"TACKY is about the power of pop culture -- like any art, low or high -- to imprint itself on our lives and shape our experiences, no matter one's commitment to "good" taste. These fifteen essays are a nostalgia-soaked antidote to the millennial generation's obsession with irony, putting the aesthetics we've learned to hate to love -- frosted tips and glosses, Sex and the City, The Cheesecake Factory -- into kinder and sharper perspective. Each essay...

This book consists of three parts: Things That Are True: profiles and trend stories: Britney Spears, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Metallica, Val Kilmer, Bono, Wilco, the White Stripes, Steve Nash, Morrissey, Robert Plant--all with new introductions and footnotes. Things That Might Be True: opinions and theories on everything from monogamy to pirates to robots to super people to guilt and (of course) advancement--all with new hypothetical questions and footnotes....

Cultural critic Chuck Klosterman compiles and contextualizes his favorite articles and essays from the past decade, spanning the realms of culture and sports, while also addressing interpersonal issues, social quandaries, and ethical boundaries. Many of the articles are enhanced with previously unpublished passages and digressions. Subjects include Breaking Bad, Lou Reed, zombies, KISS, Jimmy Page, Stephen Malkmus, steroids, Mountain Dew, Chinese...

The trends and idiosyncrasies characterizing America's status-seeking new cultures are observed in this collection of articles.

"From one of our leading film historians and interpreters: a brilliantly researched, irresistibly witty, delightfully illustrated examination of "the marriage movie": what it is (or isn't) and what it has to tell us about the movies--and ourselves. As long as there have been feature movies there have been marriage movies, and yet Hollywood has always been cautious about how to label them--perhaps because unlike any other genre of film, the marriage...

Explains how the influences of dreamers, zealots, hucksters, and superstitious groups shaped America's tendency toward a rich fantasy life, citing the roles of individuals from P.T. Barnum to Donald Trump in perpetuating conspiracy theories, self-delusion, and magical thinking. "In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, one of our sharpest observers, Kurt Andersen, demonstrates that what's happening in our country today--this strange, post-truth,...

"We live in a culture of casual certitude. This has always been the case, no matter how often that certainty has failed. Though no generation believes there's nothing left to learn, every generation unconsciously assumes that what has already been defined and accepted is (probably) pretty close to how reality will be viewed in perpetuity. And then, of course, time passes. Ideas shift. Opinions invert. What once seemed reasonable eventually becomes...

"New York Times"--Bestselling author and radio phenomenon Ingraham turns her trademark satirical eye to the culture and habits of everyday U.S. citizens.

A cultural exploration of vampire lore and the lifestyles it has inspired in the modern world recounts the author's visits to convergence sites in New York clubs, darkened parks, and chain restaurants.

Grounded in Christian principles, this accessible and engaging book offers an informed and fascinating approach to popular culture. William D. Romanowski provides affectionate yet astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television characters from Indiana Jones to Homer Simpson, and he speaks with historical depth and expertise on films from Casablanca to Crash and music from Bruce Springsteen to U2. Romanowski's confessional approach affirms...