Holy shit! Cory Doctorow has a new book out? How did I miss that? I listen to his podcast and everything!

Sure, it’s not a novel, but he already published one of those this year (Little Brother, which you should read, and buy for you kids/younger siblings/cousins/whatever). And now we get Content, a collection of essays on all the topics you’d expect from the caped-and-goggled King of the Bloggers.

Like a lot of my favorite writers, Doctorow is just damn good at explaining things. In the space of a short column, he can give you a decent lesson in the politics of DRM, or completely change your position on copyright law. He’s a master of providing the perfect link for a given situation — no matter how esoteric the subject, he knows the right place to learn about it. And, most importantly, the dude’s an insanely prolific writer, speaker, and blogger, so you’ll always have something to read.

Of course, if you’ve found your way here, you probably know Cory Doctorow’s work already. As such, you know he makes all his books available free on his website via Creative Commons, and Content is no exception. And this isn’t just some vanity project that only exists in digital form; it’s also a real book that you can buy.

Look, the guy’s a genius, and he has more to say on the future of publishing, copyright, and technology than I could even imagine, so get your ass over to his site and read the essays. And some of his novels, if it’s not too much trouble.

Next time, on Doctorow Watch: I sit around waiting to see if his legendary, never-published novel Themepunks is coming out anytime soon.