Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games

Lizzie Stark

May 2012 · Chicago Review Press

About this ebook

Exposing a subculture only beginning to enter the imagination of mainstream America, this is the story of live action role-playing (LARP) games. A hybrid of games—such as Dungeons & Dragons, historical reenactment, fandom, and good old-fashioned pretend—LARP games are thriving and this book explores its multifaceted culture and related phenomenon, including the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group that boasts more than 32,000 members. The history of LARP is detailed and is shown to have arisen from the pageantry of Tudor England and is currently being used as a training tool for the U.S. military. Along the way, the author duels foes with foam-padded weapons, lets the great elder god Cthulhu destroy her parents' beach house, and endures an existential awakening in the high-art LARP scene of Scandinavia.

Ratings and reviews

As a larper I loved reading this book. A heartfelt personal connection with similar people is rare in our hobby. Sure you play regularly with friends, but you don't often get to look outside of your own local area, or your own game system. This book is a wonderful look at the various kinds and styles of larp. It helped me pick up the sword again after 5 years. It will also be a great introduction to curious outsiders. If you have a friend or relative who engages in larp, but you can't understand why, this book will help you figure that out. Perhaps even see a part of larping which you might enjoy. On behalf of larpers and mundanes alike, Thank you!

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About the author

Lizzie Stark is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Daily Beast and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She is founder and editor of the literary journal Fringe and holds an MS in new media journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She lives in Edison, New Jersey.