Why Neal Stephenson Quit World of Warcraft

The impetus behind Neal Stephenson's excellent new novel, Reamde, is a childhood love of the thrillers of Alistair MacLean, the author, Stephenson explains, of "Where Eagles Dare, that sort of thing. I think he wrote The Guns of Navarone." There's a pause. Even over the phone, I can hear the nagging sensation of a slippery bit of trivia gnawing at his frontal cortex. "I'm going to google him while I'm talking to you," he says, and then there's the clicking of a keyboard. Google confirms MacLean's authorship of The Guns of Navarone, and adds Ice Station Zebra besides.