Why The Lucky Stiff’s Delightful Foreword for Beginning Ruby
I started Ruby Inside in May 2006 as a promotional vehicle for my then in-progress book, Beginning Ruby. It eventually went on to be published by Apress and is now on its second edition having sold quite a few copies.
It's typical to choose someone who's better known than you in the field to write a foreword for you to lend some legitimacy to your book and I only had one choice: Why The Lucky Stiff. As with many Rubyists, Why was a hero of mine and I wanted to go with the unusual route of an illustrated foreword. Surprisingly, Why readily accepted the challenge.
The foreword turned out great. Why disappeared for a few months after submitting his first drafts so we stuck with them but he had more planned. Many readers of Beginning Ruby have commented on how much they love his work, but today I discovered that several people I know well had never seen this work (because, of course, competent Rubyists don't need an introductory book). So here's a copy and paste of Why's foreword for Beginning Ruby for all to enjoy:
If you want to check out Beginning Ruby, give this PDF a look. The 2nd edition is a couple of years old now so ignore the Rails bits. Oh, and shh...
March 25, 2011 at 11:32 pm
I miss him still.
March 25, 2011 at 11:48 pm
I've been unable to find my first-edition original copy of Beginning Ruby ever since he disappeared. I think he reached out and retracted it.
March 25, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Oh yeah, that's why we had to get a second edition printed ;-)
March 25, 2011 at 11:57 pm
I must be the only person alive who just doesn't find _why all that amusing.
March 26, 2011 at 12:13 am
Are you vegan? It might be all that chunky bacon.
March 26, 2011 at 6:06 am
@Mark Wilden, who ever said he was amusing??
March 26, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Yeah, I totally agree w/ you Mark...
You are the only person alive that doesn't find why amusing :p
March 26, 2011 at 12:47 pm
As soon as I read his name in your tweet -- For a minute, I thought he has come back...
March 26, 2011 at 1:20 pm
@Peter Thanks Peter, this is a great post.
@Mark Wilden Romans said it the best: De gustibus non est disputandum
March 27, 2011 at 7:37 am
@Mark I agree with you because didn't find him amusing either. His code was fantastic but his book was unreadable.
March 27, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Any chance that the veil will ever be lifted on what happened to _why? I can't help but be both curious and sad about the whole thing.
March 29, 2011 at 6:21 am
Missing _why! He led me in the world of ruby, and inspired me greately.
April 3, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Does this mean there's a third edition right around the corner? I downloaded the PDF and I have to say, your book is very, very good for a beginner like me. I've been thinking about, putting off, attempting and failing to learn ruby for a long time, and the books I've had so far (Pickaxe, Mark Slagell's Teach Yourself Ruby in 21 days) haven't really clicked. Yours is sweet - straightforward, practical, clear and readable.
April 3, 2011 at 9:17 pm
@DAvid: Thanks for the support. I'm glad you're enjoying it! If it makes sense and you'd like to, buy the print version sometime ;-)
If there's a third edition, it's not around the corner, alas. Nothing has been said about it. I suspect I've annoyed the publisher enough to make them think twice, to be honest, though I'm not sure I'd want to write for them again anyway.
April 4, 2011 at 11:44 am
It's a nice post!!!
April 4, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Amazon.ca is shipping it to me as we speak :)
April 22, 2011 at 11:27 pm
_why? should change his name to _where.
_where is _why?
April 29, 2011 at 11:17 am
Lol
Like some kind of elephant that's a bat and a pygmy horse... but also ... YOUR FRIEND!
_why shoulda've been a comedian
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May 12, 2011 at 8:39 am
Actually what happened to why? Where is he now?
June 20, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Darn you for reminding me why I had to put all the black keys back on my piano!