The Nineties
Books | Social Science / Popular Culture
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Chuck Klosterman
An instant New York Times bestseller!“Informative, endlessly entertaining.”—BuzzFeed“Generation X’s definitive chronicler of culture.”—GQFrom the author of But What If We’re Wrong comes an insightful, funny reckoning with a pivotal decadeIt was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand. Happily, Chuck Klosterman is more than up to the job.In The Nineties, Klosterman dissects the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the pre-9/11 politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan, and (almost) everything else. The result is a multidimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis so smart and delightful that future historians might well refer to this entire period as Klostermanian.
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More Details:
Author
Chuck Klosterman
Pages
384
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2022-02-08
ISBN
0735217971 9780735217973
Community ReviewsSee all
"I was expecting this to be quite a bit different…it’s essentially the history of the 90’s. I was expecting more humor from Klosterman as he usually does creative nonfiction but this is a really well written book on that decade. The 90’s is a pivotal decade, especially for people who grew up in it or were sort of young adults during it. It’s really the last decade pre-technology but you could also see it coming. Touches on a lot of topics from Y2K, to Pac and Biggie, the Clinton affair, etc."
Sheldon Rapoza
"Very enjoyable read. If you even have the smallest interest in the nineties this books is a must read"
Mike Parrone
"This was an interesting read on the 90’s decade. There were a lot of great pop culture and history moments highlighted here that help you appreciate how far we’ve evolved technology wise, but nostalgic at the same time."
Olivia Huie
"The way an entire decade can be summed up by one book may sound impossible and you’d be correct but Chuck Closterman does his best to write a proper wrap up of the 90s. His attempt was successful in that it took the cultural moments of the 90s and used them to weave a story of culture and life in pre-9/11 America. Very well done. Even discussing how Kitsch culture, pop culture and mass culture were blended into one and how culture critics began to praise “prestige television” when 10 years prior, they were saying that it was an inferior medium. It Was very well done"
Finn Hughes
"The last forty pages of this book were just citing all the media that was mentioned (which was A LOT) so I finished this quicker than I expected. <br/><br/>Anyway, this is a perfectly alright book. It seemed very dense, though, which I guess is good for a nonfiction book because it provided a lot of information, but I found myself getting bored very easily on some topics, which is why it took me two months to read. Most stuff was explained super well, but there were a few things I wished would have been delved into more. <br/><br/>This book got nominated for best humor, which confuses me to no end. I didn't laugh once while reading this book, which wasn't a bad thing, not all books are meant to be funny. But it isn't even categorized as humor. So why was it a nominee in that category?? <br/><br/><i> The Nineties </i> isn't going to make you interested in the topic, but if you are interested in 20th-century history like I am, I think it's very interesting."
A W
Allykay Willims
"I was in in my 20s in the 90s, so everything in this book is about the era that shaped me. While it was fun and nostalgic, it felt like he explained everything just a little too much. I don’t think that he had to repeat himself and explain how “analog” life was so many times. I think the younger generations would have understood it the first time. So, in typical 90s fashion, I’m giving this a shrug and a heartfelt “whatever”. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it but it had a lot less humor than I expected."
