Rating: 3 stars

The Elfish Gene is a memoir of a young boy growing up in 1970’s England. Mark Barrowcliffe turned to role playing games as a way to express his creativity and find out who he was. Unfortunately, total immersion into the fantasy worlds of Dungeons & Dragons resulted in the emergence of an annoying little geek who didn’t have the proper social tools to help him through his formative years, and overflowing into an obnoxious twenty-something young man.

Although some may take Barrowcliffe literally regarding his insistence that D&D pretty much ruined his life, I don’t know that the game was being blamed as the cause but rather the crutch that allowed him to put off the inevitable. I’m sure young Mark was not alone in wondering if the life he was experiencing was really all there was and I have to assume that 1970 Coventry, England didn’t have a whole lot to offer a young boy. Dungeons & Dragons provided an escape to a place that was much more interesting and creative; a place that allowed Mark to be an individual.

Before I started reading the book I looked for an author photo; I wanted to be able to put a face to the geek I was about to read. Surprisingly, Mark Barrowcliffe is rather attractive; this was something he too discovered upon seeing a photo which revealed that he did not actually resemble a hairy troll. I have to say that despite the book dragging a bit in some places, I thought it was a fun read. I found Barrowcliffe’s writing light, witty and quite funny at times. His self-deprecating manner was humorous and the depiction of his young self was quite cringe-worthy at times – especially his renaissance fair manner of speaking.

When Barrowcliffe mentioned that he was married, I actually felt a sense of relief. Given his socially stunted beginnings that carried fairly far into a cape-wearing young adulthood, the fact that he was able to meet, converse with, and actually get someone to marry him seemed nothing short of a miracle. Although Mark seems to have left his fantasy addiction behind, I hope for her sake that cape is long gone too.

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Publisher: Soho Press, Incorporated
Pub. Date: November 2008
ISBN-13: 9781569475225