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A review by snukes
The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World by Dan Ackerman
2.0
I paid more attention to the main title (The Tetris Effect) and not enough to the subtitle (The Game that Hypnotized the World). I wanted this book to be about the Tetris Effect. I wanted to learn more about why the game is so addictive, why playing it can actually rewire you brain, about how it sneaks into the way you organize your junk drawer, and why it is STILL so popular after all these years.
If that's also what you want to know, read the Bonus Level chapters and skip the rest. They do touch on all that info, and a little more, and it's fascinating.
The rest of this really long book, though? It's about the history of Tetris. It covers the original programming by a Russian in the 80s (interesting), the biography of that man (kind of interesting), the business wheelings and dealings of those who brought it from Russia to Europe to America (less interesting) and the biographies of ALL THOSE PEOPLE (oh come on).
The prose is clunky and mostly dull. Ackerman repeats himself in a way that suggests his editor was also snoozing, and attempts to uses rhetorical tricks to make the story more interesting in a way that suggests his editor knew how dull it was and at least tried to help spice it up a little.
True Tetris aficionados and political and business enthusiasts are this book's real audience. It's not the book's fault that I really only wanted the psychology and the rest felt like baggage.
If that's also what you want to know, read the Bonus Level chapters and skip the rest. They do touch on all that info, and a little more, and it's fascinating.
The rest of this really long book, though? It's about the history of Tetris. It covers the original programming by a Russian in the 80s (interesting), the biography of that man (kind of interesting), the business wheelings and dealings of those who brought it from Russia to Europe to America (less interesting) and the biographies of ALL THOSE PEOPLE (oh come on).
The prose is clunky and mostly dull. Ackerman repeats himself in a way that suggests his editor was also snoozing, and attempts to uses rhetorical tricks to make the story more interesting in a way that suggests his editor knew how dull it was and at least tried to help spice it up a little.
True Tetris aficionados and political and business enthusiasts are this book's real audience. It's not the book's fault that I really only wanted the psychology and the rest felt like baggage.