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With all the controversy about who is and is not a True Geek, and with competition for highly sought after “geek perks” at an all time high, a book on how to be a geek is definitely what we need—and with much loved Geek icon Sheldon Cooper on the cover no less. From Krause, fine publishers of guides to collecting salt shakers, coins and comics, comes The Geek Handbook, by rocketllama.com co-creator Alex Langley. And there is nothing stereotypical at all about this book’s blurbs:

Although it may not be good for their pasty white skin, geeks these days are enjoying a moment in the sun. It’s true, Geeks have inherited the Earth — ready or not.

Taking lessons from such classic geeks as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Sheldon Cooper, author Alex Langley provides useful — and awesomely funny — advice every geek needs in The Geek Handbook: Practical Skills and Advice for the Likeable Modern Geek.

This humor handbook helps full-fledged geeks, geeks-in-training and even non-geeks go through daily life with geeky flair, as well as celebrates all things geek. It covers the basics all geeks should know to live life to its fullest, including essential gadgets to waste money on, famous role models to emulate, overcoming social anxieties, essential movies to see and books to read, making friends, and dating. Yes, dating. 


Obviously, this is a book of humor, but we’re sure there will be some who won’t be laughing. And hopefully they will be investigating Langley’s actual geek cred with a microscope.

13 COMMENTS

  1. As much as I love Jim Parsons, the fact that Sheldon Cooper makes the cover instead of Troy & Abed tells me all I really need to know. AND YES I’M JUDGING BY THE COVER OH GOD FEBRUARY 7th IS SO FAR AWAY.

  2. I have The Geek Handbook, and it’s hilarious. Why does it matter if it was written my male or female? Have we not evolved past the point of geeks having to prove their “geek cred?”

  3. I don’t think Star Trek fandom is as big among the under 30-35 nerd stuff fans as the stereotypes always proclaim it to be. They can show young actors throwing up the Spock sign but I can’t imagine that most of them have actually seen more than the Abrams movie and maybe a few episodes or the movie with the whales on TV.

  4. Pasrty white skin, eh? So only white people can be nerds? I will have to inform my black and hispanic nerd friends of this. Tell them they are out of the club. Whites only. First sentence of the blurb and whoever wrote this already showed how cliche and bigoted they are.

    And.. yeah.. it is only the cover.. but Sheldon Cooper is sich a shitty ans overrated cjaracter and an awful awful stereotype. And Gates and Jobs are given as the other two examples of nerds? Eek. Sounds like one hell of a lazily written book with only casual mainsteam outside knowlege of geek culture, written only to cash in on the faux geek chic of the popularity of generic non-nerd sitcom Big Bang Theory. I think most geeks wouldn’t bother with it as they have actually nerdy books on their shelves and on their wish lists by decent nerd authors.

  5. @Johnny
    I disqgree. I do think there are some young nerdlings into classic Trek. Some younger twenty something friends are. I assumed one friend.. a slash fangirl.. was only into Quinto Spock at firat, but she assured me she loved Nimoy too. Another friend surprised me that she was even more into TOS than I was, being more TNG myself. And recently at a con I was surprised to see the two TOS Trek cosplayers at it seemed to be in high school, not some fourty year old. They are out there.

    Of course maybe now more people sadlye know Spock and company from Big Bang Theory than from actually watching Star Trek

  6. Hey guys, Alex here, the author of the book. Thanks for covering it! The topic of geekery is near and dear to my heart, and I was happy to write about it. It’s mostly a book of humor, but I tried to put in the occasional tidbits of legitimate advice that I think Younger Alex would have benefited from.

    @Jonny R. About the cover, while I do like Sheldon, my personal vote was to have Danny Pudi (Abed), Felicia Day and Chris Hardwick on it. They’re three performers whose work I enjoy greatly, and whose work ethic I find inspiring. But, my publishers got the final say on the book, and they were big-time Sheldon fans, which is totally fine. I just wish I could’ve rocked a a pic of Darkest Timeline Abed on the cover.

    @Xenos The blurb came from my publisher, who I know meant it as a joke, but I can also see why some people might not like the bit about pale skin. The official book description has been reworded to be a little less jokey.

    Anyway, if you decide to check out the book, I hope you enjoy it. If not, that’s cool, too.

  7. Regina is right. I bought the book off Amazon and actually read it. It’s great. I laughed out loud, and often at myself. I also find it hilarious that some of you are so quick to judge and criticize. If we’ve learned anything from Captain Kirk and our beloved Star Trek crew it is the need to seek out new worlds, to discover the unknown; not sit back and idly criticize. That’s not bold. That’s lazy. Live long and prosper.

  8. Yeah… not surprised such a cliche and.. can I steal the word lamestream from Fox News? Well.. not surprised such a weak blurb came from higher ups. Sadly a book has to deal with and sell with its cover. And the publisher went with the lazy mosy mainstream and popular stereotypes.

    Really… how easy woyld it be to find real n nerd or group of real nerds to pose for a cover photo. I am sure many real nerds would love to be a poster child for geek culture.

    Instead the book gets stuvk with an actor playing a cliche caricature on a show from the creators of Two And A Half Men.

  9. This book entertained the hell out of me. It was a lot of fun. I opened it with a little apprehension, wary of being mocked, but instead found a smart, sightful, if often silly look at a variety of geeky issues coming from someone who is clearly and happily one giant nerd himself.

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