Empire of Imagination

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What to expect

The first comprehensive biography of geek and gaming culture's mythic icon, Gary Gygax, and the complete story behind his invention of Dungeons & Dragons.

The life story of Gary Gygax, godfather of all fantasy adventure games, has been told only in bits and pieces. Michael Witwer has written a dynamic, dramatized biography of Gygax from his childhood in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to his untimely death in 2008.

Gygax’s magnum opus, Dungeons & Dragons, would explode in popularity throughout the 1970s and ’80s and irreversibly alter the world of gaming. D&D is the best-known, best-selling role-playing game of all time, and it boasts an elite class of alumni--Stephen Colbert, Robin Williams, and Vin Diesel all have spoken openly about their experience with the game as teenagers, and some credit it as the workshop where their nascent imaginations were fostered.

Gygax’s involvement in the industry lasted long after his dramatic and involuntary departure from D&D’s parent company, TSR, and his footprint can be seen in the role-playing genre he is largely responsible for creating. Through his unwavering commitment to the power of creativity, Gygax gave generations of gamers the tools to invent characters and entire worlds in their minds. Witwer has written an engaging chronicle of the life and legacy of this emperor of the imagination.

Critics Review

  • It turns out that while we were down in the basement exploring his world, Gary Gygax was having a tremendous adventure up here in ours. Thanks to Michael Witwer’s book, I finally got to experience it.

    David X. Cohen, Executive Producer of FUTURAMA

  • We live in a time when the most important people in sports are using data–statistics, analytics–to make decisions with billion dollar consequences. We live in a time when digital gaming may be more influential in our culture than sports and movies combined. In short, we live in a world perhaps only Gary Gygax could have imagined decades ago. If you want to know where it all began, this book is as good a place as any to start.

    Mike Greenberg, cohost of ESPN's MIKE & MIKE and bestselling author of MY FATHER'S WIVES and ALL YOU COULD ASK FOR

  • Empire of Imagination tells the story of the emperor himself, at times brilliant, sometimes tragic, but ultimately victorious.

    Peter Adkison, founder and former CEO of Wizards of the Coast, owner of Gen Con

  • In vignettes which vividly illustrate Gygax’s key role in the invention of modern gaming, Empire of Imagination shows us the rise of Dungeons & Dragons through the eyes of its most famous father. Gygax could not have hoped for a more attentive and sympathetic biographer.

    Jon Peterson, author of PLAYING AT THE WORLD

  • The work of Michael Witwer is all I could have hoped it would be! . . . If you want to know what it was like back when D&D was being born then this book is a must have.

    Ernest Gary Gygax, Jr.

  • Witwer’s respect for Gygax is evident throughout . . . informative . . . Well-researched.

    Kirkus

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