Reading Notes: 7/5/25
Books that slightly mock the culture
Walked some paths in Hilton Head, South Carolina this week, while also working away in a small condo, they told us to park our car near the dumpsters which we did, and behind it was the path to the beach and that path passed a church that had a prayer trail and I walked through pine trees and palm trees on a deserted path, and saw a few prayers and I stopped and prayed a few times, and then back on the main beach path, people said hello to me, but in New York City there are too many faces to say hello to everyone and that is the main difference of North & South
The Wayback Machine by Daniel Falatko
Last time, I briefly mentioned the NYC literary novel.
It’s a whole thing.
It goes back ages, but the first one I remember reading was This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald while I was a sophomore in high school.
Amory Blaine was the ideal New Yorker to me, he was cultured, he was suave and well-read of course.
Others that come immediately to mind are Bright Lights Big City by Jay McInerney and The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adelle Waldman.
I guess one of my own books falls into this category, PLS Advise is about literary micro-celebrity, but perhaps mines the same culture, though to be honest The Wayback Machine does it better.
The Wayback Machine is not exactly a NYC literary book, it’s somewhat of a media, music and gentrification story about Williamsburg indie sleaze culture of the early 2000s.
It’s about fake names of Vice and Pitchfork and the hustle that gave “indie sleaze” its name.
Some things never change — drugs, sex, rock and roll — but the machine behind it evolves, which is what this book is about.
It’s a novel, yes, with a solid premise.
An 00s blogger turned PR machinator is recently released from prison due to drug charges that were pinned on him because of the cunning / savant talent behind a big hipster magazine.
Not to spoil it too much, but check it out if you ironically bought The Hipster Handbook only to ironically read it seriously.
Funny Because It’s True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire by Christine Weng
If you squint hard, this book about The Onion and the one above could be related, in that they both are enamored with the 00s as a heyday.
This book is a history of The Onion, but Weng is somewhat biased, having worked there on the editorial side.
That gives her the relationships to pull this book off, but maybe not the financial sense to understand how a media company makes money.
She tried to talk to some of them, but stronger voices outside The Onion to explain how media businesses work may have helped give it some balance.
There was a lot about how the writers at The Onion were underpaid (true!), but that’s the story of media.
Which makes The Onion a very interesting one — on its surface, it doesn’t seem like a media company at all.
It set out to roast those things, only to become one itself.
It’s now been around for 30+ years, and has been part of several large conglomerates (yes, they were owned by Univision!)
It’s clear no one expected The Onion to outgrow its Madison, Wisconsin roots — much less go national, much less go viral.
But it’s done so many times over, and now seems to be regrouping for another run.
Much like my relationship with SNL, I don’t know much about it, but I respect it as a thing, and am generally glad it exists.
Other things I’m currently reading:
Libra by Don DeLillo
The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway
Liars by Sarah Manguso (so heartbreakingly good)
5 Things To Pray For Your Spouse by Michael and Melissa Krueger
Keep going-
Josh Spilker