Snow Crash

This book is on every "best of" list of science fiction, and now I know why. I was hooked from the first paragraph, which describes the main character, the Deliverator, as a ninja-type warrior wearing a black "arachno-fiber" uniform that repels bullets "but excess persperation wafts through it like a breeze through a freshly napalmed forest." People rely on the Deliverator. He is a role model who uses samurai swords instead of guns because punks aren't afraid of guns but "swords need no demonstration." What is it that all of this technology and Schwartzeneggerian bravado is dedicated to delivering? Pizzas in 30 minutes or less for CosaNostra Pizza. This vignette at the very start of the book is so smart, so funny, so crazy, so close-to-real-life-as-we-know-it-but-just-tweaked-a-tiny-bit, and so fantastically well-written that I had to read it several times just for the pure joy of it. And the rest of the book only gets better. If you are any kind of a science fiction fan and haven't read this, or if you are a person who loves amazing writing and can appreciate something a little off the well-worn path of the Oprah Book Club (okay, a LOT off that path) then you need to read Snow Crash. This novel defines tour-de-force, so many ideas, so many great characters, such a well-detailed world, it is hard to believe it all came from the mind of one man. Stephenson is the Deliverator of a science fiction classic.