I’m pretty much convinced it’s the pop culture apocalypse. They’re making a 3D “Great Gatsby.” Mathew Weiner is fighting to keep advertising out of “Mad Men,” a show that is about advertising. Sidney Lumet died, and “The Dark Knight” sequel will be filmed in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh! These are the end times. Which is nice, because it perfectly coincides with the end of my column and the end of three years of writing about pop-culture for The Eagle. It’s nice to go out at the end.
But just in case pop culture survives these dire times, I ought to offer something for the future. And my future, a period that employed journalists have maliciously called “funemployment,” will be empty aside from hopeful job applications and — for the first time in months — reading for fun. So instead of some entertainment history, this column is dedicated to some simple suggestions: the best pop culture books to entertain and inform this summer.
“Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azerad
Michael Azerad’s book about ’80s punk and indie rock is one of the best pieces of music journalism in recent memory. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the most influential bands of the Reagan era, from the Minutemen to Sonic Youth, centering on their greatest releases. The trick is that Azerad manages to talk to almost everyone involved — he seems to have had almost unlimited access to band members who were previously uncommunicative to the press, and the result is a book that has no rival.
“High Fidelity” by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby may be our most pop-infused author, and many of his novels contain references to modern culture. But “High Fidelity” stands above the rest, both in its depiction of music-obsessives and how they use that music to deal with their lives. It also contains long passages dedicated to their famous “Top Five” lists and the power of a good mixtape. And if nothing else, it is our most potent reminder of what a mixtape is.
“IV” by Chuck Klosterman
I realize that by putting Klosterman on this list, I will have delighted half my readers and caused the other half to dismiss this article all together. For some reason, the author is a love-him-or-hate-him figure, probably due to the way he mixes personal anecdotes, faux philosophy and a love of Kiss into his popular essay collections. So here’s a truce: Klosterman’s best book for those who might not like Klosterman. “IV” collects the best of the author’s essays for various magazines, meaning that the personal stories are kept to a minimum. Instead, we get a look into the author’s varied interests with each essay offering something new and incisive.
“A New Literary History of America” edited by Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors
Music journalist Greil Marcus and professor of African American Studies Werner Sollors collected essays from notable academics and authors about over 200 topics in American history. Each essay is only around three pages long, but that allows the writers to fit in works about things that no one would think belong in a proper history class. Essays about Walt Whitman and the Winchester Rifle sit next to an essay about Linda Lovelace and “Deepthroat” by Ann Marlowe. The book is a must read for anyone who thinks they know what pop-culture means and want to see what it meant in our past.
“Making Movies” by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an icon of filmmaking, and his loss is surely one felt by Hollywood. I would recommend this book even without the unfortunate circumstances — it is simply the best book written about the film industry, bar none. Tracing its way though Lumet’s own time in Hollywood, it is told with a lighthearted tone and plenty of insight from a film icon. Want to go into filmmaking? Might as well learn from one of the best.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
