Lara's Book--Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon
Lara's Bookis a love letter from definitive Gen X scribe Douglas Coupland to definitive Gen X pinup girl Lara Croft. The buxom star ofTomb RaiderandTomb Raider IIis idolized in both words (Coupland provides a work of fiction about Lara and waxes poetic about his feelings for her and her unique stardom) and pictures (literally thousands from digitally rendered images of Lara in a polo uniform to handmade drawings by her legions of fans). Coupland's story, "Air Tibet," illustrated wonderfully by Kris Renkewitz, is tons of genre-hopping fun, and his description of his obsession with Ms. Croft is singular and evocative of the freestyle interludes ofGeneration X.If you're feeling a little weird about owning a glossy-paged, coffee-table-worthy pinup book dedicated to a video game,Lara's Bookjustifies itself by containing complete strategy guides for all the versions ofTomb Raider. Anyone interested in game development or the minutia of Lara's workstation-induced birth will find the Core team's account ofTomb Raider's development entertaining. Did we mention that it has thousands of pictures of Lara Croft?--Andrew Boscardin