Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Study of a Fascinating Topic
Review: My Tiny Life largely succeeds in its presentation of the evolution of a "Tiny" society, one that -- if you believe Dibbell's writing -- struggles through serious birthing pains as its population swells and it must contend with the issues of relationships, sex, gender (and gender's possible non-relevance online), ethics, law and self-governance. Not to mention how much LambdaMOO can absorb of your "real world" life.Dibbell's voyeurism and exhibitionism becomes somewhat annoying and distracting from time to time, although I do see the value of showing how his MOO life affects his relationship with his significant other. This is part of any journalistic writing in which the author is also participant, I suppose. If, like Evandra in a previous review, you were there when these events unfolded, it may not be of interest or of great enough depth to you -- but the insider's attitude that the book is without merit simply doesn't ring true and smacks of elitism. Overall -- extremely thought-provoking and very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Study of a Fascinating Topic
Review: My Tiny Life largely succeeds in its presentation of the evolution of a "Tiny" society, one that -- if you believe Dibbell's writing -- struggles through serious birthing pains as its population swells and it must contend with the issues of relationships, sex, gender (and gender's possible non-relevance online), ethics, law and self-governance. Not to mention how much LambdaMOO can absorb of your "real world" life. Dibbell's voyeurism and exhibitionism becomes somewhat annoying and distracting from time to time, although I do see the value of showing how his MOO life affects his relationship with his significant other. This is part of any journalistic writing in which the author is also participant, I suppose. If, like Evandra in a previous review, you were there when these events unfolded, it may not be of interest or of great enough depth to you -- but the insider's attitude that the book is without merit simply doesn't ring true and smacks of elitism. Overall -- extremely thought-provoking and very enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Book! Book! OK!
Review: Never in my life have I read such trash. If you enjoy unbalanced journalism that helps fuel the trendwagon, this certainly book is for you. But in my opinion, it stinks. IT STINKS! It gives the wrong impression about people who are online as being overweight, uncaring, insensitve, pierced freaks who have nothing to do all day but engage in tinysex.
Rating:
Summary: Not to be believed.
Review: Please don't believe a word Mr. Dibbell has to say. Those of us who are members of the LambdaMOO community can tell you how most of the events here have been changed to serve the author's point, and how untrue the entire documented experience is. This book is NOT a fair account of life on LambdaMOO, nor online at all! I regret that the general public will have an opinion of us based on what they have read from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: More Reviews
Review: Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
"It is a world that inhabitants dub 'tiny,' but its role in their lives is large. In the online community of LambdaMOO, Netizens occupy virtual living rooms and hot tubs, form close friendships and make mortal enemies, trade witticisms and discuss their lives for as many as 70 hours per week. Dibbell's account of this group is similarly large and ambitious. He eschews cliché and, in rich and active prose, frames a world that raises new questions by blurring the line not only between cyberspace and real space but between speech and action, intimacy and distance. ... Dibbell has written a sprawling, dazzling book, accessible to the least initiated and full of insights for the most wizened. ... Dibbell's insight, intelligence, and emotional depth make his interpretation one to behold and savor." Anthony Brandt, Men's Journal
"A brilliantly original collection of cyber-stories. ... Dibbell followed up on a rape that didn't 'really' happen because it took place in an MUD, a computerized multi-user dimension meant to simulate and alternate society. This particular MUD, LambdaMOO, had for its users all the force of reality, and the virtual crime threw their visible but imaginary world into emotional chaos. The book is well worth seeking out: It's a fascinating read, wonderfully compelling and rather scary." Hillary Rosner, The Village Voice
"Dibbell ... spins a fascinating tale about love and hate, collusion and disenfranchisement, democracy and morality out of relationships rendered in words and bytes." Andrew Ross Author of Strange Weather: Culture, Science, and Technology in the Age of Limits
"This is a classic travelogue of virtual life, written with a blue-sky honesty that guides neophytes and old hands through the treacherous geography of cyberspace. In that Fifth Element between words and deeds, Dibbell explores a realm where the rules of intercourse and governance can never be taken for granted, and where the ghostly characters that inhabit MOO rooms are fleshed out with the difficult passion of online chat." Lawrence Lessig Harvard Law School
"Dibbell's story is why I teach cyberlaw." Kit Reed Author of Weird Women, Wired Women
"Brilliant, exciting, and funny ... the inside story of a sprawling online community and the remarkable things people do when they think nobody can see them. Dibbell is an elegant writer -- our hot link to the intricacies of cyberlife." Sherry Turkle Author of The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit and Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet
"Dibbell takes the evocative nature of online life as a provocation to reflect on the many psychological, philosophical, and political issues that are raised ... we owe our appreciation to Dibbell for sharing his honest and intelligent reflections with us. A must-read." Stacy Horn Author of Cyberville: Clicks, Culture, and the Creation of an Online Town
"My Tiny Life is the first book I've read that truly conveys the reality and heart of a virtual society. Dibbell takes one period in time in the evolution of online society, looks at it hard, then brings it to striking, illuminating life." Mark Dery Author of Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century
"With easy eloquence and self-deprecating wit ... My Tiny Life establishes Julian Dibbell as the matchless master of that emerging genre, the cyberspace memoir."
Rating: 
Summary: Virtuality: The New World
Review: The author presents a tour of cyberspace. During this journey, we learn how the author feels, and what their priorities are. Cyber communites are the logical extension of chat sites, and web/ mail exchanges. In the real world, where restrictions can be placed on our daily lives, virtual reality provides an escape. Exploring this venue, we can learn more about ourselves as we interact with others, and the new environment. I'm glad the author documented their experiences!
Rating:
Summary: Virtuality: The New World
Review: The author presents a tour of cyberspace. During this journey, we learn how the author feels, and what their priorities are. Cyber communites are the logical extension of chat sites, and web/ mail exchanges. In the real world, where restrictions can be placed on our daily lives, virtual reality provides an escape. Exploring this venue, we can learn more about ourselves as we interact with others, and the new environment. I'm glad the author documented their experiences!
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Dibbell could use a life....
Review: The book is indeed a page turner. Online life and community presents opportunities and problems that are similar, yet different than RL. Julian's account was very subjective, but he opened himself up sharing the experience and the results on his RL relationships. If you accept that MOO users controlled what he experienced while online, then Julian could only report the experience. If his experience was so controlled, then it does support the Power Elite theory. I was fascinated.
Rating:
Summary: Provides a good sense of online communities
Review: The book is indeed a page turner. Online life and community presents opportunities and problems that are similar, yet different than RL. Julian's account was very subjective, but he opened himself up sharing the experience and the results on his RL relationships. If you accept that MOO users controlled what he experienced while online, then Julian could only report the experience. If his experience was so controlled, then it does support the Power Elite theory. I was fascinated.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This book is an instant classic of an emerging genre -- the computer memoir. Mr. Dibbell's personal accounts of his experiences with LambdaMOO are fascinating, not only for those unversed in the ways of the online world, but also for "virtual oldtimers." Whether or not the reader agrees with his opinions, his frank and sometimes painful descriptions of his life, both on- and off-line, are compelling and sincere. To view his story as a definitive history of the development of LambdaMOO would be to miss the point. Through his soul-searching, the author presents us with a very human account of what most would consider an entirely technical subject. Dibbell is a rarity -- a computer-literate humanist. Required reading for everybody.
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