Publishers Weekly gives this a Starred Review. In his charming and disarmingly serious study of the history of the nerd in popular culture and throughout modern history, Benjamin Nugent succeeds in crafting a nuanced discussion without resorting to smugness or excessive cleverness. His prose is straightforward, but the writing is never dry, as Nugent maintains a brisk pace by chasing an entertaining series of tangents across short chapters. Discrete pockets of nerd-dom are carefully observed and analyzed, with an eye for connections that lead to unusual places. While there are engaging sections about more obvious nerd subjects like the rise of online gaming and the history of American science-fiction clubs, Nugent takes his book in surprising directions, such as the ethnic implications of the nerd categorization, particularly in regard to Jewish and Asian stereotypes. In one chapter, Nugent finds correspondence between nerdiness and people with Asperger's syndrome, astutely drawing comparisons between the socializing problems experienced by both groups and positing that many of those considered nerds historically might in fact be on the autism spectrum. Another unexpected detour, this one into the intense subculture of high school and college debaters, turns into an extraordinarily poignant meditation on the friendships engendered by shared passions. Swinging ably from personal anecdotes to historical perspective, Nugent's exploration of outcasts is a triumph.
In a Q&A, the author says: Southern California has an amazing nerd landmark, the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society in North Hollywood. It's a relic of a time when nerds physically got together in one place to discuss their interests, like sci-fi and the space race and D&D and anime. I went through some records, and the attendance used to be larger and, more important, the average age used to be late 20s, and now it's clearly middle-aged to late-middle-aged. The people who would have been their [new] members are on the Internet.
American Nerd: The Story of My People |
