Cover image for The other serious : essays for the new American generation
The other serious : essays for the new American generation
Title:
The other serious : essays for the new American generation
Author:
Wampole, Christy, 1977- author.
Uniform Title:
Essays. Selections
Edition:
First edition.
Publication Information:
New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2015]
Physical Description:
vii, 243 pages ; 22 cm
Summary:
" The Other Serious: American Essays contains a motley assortment of reflections on the United States as anomaly. Among the many maneuvers in this collection are: A close reading of the light-obsessed "Star-Spangled Banner" alongside the gory French national anthem; an analysis of Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" (1986) as a cryptofeminist fantasy; various forms of praise for oldness, dirt, and boring things; a eulogy for the messy humanity in Richard Linklater's Slacker (1991); and reflections on awkwardness, distraction, the North-South divide, the legacy of the Enlightenment in America, and Apple's goal to make its products totally invisible. Above all, this assemblage of essays proposes a framework for approaching life in our muddled nation with a joyful seriousness"--
Language:
English
Contents:
Introduction: A Heavy Life or a Light One -- The Glare of the Enlightenment -- The Great American Irony Binge -- The Patina of Things -- On Distraction -- The Emotive Spectacle -- Intergenerational Conversation -- Toward A Sterile Future -- Southern Niceness -- On Awkwardness -- Treat Your Country Like Your Child, Not Your Parent -- The Metaphor of Masking Tape -- You Have No Power Over Me -- The Bad Serious -- The Other Serious -- Postscript: The Lightness of the Ladybug.
ISBN:
9780062320353
Format :
Book