American Nerd: The Story of My People » (Reprint)

Benjamin Nugent joined the staff of Time magazine as an arts and pop culture correspondent at the age of 22. He's gone on to write for numerous publications, including New York magazine, The New York Times Book Review, NME, Legal Affairs, n+1, and the New York Post. Nugent's first book, Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing, a study of the indie rock musician was published in 2004. In 2005, his essay on authors and money, "Security," was included in an anthology of essays by young writers on writing, Bookmark Now, whose other contributors included Nell Freudenberger and Tom Bissell. His n+1 essay “Why Don’t Republicans Write Fiction?” was praised by The Boston Globe Ideas section last week as “clever” and “incisive.” He lives in Los Angeles. He was a nerdy child.

Most people know a nerd when they see one but can't define just what a nerd is. American Nerd: The Story of My People gives us the history of the concept of nerdiness and of the subcultures we consider nerdy. What makes Dr. Frankenstein the archetypal nerd? Where did the modern jock come from? When and how did being a self-described nerd become trendy? As the nerd emerged, vaguely formed, in the nineteenth century, and popped up again and again in college humor journals and sketch comedy, our culture obsessed over the designation.

Mixing research and reportage with autobiography, critically acclaimed writer Benjamin Nugent embarks on a fact-finding mission of the most entertaining variety. He seeks the best definition of nerd and illuminates the common ground between nerd subcultures that might seem unrelated: high-school debate team kids and ham radio enthusiasts, medieval reenactors and pro-circuit Halo players. Why do the same people who like to work with computers also enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons? How are those activities similar? This clever, enlightening book will appeal to the nerd (and antinerd) that lives inside all of us.

Publishers Weekly

In his charming and disarmingly serious study of the history of the "nerd" in popular culture and throughout modern history, Nugent (Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing) 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. (May)

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Part 1 A History of the Nerd

What is a Nerd? 5

The Mark of Greatness 13

Newt Envy, and Were There Nerds in the Nineteenth Century? 17

The Case Against Scientists in Towers 23

The Rise of Phys Ed 29

Dawn of the Fan 39

Sherry Turkle, T. S. Eliot, and the Split Between Feeling and Thinking 49

The Word Nerd and the Birth and Growth of the Guy in High Pants and Glasses 55

Effeminate Jewish Grinds, Cyborg Asians 73

Part 2 Among the Nerds

Zack and Jack and High-School Debate 99

Case Study: Darren From the Ghetto of Amherst 111

The Cool Nerd: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster 119

Nerd Love 131

The Autism Spectrum 141

Pure Pwnage 153

The Graying of the Old-School Nerd 163

Coronation, or Why Group Nerd Events are Necessary 171

Why do People Like Dungeons & Dragons and Fake Swords? 183

Case study: Kenneth The Demonslayer 195

Part 3 My Credentials 211

Afterword 225

Acknowledgments 235