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<b>PRAISE FOR <i>EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS </b> The variety of viewpoints and the author's evident intimacy with an ancient foreign capital [Budapest] are promising, and Ervin makes it plain that he is taking on weighty themes. <i><b>-The New York Times Book Review</b></i> Set in a madly grasping modern Budapest, literary critic Ervin's debut mines very different ways of achieving personal and artistic freedom in three neatly polished, interlocking tales. . . . With dexterous sensibility and fluid prose, Ervin's protagonists find liberation from the onerous strictures of Budapest's Nazi and Communist past. <b>-<i>Publishers Weekly</i> (starred review), Best Books of 2010

<em>Burning Down George Orwell's House</em> is a sweet book full of delights. Since many of its best passages are rhapsodies on single malt whiskies, one is tempted to call it a wee bonny dram of a tale. <strong> <em>The New York Times Book Review </strong></em>

Through the eyes of three outsiders, <em>Extraordinary Renditions</em> takes the reader deep into the heart of Budapest, both its past and present. The whole city is here, the banks of the Danube brimming with history, intrigue, art, food, drink, and most important of all, music. His characters may be losteven the one native is a foreignerbut Andrew Ervin is a sharp-eyed, sure-handed guide. <strong>Stewart O'Nan, author of <em>Last Night at the Lobster</em> </strong>

As all good comedies do, Ervin's novel contains a sober question at its corein this case, whether the idea of escape' itself is just another manipulation sold to us proles' by the very same wired world that engulfs and exhausts us. Take a wild guess what George Orwell would say. <b>Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air</b> <i>Burning Down George Orwell's House</i> is a sweet book full of delights. Since many of its best passages are rhapsodies on single malt whiskies, one is tempted to call it a wee bonny dram of a tale. <b> <i>The New York Times Book Review </b></i> <b>PRAISE FOR <i>Extraordinary Renditions</i> </b> The variety of viewpoints and the author's evident intimacy with an ancient foreign capital [Budapest] are promising, and Ervin makes it plain that he is taking on weighty themes. <b><i>The New York Times Book Review</b></i> Set in a madly grasping modern Budapest, literary critic Ervin's debut mines very different ways of achieving personal and artistic freedom in three neatly polished, interlocking tales. . . . With dexterous sensibility and fluid prose, Ervin's protagonists find liberation from the onerous strictures of Budapest's Nazi and Communist past. <b><i>Publishers Weekly</i> (starred review) Best Books of 2010 </b>

Bit by Bit is the perfect video game book: it's part gamers' history, part history of games, and by a writer inclined to philosophical insight and literary reference. Extra hearts for a history that actually includes the contributions of women, too!--Amber Sparks, author of The Unfinished World: And Other Stories and May We Shed These Human Bodies [Bit by Bit] is a contemplative ode to electronic entertainment...It's a personal journey that speaks volumes on how video games have grown, evolved, and multiplied to fill myriad roles over the years.--Publishers Weekly A brisk, thoughtful tour of video game history. Ervin is an ideal guide... Bit by Bit might persuade holdouts just how awesome video games are.--Games World of Puzzles A fun and insightful analysis of the cultural, educational, and historical value of video games. Ervin deftly traces the evolution of our most interactive art form from Adventure to Minecraft, while offering riveting first-hand accounts from many of the men and women who made it all happen. Bit by Bit is an essential addition to every video game lover's library.--Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One and Armada An engrossing and necessary read.--Electric Literature An urbane, witty, passionate, and eminently literate history of video games from their infancy in the 1950s to today... Ervin, who gives equally satisfying treatment to game sounds, special effects, and music, is a terrific storyteller, and he provides profiles of dozens of game developers and fanatics.--Philadelphia Inquirer Andrew Ervin slaloms through their cultural and technological history, from physicist William Higinbotham's 1958 analog simulation Tennis for Two to Atari classics, arcade stalwart Pac-Man and the Warcraft franchise. Ervin even plays the original games, research that involves the installation of vintage computer drives and an 'obscenely loud' Donkey Kong machine. A vivid foray into alternative worlds. --Nature Believe it or not, all those hours playing Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog really meant something. Andrew Ervin takes a brilliant look at the effects of those games--which did not, in fact, rot our brains.--Rolling Stone Ervin brings a literary sensibility to his study... [he] makes an affable guide through the history of the medium... For me, the book's key statement is this: 'Today, if there is in fact a distinction between mass entertainment and the fine arts, it gets complicated more effectively by video games than any other medium.' Bit by Bit plumbs these complications with welcomed intelligence.--Washington Post It's unusual for a history of video games to feature multiple quotes from Rilke, references to philosophy and Zen Buddhism, and comparisons to great works of art. But that's exactly what Ervin serves up to support his compelling argument: video games can be art.--Booklist Like spaceships or skyscrapers, video games are a collaboration of humans and machines, of art and commerce. One part flesh, one part metal, one part markets, one part truth. Andrew Ervin composes a winsome but measured portrait of games from all these pieces, bit by bit.--Ian Bogost, author of Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games Literary and playful... Bit by Bit provides a fascinating exploration of the world of video games, their history and importance to modern culture. --Winnipeg Free Press Not many books about video games allow Denis Johnson to rub shoulders with Monkey Island or Vladimir Nabokov with Peter Molyneux. Ervin's taste in games is excellent, his points are thought-provoking, and his cultural omnivorousness (take note, aspiring game journalists) is thrilling. A terrific book.--Tom Bissell, author of Extra Lives and Apostle

PRAISE FOR EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS <p/> The variety of viewpoints and the author's evident intimacy with an ancient foreign capital [Budapest] are promising, and Ervin makes it plain that he is taking on weighty themes. --The New York Times Book Review <p/> Set in a madly grasping modern Budapest, literary critic Ervin's debut mines very different ways of achieving personal and artistic freedom in three neatly polished, interlocking tales. . . . With dexterous sensibility and fluid prose, Ervin's protagonists find liberation from the onerous strictures of Budapest's Nazi and Communist past. --Publishers Weekly (starred review), Best Books of 2010

Author Information

Andrew Ervin is the author of Extraordinary Renditions and Burning Down George Orwell's House. He has written essays and reviews for the New York Times Book Review, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and others. He teaches part time at Temple University and lives with his wife in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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