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American Nerd The Story of My People

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ISBN-10: 0743288025

ISBN-13: 9780743288026

Edition: N/A

Authors: Benjamin Nugent

List price: $21.00
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Description:

Most people know a nerd when they see one but can't define just what a nerd is.American Nerd: The Story of My Peoplegives us the history of the concept of nerdiness and of the subcultures we consider nerdy. What makes Dr. Frankenstein the archetypal nerd? Where did the modern jock come from? When and how did being a self-described nerd become trendy? As the nerd emerged, vaguely formed, in the nineteenth century, and popped up again and again in college humor journals and sketch comedy, our culture obsessed over the designation.Mixing research and reportage with autobiography, critically acclaimed writer Benjamin Nugent embarks on a fact-finding mission of the most entertaining variety. He…    
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Book details

List price: $21.00
Publisher: Scribner
Publication date: 6/2/2009
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 256
Size: 5.50" wide x 8.44" long x 0.70" tall
Weight: 0.484
Language: English

Benjamin Nugent's nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, and n+1, and his fiction has appeared in Tin House. He holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was an Iowa Arts fellow. Director of Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, he teaches fiction and nonfiction in its MFA and undergraduate programs. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts.

A History of the Nerd
What is a Nerd?
The Mark of Greatness
Newt Envy, and Were There Nerds in the Nineteenth Century?
The Case Against Scientists in Towers
The Rise of Phys Ed
Dawn of the Fan
Sherry Turkle, T. S. Eliot, and the Split Between Feeling and Thinking
The Word Nerd and the Birth and Growth of the Guy in High Pants and Glasses
Effeminate Jewish Grinds, Cyborg Asians
Among the Nerds
Zack and Jack and High-School Debate
Case Study: Darren From the Ghetto of Amherst
The Cool Nerd: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster
Nerd Love
The Autism Spectrum
Pure Pwnage
The Graying of the Old-School Nerd
Coronation, or Why Group Nerd Events are Necessary
Why do People Like Dungeons & Dragons and Fake Swords?
Case study: Kenneth The Demonslayer
My Credentials
Afterword
Acknowledgments