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The Nineties

A Book

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
An instant New York Times bestseller!
“Informative, endlessly entertaining.”—BuzzFeed
“Generation X’s definitive chronicler of culture.”—GQ
From the author of But What If We’re Wrong comes an insightful, funny reckoning with a pivotal decade

It 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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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Chuck Klosterman, American popular culture commentator, narrates his latest audiobook in a suitably unvarnished style. He highlights a decade of indelible cultural moments and increasing political polarity. Klosterman comments on quirky cultural diversions tied to the nineties--what, exactly, was the clear beverage phenomenon all about?--and provides background and context to address the way our memories about them may fail us. For example, Y2K was a mounting global concern even if the majority didn't think it was a big deal. Klosterman's voice may take some time to warm up to, but he knows where to hit his points and keep the listener engaged. Dion Graham's authoritative voice delivers the quotes and footnotes that clarify and frame Klosterman's myriad thoughts. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2022

      The 1990s nostalgia is upon us, and pop culture raconteur Klosterman is the ideal author to take on the decade, from music and movies to sports and politics. Each chapter mixes facts, reminiscences, and analysis to create an overview of the highs and lows of the decade. There's plenty of attention paid to iconic events and people of the time, but Klosterman's knowledge of the obscure is consistently entertaining. He shifts effortlessly between topics--one chapter begins with The Matrix and Keanu Reeves's 1990s career, then turns to the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, the O. J. Simpson trial, and the Columbine massacre, then back to The Matrix and the ways television defined reality during the era. Klosterman narrates the majority of the book, and while he's not a professional narrator, his enthusiasm for the subject matter, combined with his upper-Midwestern accent, draws listeners in. His occasional mimicry of famous voices (1992 presidential candidate Ross Perot, former president Bill Clinton) is endearingly clumsy. Co-narrator Dion Graham reads the chapter titles and selected footnotes. His smooth, measured narration contrasts well with Klosterman's excitable style. VERDICTA must-listen for Klosterman's many fans, nostalgic Gen-Xers, and those interested in the many ways the 1990s shaped how we live now.--Nanette Donohue

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 25, 2021
      Pop culture critic and essayist Klosterman (Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs) turns his flinty eye to the 1990s, “the last period in American history when personal and political engagement was still viewed as optional.” Blending cultural analysis with his own caustic hot takes, Klosterman claims that the chief characteristic of the ’90s was a pervasive feeling of ambivalence, “defined by an overwhelming assumption that life... was underwhelming” (his writing has a similarly detached tone). He views how this societal apathy coursed through the decade’s indie films, such as Larry Clark’s 1995 cult hit Kids (its theme: “there was no meaning to anything, ever”), and was embodied by Nirvana’s Nevermind, the ideal soundtrack for, as Kurt Cobain put it, “a completely exhausted Rock youth Culture.” But at the same time, Klosterman counters, the decade gave rise to art that tackled timely issues including the AIDs epidemic—with Rent debuting on Broadway in 1994—and brought queer stories to TV via such shows as NBC’s Will & Grace. “The world, as always, was changing,” he writes, citing how the decade saw a shift in everything from politics and awareness around race to the explosive growth of the internet and celebrity culture—a preview, he writes, of what was to come in subsequent decades. This nostalgic look at the waning days of offline culture both piques and entertains.

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  • English

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