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Overview of Author
The author, David Weinberger, chose to write this book to inform his readers about the multitude of small parts and diverse people that are joined together to create the Internet. David Weinberger is a well renowned author. In addition to his book //Small Pieces Loosely Joined// he has also written the book __[|//Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder//]__ and a variety of other books//.// Mr. Weinberger has also written for an assortment of influential magazines, journals and newspapers including, but not limited to; The NewYork Times, USA Today, and the Harvard Business Review. David Weinberger has a PhD in Philosophy, but chooses to spend his time writing and keeping up with his weblog, the Journal Of the Hyperlinked Organization (JOHO).
 * Author blog:** Weinberger, D. (2009). Journal of the Hyperlinked Organization. Retrieved October 30, 2011 from [|__http://www.hyperorg.com/#contact__]

[|__http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/David-Weinberger__]
 * Author information:** All American Speakers. (2011). Printable Biography of David Weinberger. Retrieved October 30, 2011 from


 * Book review/author information:** McElhearn, K. (n.d.) Technology and Society. Retrieved October 30, 2011 from [|__http://www.techsoc.com/smallpieces.htm__]

**Interveiw with the author:** The Well. (n.d.) Inkwell: Authors and Artists. Retrieved October 30, 2011 from __ [] __

The overall content of the book //Small Pieces Loosely Joined// was very intriguing. The author uses a variety of different metaphors and short stories to help the reader understand the concepts that he is presenting.  The first chapter of this book begins with a few short narratives about the different “realities” that the Internet has to offer. According to Weinberger, the Internet is without space, has different types of time, allows people to develop different personas, and has an infinite amount of knowledge available (p.6,7). Weinberger refers to the Internet as “A new World [that] is opening up, a world that we create as we explore it” (p.25).  The second chapter in the book focuses on the concept of space and how it is demonstrated throughout the Internet. Weinberger discusses how hyperlinks connect WebPages and how easy it is to just point, click and browse through numerous amounts of information at once. He states that “. . . the most significant difference between real-world space and Web space has to do with the relationship of space to the things in it” (p.44). Real world space, according to Weinberger, is basically where real things exist.  Chapter three focuses on the idea of time. Time within the confines of the Internet is vastly different then real world time. In this section Weinberger discusses how you can leave something that you are doing on the Internet behind, come back to it later and everything will be in the same place that as before. He also addresses how live chats, threads and conversations can be left behind for a time and easily found or picked up again later.  Perfection on the Web is the focus of the next chapter. On page seventy two Weinberger states that “On the Web, perfection is scary.” The concept of perfection on the Internet is everywhere that we look. Companies have the perfect pictures on their websites, hotels show images of perfectly made beds with perfect looking people on them and even clip art has faultless pictures. However, this is not the reality of the Internet. This chapter is filled with examples of perfection on the Web and how, with the help of individuals, perfection can go terribly wrong and become terribly right. According to Weinberger “. . .the Web works because it’s broken” (p. 83). The Internet works because there are constantly people messing things up and changing it.  The next chapter is titled togetherness. Throughout this chapter Weinberger focuses on the individuals, not the masses, who bind together the Internet. He talks about different ways that people can communicate with each other on the Web. Togetherness can be formed by meeting together in groups online or by posting and reading book reviews.  The main focus in chapter six is knowledge. Weinberger uses this section of the book to inform the reader that the knowledge on the Internet does not come merely from individuals who hold advanced degrees, but it also can and often does come from the average Joe.  The next chapter dives into the technical aspects of the Internet. In this chapter Weinberger brings the technological terms into play. Bits, gigabytes and routers are just a few of the words that are used to describe the underlying matter of the Web.  The final chapter in this book is all about hope. The Internet is full of possibilities for every individual. However, each person has to decide what they will do with the Web. Weinberger closes off his book by saying “Our most important constructions are not the pages we put up or the stories we tell or the poems we record or the videos we post. Far more important is the way we reinvent what it means to be together as human beings”(195).
 * Overview of Book**

I really enjoyed reading this book and I loved how Weinberger used stories to explain his main points. However, I did find some of the stories, such as the first one about an Ebay search for a quilt, to be a little long and dreary. There were also quite a few profane words that were used to emphasize points throughout the text. I believe that this book would have been more professional and appealing if those explicit words had been extracted. I would recommend this book to someone who is not very familiar with technology and the Internet. The majority of the topics in this book state very basic information about the Internet. I would give this book a rating of four and half stars. The book was interesting and funny, but a little unprofessional.
 * Critique**