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AND THEN THERE’S THIS

Name: AND THEN THERE’S THIS
Author: Bill Wasik
ISBN: 978-0-670-02084-3

HOW STORIES LIVE AND DIE IN VIRAL CULTURE

by Bill Wasik ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2009

Witty and of the moment, yet presumably destined for a short shelf life.

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Quirky theories on the rise of viral culture.

Harper’s senior editor Wasik is fascinated by how the Internet and handheld wireless devices are changing basic social relationships, particularly the speed with which individuals become famous and forgotten in the media arena. He should know. Wasik originated the evanescent MOB trend in May 2003, inviting 63 friends and acquaintances to join an “inexplicable mob of people in New York City for ten minutes or less.” His motivation? “I was bored,” he writes, “by which I mean the world at that moment seemed adequate for neither my entertainment nor my sense of self.” Boredom aside, he wished to create the sort of intentionally viral “nanostory” he perceived as central to online culture, as confirmed by the roundly mocked Time selection of “You” as 2006 Person of the Year. Wasik’s “Mob Project” attracted media and online attention followed by an equal amount of backlash, which the author suggests was inevitable: “After six mobs, even conceiving of new enough crowd permutations started to feel like a challenge.” For much of the book, Wasik sets similar challenges for himself, enlisting the help of online scenesters with similar interests, like Huffington Post technology director Jonah Peretti, a “high-status” individual responsible for the website BlackPeopleLoveUs.com and such pranks as ordering custom “sweatshop” sneakers from Nike. Wasik won Peretti’s competition for most popular website with a parodic “right wing” New York Times, and he invented “Bill Shiller,” a phony MySpace-based identity created to “cultivate proactive relationships with brands.” These experiments support his assertion that “the Internet is revolutionary in how it has democratized not just culture-making but culture monitoring,” but the effectiveness of the author’s argument is mixed. Though Wasik is well-informed and sharply addresses his slippery subject, he also exudes a pretentious, insider-ish vibe.

Witty and of the moment, yet presumably destined for a short shelf life.

Pub Date: June 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-670-02084-3

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2009

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
OUR KINDRED CREATURES
by Bill Wasik & Monica Murphy

- BOOK REVIEW
RABID
by Bill Wasik Monica Murphy

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.