{"580351":{"#nid":"580351","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"How to Play Your Way to a Fun Life","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIan Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, had his new book, \u003Cem\u003EPlay Anything\u003C\/em\u003E, reviewed\u0026nbsp;in \u0026quot;How to Play Your Way to a Fun Life\u0026#39;\u0026quot; by\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESlate\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExcerpt:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe real value of philosopher and game designer Ian Bogost\u0026rsquo;s new book,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0465051723\/?tag=slatmaga-20\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPlay Anything\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E, didn\u0026rsquo;t hit me until I made several failed attempts to write this review. Since the central theme is play, I felt compelled to offer readers something fun\u0026mdash;to fashion what Bogost describes as a playground.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt did not go well.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMy first inspiration was drawn from Bogost\u0026rsquo;s account of an artistic school known as Oulipo, which crafts its products according to arbitrary constraints. Using a constraint that found popularity through Oulipo, I would try to dash off a manuscript without using our most common symbol (as I am in this paragraph, starting with\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EMy\u003C\/em\u003E) and wax rhapsodic about how imposing random limits is actually magical, to show how Bogost\u0026rsquo;s approach in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPlay Anything\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;can transform boring forms of writing into fun!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the full article, read\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/health_and_science\/books\/2016\/09\/ian_bogost_s_new_book_explains_what_it_means_to_play.html\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"28513","created_gmt":"2016-09-21 12:54:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:28:25","author":"Daniel Singer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"research collaboration","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/health_and_science\/books\/2016\/09\/ian_bogost_s_new_book_explains_what_it_means_to_play.html","dateline":{"date":"2016-09-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-09-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}