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Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?

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Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?

#1
For "book" you can substitute any coherent work of prose that is approximately the length of a novel (~50-100k words).

No particular restrictions on genre (if fiction) or topic (if non-fiction), audience, format, structure, medium, price, etc.

Re: Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?

#6
post #4

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not the book by Douglas Adams, but the fictional travel guide in that book.

Heh, I should have expected fictional books to show up. I wouldn't mind a copy of HHGTTG as well. I'd also like a copy of the Cryptonomicon, from the eponymous book by Neal Stephenson.

Wikipedia has a long list of fictional books (with several drawn from HHGTTG): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_books

Re: Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?

#7
One crash course on startup engineering - Hello, Startup (O'Reilly) [1]

This answer is cheating a little bit because the book has existed for about a year now, but this is exactly what I wanted when I got into startups.

I wish I could hand a copy of this to everyone who asks about becoming a startup dev.

[1]: http://www.hello-startup.net/

Re: Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?

#8
The primer from Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age".

Looking back, if I'd had unfettered access to information along with an intelligent guide to same, I could have educated myself a lot more quickly and thoroughly, and avoided the enormous counter-productivity and strife generated by biased and self-serving external world views and... frankly, sometimes forceful indoctrination.

Going forward, that's what I'd wish for my kids. Learn how to be around and get along with other people. But don't waste your time and peace of mind on the bullshit. And learn to protect your health, and guard it well.

Re: Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?

#9
post #6
post #4

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not the book by Douglas Adams, but the fictional travel guide in that book.

Heh, I should have expected fictional books to show up. I wouldn't mind a copy of HHGTTG as well. I'd also like a copy of the Cryptonomicon, from the eponymous book by Neal Stephenson. Wikipedia has a long list of fictional books (with several drawn from HHGTTG): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_books

Wikipedia is why I didn't suggest Encyclopedia Galactica.
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