6.8 /10 1 Votes6.8
Language English Originally published 2003 Genre Humour OCLC 50554281 | 3.4/5 Goodreads Publication date 2003 Country United States of America Dewey Decimal 818/.602 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 169 pp (first edition paperback) ISBN 1-4000-3201-6 (first edition paperback) Similar The Sinner's Guide to t, Food Court Druids - Cheroho, The Jazz Scene, What was the Hipster, The White Negro: Superfici | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Hipster Handbook (2003) is a satirical guide to hipster culture by Williamsburg, Brooklyn author Robert Lanham.
It includes a lexicon of words such as "deck" which means "cool" and "fin" which means "not so cool", as well as chapters that describe and explain all that which makes up a hipster. A quiz in the back of the book rates readers on their level of hipsterdom, rewarding high scores to those who answer the questions in the manner of art school students and well-cultured, well-dressed, self-proclaimed hyper-intellectuals. Esquire called the book "The Official Preppy Handbook for people who wear Atari T-shirts."
Critical reception
Reviews were mixed. Rick Marin, of the New York Times, gave it a favorable review, though he pointed out "much of the hipsterism he sanctions seems pretty mainstream, even if it is being 'appropriated'...Such quibbles, though, won't penetrate the protective pomo coating on Lanham's mirrored shades." Ben McGrath, of Slate, described the book as "so comprehensive and so well-done that only a poseur could criticize it without tongue in cheek." Others have criticized the "veiled hostility" and "aura of trying too hard."
A sequel was published in 2004: Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees and Other Creatures Unique to the Republic.