I’m thankful for this review of But Our Princess in Verse Wisconsin.  In it, reviewer Lisa Vihos addresses an issue that was always present in my mind as I revised the manuscript:

I must state here and now that I know very little about this particular realm of cultural subtext. I did not spend hours on Saturday afternoons playing Donkey Kong, or shut out the world on the drive to the grocery store glued to my Gameboy with Mario’s fate in my hands. I have never been up until 2 a.m. eating cold pizza and playing Grand Theft Auto.

And yet. And yet. These things seep into consciousness. There is something that resonates here.

I had always intended for the book to make sense, to resonate for people who had never played any of the games in it.  I imagine people who know the games very well might enjoy the Easter egg-like references I’ve sprinkled throughout the book.  But those served as points of departure for me, rather than merely offering in-jokes to the implied readership.  The book, ultimately, is about much bigger questions than the intricacies of Pac-Man, et al., and I’m grateful that the review addresses those issues.