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From: spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,rec.humor,alt.folklore.computers,rec.arts.books
Subject: "The Devouring Fungus" at a bookstore near you
Message-ID: <1990Nov8.001513.992@ecn.purdue.edu>
Date: 8 Nov 90 00:15:13 GMT
Sender: news@ecn.purdue.edu (USENET news)
Reply-To: spaf@cs.purdue.edu
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
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I just recently got a copy of "The Devouring Fungus: Tales of the
Computer Age" by Karla Jennings (W. W. Norton & Co., ISBN
0-393-30732-8, $10.95).

As can be gathered from the unusual title, this is not exactly a
computer textbook.  What it is, is a collection of anecdotes and
stories about computer technology and the people who spend their time
working with computers.  The stories range from historical to
modern-day, and most are amusing to read.  Not all are firmly grounded
in documented facts, but that doesn't detract from the amusement
factor; even the apocryphal tales convey a sense of the attitudes and
foibles of the "computer geeks" who have shaped our community.

The tales related in the book read like a cross between items in the
Risks digest and postings to the alt.folklore.computers newsgroup.  
Many of the stories will be familiar, but that is what makes them
folklore -- we've all heard variants of these stories, and probably
repeated a few in turn.  This is the first time I have seen anyone
collect so many of them together, and in such an amusing and readable
way. 

For $11, this is a must buy if you're into computers.  My copy is
going in a place of honor next to my Hacker's Dictionary, and just
down the shelf from my Sidney Harris cartoon book. Check it out
yourself.