American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I very much enjoyed these thoughtful essays on the history and sociology of my tribe. Nugent is sympathetic but still critical and he’s tried, possibly successfully, to leave his early nerdom behind. For better or worse I seem to have a lifetime membership.
2 replies on “Review: American Nerd: The Story of My People”
I was interested in reading this when I saw the title, as a fellow lifetime member. But another part of me is always hesitant to jump into books that are telling the story of any group. Does he cast a wide enough net?
Not entirely. Female nerds, for example, are not well represented. But there are some good references to other histories (looks like I have to read Sherry Turkle’s The Second Self) and it includes some interesting corners of the nerd family tree. Yaoi? The SCA has kingdoms? Who knew?