A very funny and fun read from Neal Stephenson, written before he got all serious. The big U is a satire of modern college campus life.

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The Big U is a farcical view of college. The setting is a major urban university. The entire place is contained in one vast building - the plex - in which myriad crazy things happen.

Stephenson's writing is light, even when things take a serious twist. His vision of human affairs in the vast place he describes is both funny and poignant. Things just happen here, usually with no repercussions. Pianos are thrown onto distant roofs, people are factionalized in crazy ways, drugs and booze run rampant, and actions rarely have any basis in reality.

Be sure to avoid the Crotobaltislavonians!

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I've read Neal Stephenson's later works before reading "The Big U," his first book. While not as in depth or refined as his later books, this one doesn't disappoint. His style and humor are make this book an easy read. If you want a funny, lite, but not fluffy, college life paperback, this one will satisfy.

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Stephenson's first published work is a bit uneven - the first half is an amusing satire of big campus life, and the second half pulls out all the stops, with an all-out war erupting, complete with mutant rats, nuclear waste, foreign nationals, bizarre cults, lots and lots of weaponry & violence - and of course, some heroic geeks.

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