Cara Freie
This is a Midwest-specific version of Stuff White People Like. Targeting our likes with snarky accuracy, Freie pokes fun at our love of Ranch Dressing (on anything), comfortable Dockers, novelty sweaters, Cracker Barrel and having your wedding reception at the VFW. Hey, that’s not funny! Oh wait, yeah, …
Dr. Sam Gosling
Gosling presents a quick and dirty overview of his snooping research. Learn how to tell how introverted, neurotic, conscientious, agreeable or narcissistic your friends, family and coworkers are. What is a messy desk the sign of? What message is a coworker sending when their family photos face …
Peter York, forward by Douglas Coupland
It would seem that, out there somewhere, there is a checklist and letter that your average dictator is sent when they reach a certain level. “Yes,” this letter says, “you may rule with an iron fist and have your every bloody whim met. But …
Retro Hell – Life in the ’70s and ’80s, from Afros to Zotz – by the editors of ben is dead magazine and The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures: 1,001 Things You Hate to Love – by Sam Stall, Lou Harry and Julie Spalding
These two tomes are wonderfully awful collections …
Roger Bennet and Jules Shell
Yes, another thrilling tome from the authors of Bar Mitzvah Disco! As in their previous book, you don’t need to be a wealthy east-coast Jew to enjoy this collection of stories and pictures from late 70s and 80s sleep-away camps. If you’ve been …
Peter Sagal
Host of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!, Sagal’s voice is all that a good liberal midwesterner should be. Whether discussing attending a swinger’s party, gambling, eating a 24-course gourmet meal or studying pornography, Sagal sounds wry, amused and slightly embarrassed, with strains of the midwest “well, to …
Benjamin Nugent
In American Nerd, Nugent takes a look at “his” people – nerds of many colors. While I do agree with my friend Meg’s assessment that Nugent does tend to portray his experience being a nerd as the definitive definition (with little or no reference to female nerds) …
A.J. Jacobs
From the author of The Know-it-All comes another awesome title. At loose ends after his year reading the encyclopedia, Jacobs decides to embark on another experiment. As a agnostic Jew he always had some interest in religion and the perplexed fascination with belief that many non-believers have.
Jacobs …
Edited by Jenny Offill and Elissa Shappell
Offill and Shappell edited another book I started a few years ago, The Friend Who Got Away, a collection of stories by women who had “broken up” with a best friend and which I found too depressing to finish. Money Changes Everything…
Jennifer Niesslein
In high school I had a friend who decided to try some experiments out on himself that he had read about. He simultaneously ate only brown bread and apple juice and slept 2 hours at night and another hour in the afternoon. According to his science journal, this …
Jake Halpern
Halpern’s wonderfully interesting (and far too short) book Fame Junkies explores the world of people drawn to fame. Divided into three sections, Halpern interviews and follows a legion of wanna-be child stars and their families, a group of celebrity assistants and a clutch of die-hard fans. Each group …
Wendy McClure
While helping her folks clean out the basement, McClure found an old box of Weight Watchers recipe cards from the 60s and 70s. From frozen cheese salad, liver pate en masque, and frankfurter spectacular, its all here. Low fat, low cal. and vilely gleaming on mustard yellow platters …
Shari Caudron
If you are a hobby-bobber like me, this book will hit a major nerve with you. Author Caudron tells of her burning desire to have… a burning desire. Bouncing from one interest to another, she never found that one thing that really tripped her trigger – the hobby …
Björn Töroque
We saw the transcendent movie Air Guitar Nation at this year’s Madison film festival. Despite the International Air Guitar Championships existing for over a decade, an American had never competed. The makers of Air Guitar Nation follow the first two American contenders – C-diddy (the Asian fury) and …
Paul Budnitz
I was kind of vaguely aware of designer toys, having been dragged through numerous comic shops by friends. However, the “figurines” from popular comics cannot compare to these pricey gems. Divided by designer, I Am Plastic showcases some of the fantastic and bizarre creations from companies across the …
Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman
Abrahamson and Freedman attempt to dispel the myth that mess is time-consuming and a sign of a lazy person. Mess, they argue, is in fact conducive to creativity, time-saving and a sign of a healthy mind. Using examples of everything from the ease and ability …
