Hey all,

So, last week, My Wife and I went into a used Book store, as we both like looking around these types of places, and I happened to be a little bored, so instead of looking to make sure my "Silence of the Lambs" set of Books was complete, I instead started looking around the "True Story" books.

I see this book called "The Cuckoo's Egg" and I think "Where have I heard that Title before???? I KNOW I've heard of this book..."

So I pick it up, and start looking at the front cover. That alone grabbed my attention, so, I read the back of it to see what it's about. I see a book that was written by a guy who went from Astronomy based projects, and was then put in charge of some Computers.

OK, interest fully grabbed...

I continue reading the back, and see that the guy is at the University of California at Berkeley. OK, Interest now TOTALLY grabbed, as I am a HUGE fan of BSD, the CSRG, Marshall Kirk McKusick, Bill Joy, and in general, the whole thing.

I keep reading, and see it's about his true story about what happened when a 75 cent Payroll error caught his attention, and, he traces it to Hackers and Crackers in Germany. Being someone proud of his German Heritage, I keep reading and get more and more into it, and I haven't even opened it yet.

So, let's look at it like this; Based on what happened at the University of California at Berkeley, some Hackers and Crackers in Germany, some of which are members of CCC, and then, the fact it's a true story.... I had to have it.

So, my Wife bought it for me, and I get it home, and can't wait any longer; open the book up, and started reading it.

Now, the fact that this was all going in in the late 1980s, I'm intrigued! I start reading it, and I'm already enjoying it. The jabs at VMS, the Unix Wizards at Berkeley making fun of their VMS guy, the guy saying AT&T Unix is what the "Hacker" seems to know best, and referring to him as a not so nice name.... Yea, this book is GREAT!

I'm pretty sure we have a LOT of members here at AO, who have read this book before. But I personally didn't have it. The main reason, if maybe the only reason, that I didn't have it, or at least had read it before, is that I RARELY buy books that aren't Technical Manuals.

I have LOTS of Books. Most of which are either Computer Security books, Unix books, Linux books, or, Historical books such as "A Quarter Century of Unix" as I DO admit, I AM a bit of a History Nerd too.

Well; Last night, I finished the final Chapter. All that is left, is the "Epilogue" that's at the very end of the book. I started reading it a little while ago, and, to my surprise, the guy who wrote the book, which, is the guy who experienced all this stuff first hand, started talking about how a "Virus" was running wild on the ARPANET. Then, he starts to talk about how after a few hours, they learned it was actually a worm.

My first thought is "Wow, the Robbert T Morris Worm!" and, I was just reading that my guess was correct.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about this book here, because it's one of the VERY few books I've EVER read that wasn't a Computer Book. I mean it IS a Computer Book, but it's not a Unix Manual, or a Computer Security Book; It's a Story. The only book I've really ever read that wasn't, is "The Shining" and a good portion of the book about Jim Morrison.

Anyway, anyone else enjoy it?