Book Review: Understanding #Gamergate by Scott Cameron

Scott Cameron’s Understanding #Gamergate is an excellent example of “Exactly What it Says on the Tin“: a 14,000 word dissertation explaining the core issues which started Gamergate, the major developments which have proceeded since that time, introductions to the major players, and a framework by which the reader can measure and weigh the arguments of both sides.

Come to think of it, this is precisely what mainstream journalists should have been doing all this time, but haven’t; Cameron presents the facts, provides the background which makes sense of the facts, and then provides his own view of things (“bias”), while explaining why he thinks the way he does.

The prose is both professional and efficient; eminently readable, but not fanciful (which is appropriate for this sort of a work).  The information is presented in a calm and balanced manner; this is not an attack piece.  Likewise, the philosophical arguments invite the reader to think for themselves, rather than resorting to rhetoric and passion to whip the reader into a frenzy; you’re allowed to disagree with Cameron, but he hopes that you at least understand his position, and don’t mistake Gamergaters for a group of misogynist trolls… that you wind up Understanding Gamergate a little bit better.

My only disappointment with this book is that it is too short; I feel like Cameron could have written something titled The History of Gamergate and it would have been – if not the final word – at least the first word on what all of this has been about.  While he explains who all of the major figures have been, he’s forced to leave a lot of minor characters out of it; there’s only so much you can cover in 14,000 words, and he wisely chose not to spread himself too thin – and maybe his next book will be a 100,000-word comprehensive history of the movement..?

This is where I run into the difficulty of whether or not to recommend it.  On the one hand, the book is excellent, concise, and accomplishes precisely what it sets out to do.  On the other, the demographic most interested in this topic is the demographic who least needs to read it; they’re already familiar with at least 50% of the information within it.

The answer is within the title: this is a book for people who are trying to understand what Gamergate is.  While the internet is chock-full of articles tagged #Gamergate, 99% of them assume that you’re already familiar with the basics, which isn’t the case for most non-gamers – or many gamers, for that matter, most of whom just want to play the games.  If you are somebody who’s interested in learning about Gamergate, but is overwhelmed by Encylopedia Dramatica’s explanation, which would require a 30-tab wiki-walk to understand, this is the book that will put together the bare skeleton for you.  If you yourself are familiar with all the GG cannon, but you know somebody who is honestly interested in a straightforward explanation – this is the book you buy for them.

Understanding #Gamergate is available through Amazon for the reasonable price of $2.99; Cameron put a lot of work into this, researching a solid dissertation.  I’m grateful that we have the beginnings of an Official History being laid out in such a professional manner.  I can’t recommend this to all and sundry, but if you’ve got questions that you want answered, this is well worth forgoing a Monster Energy Drink next time you’re at the corner store.

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Full Disclosure: I’m friends with Scott, and he tossed me a few bucks to edit/critique the book for him.  At the time I told him that if I liked it, I’d review it (I’m not as mean as Matt Forney who’ll tear apart his friends’ work out of bloody-minded integrity).  It turns out that I was genuinely impressed, despite some misgivings going into it.  Given that Gamergate is all about integrity in journalism, it would be hypocritical of me not to inform you of this, but if this leads you to doubt my impartiality, I’d like to recommend this excerpt which appeared on Andy Nowicki’s Alternative Right.