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     Well, I am disappointed in the lack of literary flights of fancy
     exhibited by the mapnerd crowd.
 
     However, there are exceptions! Thanks to Fran Woodward for her clues
     to summer reading. Thanks also to Susan Klimley at Columbia U who led
     me to a scifi masterpiece I can recommend...
 
     Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash  Bantam paperback 1993
 
     Written in 1988-91, this is a wonderful sendup of the internet
     universe. Road Warrior hits the infobahn. And he calls up his computer
     map at times to identify characters in his immediate vicinity.
     Unfortunately his technology is a little bit behind the curve and his
     use of the map tends to jangle the system somewhat...
 
     I am only on p. 84 [out of 470] but I have not stopped laughing. This
     book is a wonderful sendup of the "culture" [take that in a variety of
     ways, biological, social...] we live in today.  Perfect beach blanket
     reading.