A weird, witty, endlessly entertaining compendium for the budding pop-culture aficionado.
For anyone who has ever felt the slightest bit deficient in their pop-culture expertise, here is the ultimate guide, guaranteed to fill any void.
Harmon has put together a quirky, fun, wide-ranging guide to nearly 500 different books, films, podcasts, songs, television episodes, video games and more, sorting them into kooky top 10 lists. “Stop Being Such a Philistine: Easy Access Points to the World of High Art” includes Exit through the Gift Shop, a Banksy documentary directed by the subject; Amadeus (the movie); Barry Lyndon; a 2009 ad campaign for Levi’s; and Beyoncé’s “Countdown” video, among others. “Eat, Pray, Love, Spelunk: Tag Along on a Life-Changing Vacation” recommends the VICE Guide to Travel, a Web-based collection of video guides to such vacation getaways as Doha and Karachi; The Darjeeling Limited; David Foster Wallace’s A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (1997); and The Amazing Race Australia. Each entry receives a paragraph or two of annotation. It is particularly entertaining to see what seemingly completely disparate things wind up on the same list. Evil Dead and The Sound of Music? Field of Dreams and Persepolis? The bizarre choices will prompt many double takes and lots of laughter.
A weird, witty, endlessly entertaining compendium for the budding pop-culture aficionado. (Nonfiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-936976-36-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Zest Books
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
From the thousands of letters she's received, the author has selected those best suited to illustrating what bothers kids the most. Being the most popular writer of children's books in America, she has kept in close touch with her pre-teen audience—and even some graybeards. Her correspondents tell of loneliness, jealousy, sibling rivalry, crushes; apprehensions about sex and their own attractiveness, as well as the puzzle of bodilyfunctions, fill out the menu. The youngsters are concerned about their families, confused by parental inconsiderateness, weakness, even brutality. Some write of the stepchild life or of serious illnesses and disabilities. Through it all, Blume is a patient listener, offering sensitive advice and honest opinions. The author succeeds in being clear and straightforward, basing her answers on her own experiences and in the course of it all, revealing much personal information as she succors the wounded. She offers encouragement and consolation, but doesn't shy from admitting her own despair or bewilderment when the problem eludes a clear solution. This is a rewarding gift for a young friend or relative since its practical wisdom and pertinence will help them find answers and a modicum of relief. At least, it will show them that they are not alone in the travails of growing up. Parents, too, could benefit greatly from the letters presented here, since they may convince doubters of the need to communicate with their children. Even the most considerate adult has problems dealing with their kids, and Blume is supportive and understanding in helping them to be better parents. She will reward her fans both young and old with this approach and win legions of new adherents to boot.
Pub Date: April 1, 1986
ISBN: 0671626965
Page Count: 318
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1986
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Incisive and occasionally brash, the selected works by these poets on the rise showcase the challenges of 21st-century...
Lauer and Melnick team up to present a poem apiece from 100 “younger” poets who’ve published in media ranging from Twitter to the New Yorker.
This cross section of contemporary poetry is promoted for grades nine and up, making no concessions to youth. The language and themes of a number of these selections are as adult as they come, probing suicide, mental illness, drug abuse, rape, racism, police brutality, AIDS and other cataclysmic life events, along with tamer reminiscences of home and more common rites of passage like heartbreak, sexual and recreational drug experimentation, and identity formation. The only direct appeal to younger readers is the hind quarter of the volume, which is devoted to brief biographies revealing humanizing yet beauty pageant–like trivia about each poet. Otherwise, the vast majority of these largely first-person free verse poems exhibits a modernist penchant for everyday detail, as in Travis Nichols’ “Testimonial”—“I knew, even when I found a piece / of tooth in my Sausage McMuffin, / I would surmount the poverty / and dullness of my youth”—or introspective attention to contemporaneity, as in Patricia Lockwood’s edgy “Rape Joke”—“You know the body of time is elastic, can take almost / anything you give it, and heals quickly.”
Incisive and occasionally brash, the selected works by these poets on the rise showcase the challenges of 21st-century living for readers who are ready for them. (Poetry. 14 & up)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-670-01479-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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