activist, discusses his new campaign, “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Global Climate Crisis,’’ Saturday at 1 p.m. at First Parish Church, 3 Church St., Cambridge.
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