Book review
THE HIPSTER HANDBOOK
by Robert Lanham
Anchor Books, 169 pp.
Do you think you’re a Hipster? Before you leave the house each day, do you look at yourself in the mirror and say, "Damn! I’m cool!" Does everything about you scream "I have alternative views, dress well, and listen to the coolest music out there"? Well, you might want to re-think your status and take a look at The Hipster Handbook to determine whether or not your style is in fact "deck" or "fin."
The books includes a glossary of Hipster terms and phrases ("deck" being the new "hip" – if you are still using the term "fresh," you are soooo fin) and terms and phrases to be avoided by Hipsters (OK, I can see "da bomb" being out, but come on, Shiver Me Timbers is funny! Isn’t it?) as well as the defining styles of the various types of Hipster. You have style options, my friend. You can be a UTF (Unemployed Trust-Funder), a Clubber, a Loner or a Bipster. Stop clinging to your Goth-wear and move towards well-put-together T-shirts and baggy pants. Don’t leave the house without a copy of Albert Camus’s The Stranger, and make sure that you’re playing something cool like, oh, I don’t know, Roxy Music’s Country Life when people come over. You’re well on your way!
If you are still undecided as to whether or not you fit into the world of the Hipster, there is a quiz to take so that you can figure it out. (I reserve the right to not disclose the results of my test on the basis that the results were totally wrong and I am in fact one of the greatest Hipsters of our time.) This book is the perfect date for any party and a great gift for that special friend who all too often walks the line between fin and deck.
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