WANG, Wallace E. 1961-

PERSONAL:

Born September 26, 1961, in Birmingham, MI; married, 1993. Education: Michigan State University, B.A. (material engineering), 1983; M.S. (computer science).

ADDRESSES:

Home—San Diego, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, No Starch Press, 555 De Haro St., Suite 250, San Francisco, CA 94107. E-mail—bothecat@cox.net.

CAREER:

Comedian and freelance writer. Worked as a technical writer for General Dynamics, 1983-85; ComputorEdge (magazine), San Diego, CA, editor and writer, 1985-87. Founder, with Patrick DeGuire, Top Bananas Entertainment; has appeared on A&E's Evening at the Improv; also makes regular stand-up appearances at the Riviera Hotel Comedy Club, Las Vegas, NV. Visiting professor of computer science, University of Zimbabwe, 1989.

WRITINGS:

(With John Mueller), Illustrated Ready, Set, Go! 4.5, Wordware Publishing (Plano, TX), 1989.

(With John Mueller) Illustrated VP-Expert, Wordware Publishing (Plano, TX), 1989.

The Best Free Time-saving Utilities for the PC, edited by Tina Berke, Computer Publishing Enterprises, 1989.

(With Scott Millard) Simple Computer Maintenance and Repair, edited by Gretchen Lingham, Computer Publishing Enterprises, 1990.

101 Computer Business Ideas, edited by Tina Berke, Computer Publishing Enterprises, 1990.

(With John Mueller) Illustrated Microsoft Word 5.0, Wordware Publishing (Plano, TX), 1990.

(With John Mueller) Illustrated PFS: First Publisher, Wordware Publishing (Plano, TX), 1990, second edition published as Illustrated PFS: First Publisher: For Versions 2.0 and 3.0, 1991.

(With John Mueller) Microsoft Macro Assembler 5.1: Programming in the 80386 Environment, Windcrest Books (Blue Ridge Summit, PA), 1990.

(With Joe Kraynak) The First Book of Personal Computing, H. W. Sams (Carmel, IN), 1990, fourth edition, with Kraynak, Jennifer Flynn, and Stephen R. Poland, Alpha Books (Carmel, IN), 1993.

(With John Mueller) The Ultimate DOS Programmer's Manual, Windcrest (Blue Ridge Summit, PA), 1991.

(With Kenneth Bibb) Illustrated Turbo C++, Word-ware Publishing (Plano, TX), 1991.

Software Buying Secrets, second edition, Computer Publishing Enterprises (San Diego, CA), 1991.

(With Dan Gookin and Chris Van Buren) Illustrated Computer Dictionary for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (San Mateo, CA), 1993, second edition, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1995.

Learn Quicken in a Day, Wordware Publishing (Plano, TX), 1993.

Build Your Own Green PC, illustrated by Rick Wilkins, Windcrest/McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1994.

CompuServe for Dummies, IDG Books (San Mateo, CA), 1994, third edition, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1996.

More WordPerfect 6 for DOS for Dummies, edited by Dan Gookin, IDG Books (San Mateo, CA), 1994.

ProComm Plus 2 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books (Foster City, CA), 1994.

Visual Basic 3 for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (San Mateo, CA), 1994.

(With John Paul Mueller) OLE for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1995.

Visual Basic 4 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1995.

(With John Mueller) Dummies 101. Visual Basic Programming, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1996.

(With Roger C. Parker) Microsoft Office 97 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1996.

More Microsoft Office for Windows 95 for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1996.

More Visual Basic 4 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1996.

Surfing the Microsoft Network, Prentice Hall PTR (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1996.

(With John Mueller) Dummies 101. Visual Basic 5 Programming, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1997.

More Microsoft Office 97 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1997.

Visual Basic 5 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1997.

More Visual Basic 5 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1997.

Steal This Computer Book, No Starch Press (San Francisco, CA), 1998, third edition published as Steal This Computer Book 3: What They Won't Tell You about the Internet, 2003.

Visual Basic 6 for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1998.

Visual Basic 6 for Dummies Deluxe Compiler Kit (includes CD-ROM), 1999.

Beginning Programming for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1999, third edition, Wiley (Hoboken, NJ), 2004.

(With Roger C. Parker) Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1999.

More Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 1999.

(With Richard Hing) Print Shop Deluxe for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 2000.

Office XP for Dummies, Hungry Minds (New York, NY), 2001.

Web Cams for Dummies, IDG Books Worldwide (Foster City, CA), 2001.

(With Larry Garrison) Breaking into Acting for Dummies, Wiley (New York, NY), 2002.

Visual Basic. NET for Dummies, Hungry Minds (New York, NY), 2002.

Totally Tasteless Photoshop Elements, McGraw-Hill/Osborne (New York, NY), 2003.

Office 2003 for Dummies, Wiley (Indianapolis, IN), 2003.

Start! The No Nonsense Guide to Windows XP (Consumer), McGraw-Hill/Osborne (New York, NY), 2003.

(With William Pollock) The Book of Nero 6, No Starch Press (San Francisco, CA), 2004.

Former author of column "Notes from the Underground" for Boardwatch Magazine, 1995—.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Steal this File-Sharing Book.

SIDELIGHTS:

Wallace E. Wang is a study in contradictions. An engineering graduate with a distaste for computer technology, he has made a career out of writing books about PCs and software. He has also been an editor of a computer magazine and taught computer science at the University of Zimbabwe. It was while in Zimbabwe that he was first inspired to pursue another type of career entirely: stand-up comedy. As he related to Lisa Ferguson in a Las Vegas Sun interview, one night while staying in his hotel room, he became "so bored … I just started babbling to myself, and then I started laughing and I thought, 'This is actually kind of funny.'" When he returned home, a friend encouraged him to try comedy for a living. At first, Wang felt he had some success on stage, but he struggled in the entertainment field to make a living. So, having worked as a technical writer for General Dynamics, and having studied writing in college, Wang decided to make a go of it as a freelance writer. Combining his sense of humor with his empathy for computer neophytes, Wang has written or cowritten numerous guides explaining operating systems and software for beginners, particularly with his contributions to the "For Dummies" series. As Wang explained to Ferguson, it is his goal to reassure typical computer users that they are not idiots; the problem with computers is that "they're designed so poorly" that they are hard for the average person to understand.

In addition to his empathy for his readers, Wang has an advantage over other computer book writers in that, as he confessed to Ferguson, he often accepts assignments to write computer guides before he has even used the software: "[Typically,] I have never used the program, and when they give me the contract, I'm like, 'I've gotta figure out how to use it.' That's how I can write to the beginners' attitude, because I'm writing the book essentially for myself." With the "For Dummies" books, which typically include witty cartoons and asides, Wang can also indulge his natural comedic talent. But he has also written a number of books outside the "Dummies" series, the most successful of which has been his Steal This Computer Book, first published in 1998 and now in its third edition as Steal This Computer Book 3: What They Won't Tell You about the Internet. Library Journal reviewer Rachel Singer Gordon described the third edition as "an odd but fascinating compendium of resources, recommendations, and philosophical musings."

While still continuing to write about computer technology, Wang has more recently published Breaking into Acting for Dummies, which he wrote with Larry Garrison. Elias Stimac, writing in Back Stage, said "the easy-to-read formula of the 'Dummies' series, and the sly sense of humor that the writers sneak in every once in a while, make this book both informative and enjoyable." Wang, who has had several non-speaking roles in films, is himself aspiring to break his way into acting one day and especially hopes to make it on television. As a comic, his goal is to elevate America's taste in humor to a more sophisticated level that does not rely on foul language for a laugh. As he revealed to Ferguson: "I don't want people to laugh at that. I want people to get used to a higher standard of comedy … I want to get audiences smarter."

Wang told CA: "What first got me interested in writing computer books was my desire to use a computer for word processing. Like most people, I found computers were poorly designed and their accompanying manuals horribly written that I knew I could explain technical issues much clearer and simpler."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Back Stage, April 18, 2003, Elias Stimac, "The ABC DEFs of Acting."

Computer Shopper, February, 1995, Christopher O'Malley, review of Build Your Own Green PC, p. 451.

Database Magazine, April-May, 1995, Judith A. Copler, "Hardcopy."

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, review of Start! The No Nonsense Guide to Mac OS X Jaguar; October 1, 2003, Rachel Singer Gordon, review of Steal This Computer Book 3: What They Won't Tell You about the Internet, p. 109.

Quill & Quire, May, 1997, review of Microsoft Office 97 for Windows for Dummies, pp. 28-29.

ONLINE

Las Vegas Sun,http://www.lasvegassun.com/ (January 23, 2004), Lisa Ferguson, "Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Wang Prefers Practicing Comedy, Computer Basics."