David Brooks must have gotten the memo about Geek Appreciation Week.

Here's my favorite passage from Friday's New York Times opinion piece, possibly because it explains why I never really appreciated Catcher in the Rye -- I'm a proud member of the generation that totally embraces its geekdom, rather than repressing it.

"Geeks not only rebelled against jocks, but they distinguished themselves from alienated and self-pitying outsiders who wept with recognition when they read 'Catcher in the Rye.' If Holden Caulfield was the sensitive loner from the age of nerd oppression, then Harry Potter was the magical leader in the age of geek empowerment."

Also, bonus points to those who recognize the title of this post as a homage to Katherine Dunn's novel of the same name. Publishers Weekly describes the book about a family of carnival freaks as a "raw, shocking view of the human condition ... a novel that everyone will be talking about, a brilliant, suspenseful, heartbreaking tour de force."