divine essences in their pores

....from Review: Baroque Cycle concludes with a gilt trip, by Tom Dodge, in today's Dallas Morning News

Although Mr. Stephenson is now a big gun in publishing's arsenal of serious novelists, his name is printed smaller on the cover than the title. This is due to his introverted personality, his apparent graphomania and his obvious disdain for celebrity. He may be weary of questions about his "similarity" to Thomas Pynchon. His books are, like Pynchon's, capable of overpowering the normal brain. But perhaps their weightiness is due to divine essences in their pores.

Be sure to experience Stephenson's disdain for celebrity up close and personal on his book signing tour this month.