In 1987, while Mario was saving princesses and space marines were defending Earth, a short, balding anti-hero walked into computer screens with a very different mission: to find love (or something like it) in the city of Lost Wages.

"The Man in Polyester" is not just a history of a video game franchise; it is the autopsy of an era. Thomas Landau takes us on a fascinating journey through four decades of gaming history, from the text-based origins of Softporn Adventure to the modern renaissance of the Wet Dreams saga.

Inside these pages, you will discover:

The Genius of Al Lowe: How a former high school music teacher turned "dirty" code into brilliant satire.
Development Secrets: The truth behind the mythical "Lost Larry 4" and the legendary age-verification test that kids of the 80s hacked with encyclopedias.
The Rise and Fall of Sierra: The golden age of CD-ROMs, the corporate disaster of "Chainsaw Monday," and the disastrous attempts to revive the saga on consoles.
Social Evolution: A deep dive into how Larry evolved from a "dirty old man" into a vehicle for criticizing the superficiality of the Tinder era and influencer culture

Pour yourself a drink (don't forget the paper umbrella) and adjust your seat. It’s time to find out why polyester—like Larry Laffer—is a material that never truly dies.

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We first started out as ?The Paperback Exchange,? a chain of physical bookstores where we would part exchange your beloved books for new stories to transport you to faraway places. However, as shopping started to evolve to online shops and marketplaces, we bid our stores goodbye to become ?PBShop.? This transition has only allowed us to blossom as we now ship thousands of titles to book lovers across the globe. We pride ourselves in being a community of local book lovers which allows our passion and devotion to shine in everything we do. In 2020 we not only celebrated our 20th birthday but our 1st birthday as being completely employee owned after becoming an E.O.T in September 2019. We are proud to be different and embrace standing apart on a book mountain by working from a virtual inventory which allows us to provide thousands of books that may be difficult to get for your bookshelf or your studies. Working with a number of different suppliers allows us to explore other avenues such as puzzles, sheet music and even stationery so we really do have something for everyone. Life is about being versatile in all realms of existence. If this is your first visit or you are a returning customer, we would like to welcome you to the PBShop family, for there is no friend as loyal as a book. We are a company who put our customers at the centre of everything we do as we understand the importance of reading because once you learn to read, you will forever be free. There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours that we are yet to explore, which is why we will forever inspire curious minds.

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We ask all customers to contact us for authorisation should they wish to return their order. Orders returned without authorisation may not be credited.
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Order quantity	7 to 14 business days	7 to 14 business days
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