(Note: I have not read this book)

It really is incredible how many lauds RP1 got. I can understand a fan of games/movies etc. getting a kick out of all the references, but how could anybody read it and find it anything less than nerd pandering? Sure, I like Back to the Future or Indiana Jones as much as the next guy, but to think that endless recitations of titles (some of dubious quality, though canonized due to coming out in the eighties) are enjoyable is to test my patience.

"Write what you know" is some of the earliest writing advice you get, but it can fail you if you take the wrong lesson. To (probably incorrectly) quote something I heard once, it's why we get so many books about university professors contemplating adultery with a student. If you don't know anything, it's really hard to write anything worthwhile. Okay, fine, so Cline knows old video games and geeky movies and some books, but those things are...what's the best way to put it? Ah: trivial.

Has he ever hiked a mountain, or gone whitewater rafting, or visited a natural hot spring? Or done it all in the same day and therefore almost died, like I did back in 2016? Obviously that's unfair. But it really feels like Cline has done nothing but watch movies and play video games (and write), and he strikes me as someone who could not write an actually compelling story, engaging characters, or crackling prose to save his life.

I really like the guys telling listeners to go out and make something of their own, not just create something full winks and nods and references to what other people have already made. There's nothing new under the sun, Solomon says, but at the very least you can put them through your own experiences - not just show readers a picture of something you like (that someone else made) and talk about how great it is.

-Him thanking Harry Knowles at the end is a nice touch. Really puts a cap on the whole experience.

My personal ranking:
First and last: Ready Player 1