Book Review: American Nerd
Nov 19, 2008, 22:03 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Adam Jenkins)
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"As is clear from the title, American Nerd sets out to
concentrate on the American nerd, and to define what a nerd is. As
with a lot of social labels, it's not so easily defined. Nugent
defines two categories of nerd; those who are intellectual and
socially awkward in a machine-like way, and also people who are
simply socially excluded. We learn that the word 'nerd' first
started being used in America around the 1960s, but as well as the
more recent 'geek', there have also been words like 'boffin' and
'greasy grind' which are similar in meaning. The book is divided
into three sections, with the history of the nerd, a more detailed
section called "Among the Nerds", and a shorter section "My
Credentials". The latter section expands on the glimpses into
Nugent's life through the rest of the book, like the case study in
the second part about Nugent's friend from the Ghetto of Amherst
and includes another case study, about another of his childhood
friends.
"The author spent some his school years being picked on as a
nerd and at the start he discloses that consequently his
journalistic objectivity is compromised. Later in the book, he
tells us that he stopped being a nerd in his teens. As part of this
disclaimer, Nugent states that he empathizes with nerds and
anti-nerds alike, and really, who better to do that than an
ex-nerd? He seems to have done some good research for the book,
including attending the Third Annual Anime Los Angeles Convention,
SCA events like Estrella War in Arizona, and talking with Rosie
Shuster and Anne Beatts, who wrote the first nerd sketch for
Saturday Night Live."
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