Widely regarded by critics and fans as one of the best games ever produced for the Sony Playstation, The Last of Us is remarkable for offering players a narratively rich experience within the parameters of cultural and gaming genres that often prioritize frenetic violence by straight white male heroes. The Last of Us is also a milestone among mainstream, big-budget (AAA) games because its development team self-consciously intervened in videogames’ historical exclusion of women and girls by creating complex and agentive female characters. The game’s co-protagonist, Ellie, is a teenage girl who is revealed to be queer in The Last of Us: Left Behind (DLC, 2014) and The Last of Us II (2020). Yet The Last of Us also centers Joel, Ellie’s fatherly protector. How is patriarchy, the rule of the father, encoded in rule-based systems like videogames? How does patriarchal rule become an algorithmic rule and vice-versa? These questions are at the heart of this book, the first comprehensive scholarly analysis of the zombie apocalypse/ action-adventure/ third-person shooter videogame The Last of Us (2013). On the one hand, the book is a close, extended study of The Last of Us and its themes, genres, procedures, and gameplay. On the other hand, the book is a post-GamerGate reflection on the political and ethical possibilities of progressive play in algorithmic mass culture, of which videogames are now the dominant form.

The author has written parenting columns for over 16 years for a local newspaper in the fastest growing county in the South. She has also written for and hosted a parenting radio show. Parents and grandparents have requested a book of her columns for years. Now, rather than cutting them out and putting them on the refrigerator, you can carry it with you. Since she has written a weekly column for 16 years, more books will follow.

Note to Self: This book is of the utmost importance to the survival of the Black Cloud and the evil that flows through this world, at any time and any place. May it not fall into the hands of the enemy, for it will surely destroy all life on Earth. The book you are holding contains a secret account that only one man would write. It reveals the fate of the Locusts of the Black Cloud, the fate of the gangs, and the fate of Snoop and his group. And, the most deadly thing of all: the peaceful days of the council, before the ongoing trouble arose, and before its ultimate destruction. I warn you, turn away! Not even the cloth of truth can protect you from the evil that lays inside this book. Turn, for this book is filled with the evil of the world. That is all.

"A guide to the stages and issues in boys' development from birth to manhood"--Provided by publisher.