The Cobweb<\/i> by Stephen Bury (AKA Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George (AKA George F. Jewsbury))<\/p>\n
The Cobweb is the second of two books written by Stephen Bury, which is the pseudonym of Neal Stephenson and his uncle, J. Frederick George, which is actually a pseudonym for his real uncle, George Jewsbury. The other novel was Interface<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n Strangely, in my log of Interface<\/i>, I go fairly easy on the book. In fact, I was greatly disappointed in it for its huge, unbelieavable plot holes. I felt that the The Big U<\/i>, Stephenson’s first novel and one he reportedly cringes at, was better. I blamed his uncle, J. Frederick George, for the poor plotting, since everything else prior to Interface<\/i> was just plain good (Zodiac<\/i>, Snow Crash<\/i>).<\/p>\n But Stephenson and Jewsbury must have figured out how to work together, because The Cobweb<\/i> is a much better read, and tighter in the plotting. Essentially a political detective story,The Cobweb<\/i> concerns a small town Deputy Sheriff who stumbles upon a mystery that has global repercussions, including effecting his wife who is serving as a nurse in Operation Desert Shield\/Storm. President Bush the First has a few scenes, where he is portrayed as a sympathetic character greatly concerned about the human impact of his actions. This characteristic is viewed as a flaw by his underlings.<\/p>\n The title comes from a political tactic where you block someone’s actions by bogging them down in bureaucratic busy work, appointing them to special pointless committees and whatnot: “cobwebbing”.<\/p>\n My only disappointment was a deus ex machina at the last moment which could have been easily avoided.<\/p>\n Also, how believable is it that this Deputy could solve an international conspiracy while taking care of a 6 month old alone? Please. I can’t even get to the bathroom unless steakums<\/a> is around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Cobweb by Stephen Bury (AKA Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George (AKA George F. Jewsbury)) The Cobweb is the second of two books written by Stephen Bury, which is the pseudonym of Neal Stephenson and his uncle, J. Frederick … Continue reading