Where Pirate Cinema — the first of Cory Doctorow’s books I read — was part novel, part copyright-reform-manifesto, Little Brother, is part novel, part (online) privacy primer.
It’s the story of a teenage boy who takes on the Department of Homeland Security (who have turned his hometown, and perhaps the entire nation into a complete police state), and, ultimately, wins. Meanwhile, it covers surveillance, why there’s a need for privacy even if you have nothing to hide, a lot of internet security and hacking, punk rock rebellion, and a pretty damn good story: make no mistake, Little Brother is delightfully nerdy — my inner geek rejoiced — but it manages to remain solid story.
- Book read
- Cory Doctorow — Little Brother
- First line
- I’m a senior at Cesar Chavez high in San Francisco’s sunny Mission district, and that makes me one of the most surveilled people in the world.