Snow Crash Chapter 14 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • The Librarian gives Hiro tidbits of the info on Rife: This dude got rich in telecommunications and also donated tons of money to religious organizations, primarily Pentecostals; he also founded his own Bible College.
  • A lot of the later info on Rife is more about him showing off his human side in news feature stories. He buys an aircraft carrier from the Navy to use as his personal yacht.
  • Some of the new stories are obvious PR ploys to make Rife look good after some weird incidents, like when he placed bugs in the homes of his programmers and verbally abused them if they had oral sex in the privacy of their own homes.
  • Another news piece tells us about Rife's ventures into infoastronomy, or looking for radio signals from other solar systems. And then in the next news piece, Rife is shown turning his yacht into a refugee camp.
  • Hordes of Bangladeshis surround Rife as he talks to the journalist interviewing him. Suddenly, they all start speaking in tongues, and Rife acts as though this is a good thing. Creepy.
  • Someone yanks off Hiro's goggles. It's Y.T., hanging out outside the van. She's coming along for the ride.
  • This concert's going to be huge. Hiro starts setting up the sound equipment—this one's going to be a loud one.