LEGO: A Love Story

[Trent]

This might seem like an odd question, but last year I read Jonathan Bender's LEGO: A Love Story. I thought it was an interesting enough book, and he gained access to a lot of important and significant people in the world of Lego.

...but once I'd read the book, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that he maybe wasn't all that invested in the hobby - and that either he was a journalist who came up with a great idea for a book and got caught up in the topic whilst he was researching it, or it was a new hobby to him and he went all guns blazing at it (like most people do) and once the book was done and dusted, he lost interest.

I just wondered if he was still out there in the Lego community, and whether or not he was still building?

[Rick]

I just wondered if he was still out there in the Lego community, and whether or not he was still building?

Moved to... Community.

[Trent]

Sorry, my bad - I assumed the Community forums were non-Lego.

[fyrmedhatt]

I never did read his book, however his blog was a most excellent read. It hasn't been updated since the summer of 2010, so it seems like he's not really active anymore. I remember reading it from first to last post just as I was coming out of my dark ages. It's really too bad if he's no longer into Lego, it somehow makes the blog about discovering your inner AFOL a little "hollow".

Here's the link if you haven't seen it yet: www.brickbender.com

[Legobrandon]

I read the book and really enjoyed it. I'm not a big book guy, but this is one book I had a blast reading. Sad to see he isn't active on the LEGO community anymore.

[Aanchir]

Well, if you read the book, he did make it clear that he doesn't by any means consider his MOCs up to the same level as some of the other AFOLs he's interacted with. So there's no guarantee he has a strong web presence or a strong presence at conventions (since exhibiting MOCs tends to be the main event at least at American LEGO conventions).

Additionally, the book concludes with what might be the answer to your question: the birth of his kid. If there's any "real life" event that could drag a person away from the LEGO community, that'd be a prime example. Perhaps he simply has no time for LEGO between taking care of his child and writing professionally to bring in the necessary income.

In any event, I don't think it's reasonable to think that he simply lost interest in LEGO. More likely he still has a strong interest, but the community aspect of it-- the aspect which was most prominent for him, as far as I could tell from reading the book-- is just too much for him to maintain given the other important things in his life.

[jonathanbender]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. @Anchir is spot on -- with two kids under the age of 2 1/2, my LEGO bricks are just sitting on a shelf waiting for all of us to get a little older. But as soon as they won't be eaten, by dog or child, we'll move on from the DUPLO in our living room. -- Jonathan

[Skafte]

Wow, great to see you here, Jonathan! Your book is a really good read for AFOLs as well as for non-FOLs. I enjoyed it immensly, both times I read it! Congratulations on your second (well, both) kids! It is fun building with them, I know!