Extra Life: Coming Of Age In Cyberspace

Bennahum writes a rich account of what it was like to be among the first to grow up with computers as an important part of daily life, where the critical parts of the most coveted toys are electronic rather than mechanical. What lends Extra Life such poignancy is that it ranges far beyond mere push-buttons and keyboards to incorporate the new electronic world into the larger life of a boy growing up in New York. Bennahum delves into his own psyche to show how the computer revolution dovetailed with other revolutions surrounding his coming of age, such as coping with his parents' divorce, emerging from being an outsider, and youthful (sometimes illegal) strivings for adulthood.

However enthusiastic he gets about his electronic extra life, he doesn't overlook the dark side of experience. When he violates a system-access rule, for example, he discovers a serious system flaw and must now wrestle with the ethical issue of whether to report it and protect the system when doing so would reveal his violation. If Bennahum sometimes seems overly self-congratulatory for being part of his generation, that's easily forgiven as he shares his childlike wonder in the electronic new world that grew up alongside him. --Elizabeth Lewis