read only bits incl. chapter on Lana Turner.

Despite the fact that it feels overlong and that several essays did not hold my attention, there's a wealth of great work here. More than any individual piece, it is the sense of self-examination that I take away from this collection - a sense that I, as a reader and a writer, must be able to consciously understand the way that I synthesize my cultural influences. So often we just let them affect us - but it can not only show us something about ourselves but it can, I daresay, make us better consumers of culture to know exactly what it is (or to even try to understand, even if we fail) that makes us love it so much.

More at RB: http://ragingbiblioholism.com/2014/05/02/my-1980s-and-other-essays/ ( )