Gomer Bolstrood

Overview

Son of Knott Bolstrood. Where his father smashed cathedral organs, Gomer makes furniture — exquisite furniture that will be fought over by descendants for centuries. When Enoch Root remarks on the Bolstrood clan going from firebrands to furniture-makers in one generation, Daniel corrects him: “Firebrands and furniture-makers.”

In the Novel

• Book 1 — Mentioned as Knott’s son, destined for craft rather than revolution.
• In Cryptonomicon — Gomer Bolstrood furniture has become priceless heirloom stuff, coveted across centuries. When the Waterhouse family gathers to divide an estate, Nina Waterhouse declares: “I don’t think it’s out of the question that I would commit physical violence in order to defend my rightful ownership of that console.” There’s also a Gomer Bolstrood cadenza, dining room set, and bed. The furniture is described as having an almost aphrodisiac effect on women — a running joke that spans three hundred years.

What’s real

Fictional. The trajectory from radical sect to master craftsmen mirrors real history: the Shakers, an offshoot of Quakerism (analogous to Stephenson’s “Barkers”), became famous for furniture of austere beauty. Shaker chairs and tables now command enormous prices. The idea that religious discipline produces exacting craft — that the same intensity that smashes organs can also build perfect joints — is the historical insight Stephenson is playing with.