>>He may be the better and brighter one, but I've read too many of his predecessors. Try as I may, I still can't find enough of books outside this anglophone circle - and there's just too much of it waiting, as it is (IOW, I'm still on chapter 4 of Cryptonomicon, the thickest paperback I ever held).
>
>And a mighty fine piece of work it is too. I read it back when it first came out.

I was sort of busy at the time...