Vinton Cerf helped create the Internet a quarter-century ago. Now he is president of the Internet Society and senior vice president of data architecture at MCI. (See "The Creators," Wired 2.12, page 152.)
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray. "Although my wife says it's written from a male point of view, it has helped me put some puzzling interactions into perspective."
The Internet Book by Douglas Comer. "I always pick up the latest Net, Web, and Gopher books to see what's being published. Comer is a reliable author who's been involved in the Net community for a long time."
"I also read a lot of science fiction; I just re-read David Brin's Earth, Robert Forward's Time Master, and Isaac Asimov's Robots of Dawn."
A veteran of MTV and Nickelodeon, Michele DiLorenzo is the president of Viacom New Media. The two-and-a-half-year-old company has 18 interactive entertainment titles on the market, including two bestselling CD-ROMs, Nickelodeon Director's Lab and MTV's Club Dead.
A Harlot High and Low by Jean Louis Guez de Balzac. "I was inspired to read Balzac after I visited Paris."
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. "This was a change of pace from what I had been reading. I loved the quirky characters and the humor."
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. "I recently went through an Edith Wharton phase, reading The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth back-to-back. These two books span her career, so it was interesting to see how her style developed, became more economical. Her writing is some of the most beautiful I have ever read."
Stacey Horn is the madam of Echo, the popular New York-based electronic salon. An avid reader since 14, she is working on her first novel. (See "Net Living: The East Coast Hang Out," Wired 1.3, page 27.)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. "I didn't get any work done the weekend I read it. And I kept thinking, That's it. I can't write. I give up. I'll leave it to Berendt and stick to Echo."
Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima. "This is not the lovely, twisted, painful stuff I expect from Mishima. I didn't finish it, I admit."
A Sense of Reality by Graham Greene. "I read this book every year."
Forever Barbie: An Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll by M. G. Lord.
"A must-read for all gurlz and boyz. So, so smart. And funny. To M. G. Lord: I tortured my Barbies - What does this mean?"
Graphic god Kai Krause is worshipped by Photoshop users far and near for his add-on program, Kai's Power Tools. This summer he releases Vector Effects, a similiar extension package for Illustrator and Freehand.
"I'm getting back to books I was given a few years ago that include
a set of Albert Einstein's letters in German. He received mail from all over the world from a wide variety of people - kids and scientists, politicians and family. His responses are always charming and often surprising - he once advised a child to skip school to pursue his hobby."
"Style books on Tuscany since I have a new house to furnish in Montecito, California. And an avalanche of bedtime stories for 6-year-olds."
"Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies, which I got for my birthday, is also very interesting. One of my all-time faves is his Gödel, Escher, Bach."
STREET CRED
Hot SpotChannel Surfer's Guide
REAdME On the bookshelves of the digerati
