| Title | : | Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1644452618 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781644452615 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | Expected publication November 21, 2023 |
From the earliest computers to the smartphones in our pockets, video games have been on our screens and part of our lives for over fifty years. Critical Hits celebrates this sophisticated medium and considers its lasting impact on our culture and ourselves.
This collection of stylish, passionate, and searching essays opens with an introduction by Carmen Maria Machado, who edited the anthology alongside J. Robert Lennon. In these pages, writer-gamers find solace from illness and grief, test ideas about language, bodies, power, race, and technology, and see their experiences and identities reflected in―or complicated by―the interactive virtual worlds they inhabit. Elissa Washuta immerses herself in The Last of Us during the first summer of the pandemic. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah describes his last goodbye to his father with the help of Disco Elysium. Jamil Jan Kochai remembers being an Afghan American teenager killing Afghan insurgents in Call of Duty . Also included are a comic by MariNaomi about her time as a video game producer; a deep dive into “portal fantasy” movies about video games by Charlie Jane Anders; and new work by Alexander Chee, Hanif Abdurraqib, Larissa Pham, and many more.
Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games Reviews
-
Some of todays most talented writers talking about the games that have shaped them? Sign me all the way up!
While Critical Hits felt tailormade for me, each of these essays work as resonant pieces apart from any knowledge the video games discussed. Adjei-Brenyah's essay on the grief of losing his father, Wushuta's delve into chronic illness and isolation, and Wilson's exploration of his own identity through the lens of Final Fantasy VI; all of these essays reveal the powerful way the right game at the right time can change you forever. Critical Hits, wonderfully edited by Carmen Maria Machado & J. Robert Lennon, has rocketed to one of my favorite books, not just of 2023, but of all time. If you have EVER enjoyed playing a video game, I can't recommend Critical Hits highly enough.
