The
Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman
2/8/22; 384 pages
Penguin
Publishing Group
The Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman is a highly recommended look back at the decade of the 1990's.
Presented as a group of essays or discussions of a wide variety of
topics randomly organized and interconnected, Klosterman covers cultural
observations from the 90's. This sweeping collection of topics covers
major trends in music, TV, film, radio, sports, political moments,
technology, and more. The decade was bracketed between the fall of The Berlin Wall (11/9/89) and the Twin Towers collapsing. It is the era of grunge, Seinfeld, the reunification of Germany, videotape, The X-Files, Bill Clinton, clear drinks, landlines and phone books, Ross Perot,
The Phantom Menace and Jar Jar Binks, Art Bell and Coast to Coast AM,
Waco, Columbine, Cops, hanging chads, Dolly the sheep, Michael Jordan,
and so much more.
Looking back at the 90's through Klosterman's eyes is both entertaining and perceptive. His essays provide a shrewd and diverse look back at a time when you didn't have anything trending or going viral. If a story was a big news event, it really was news worthy. People living during this time were the last ones to know life before the Internet. If you remember the 90's, you will remember the sounds involved in dial-up internet service. You will also remember life before everyone had a cell phone and you depended on a landline where you never knew who was calling and had to answer the phone. You also were not connected all the time and could actually be unavailable. There were no binge watching shows. If you missed an episode, you had to wait for reruns. Video rental stores were huge.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group.
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