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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1576816.American_Nerd_The_Story_of_My_People?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="American Nerd: The Story of My People" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412JBxca6AL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1576816.American_Nerd_The_Story_of_My_People?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">American Nerd: The Story of My People</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/194824.Benjamin_Nugent">Benjamin Nugent</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22272602?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>Saw it at the store and immediately knew I had to buy and read it - the topic has always fascinated me and seems an important one, and the tone - "pretty much serious, but" - seemed exactly right. <br/> <br/>Nugent's natural mode is somewhere in between magazine color writing and sheer bloggy speculation, all of which I find entirely sympathetic, but it prevents him from really driving home any of his conclusions. He's generally content just to suggest connections and offer ideas that have occurred to him. The effect is like having a pleasantly thought-provoking conversation. But I've had pleasantly thought-provoking conversations on this topic before and so was hoping for something slightly more rigorous, which should have been possible even within the bounds of "pretty much serious, but." A lot of promising stuff gets brought up but then seems to slip away prematurely before the discussion gets to really bloom. It's not always clear why he's letting it go. <br/> <br/>But oh well. The historical perspective he offers is certainly intriguing, and the analyses he offers are sensible and thoughtful. I was continually delighted to find myself reading these things in, you know, a real book that someone put out there in the world. The issues that he brings to the table are exactly the ones I would want in a book about nerds. The chapter analyzing and dismissing nerd chic (or, as he has it, "fake nerds") was particularly invigorating. So were the excellently remembered personal stories. Most of all, his willingness to write in a "pretty much serious" way about intangible cultural standards (i.e. his spectrum of racism extending from animal-like to machine-like) is extremely satisfying. Yes, I wanted more and deeper. But the book was, as it stands, a pleasure. <br/> <br/>On the cover are frames containing various nerd artifacts - pocket protector, inhaler, etc. On the back is "calculator." Seeing that the very tiny display of the calculator was on and glowing in the photo, I told my girlfriend, "it really ought to say BOOBLESS." We then looked closer and realized that it was just barely possible to make out the digits - and that they DO in fact say "BOOBLESS." I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. Thank you, cover artist! <br/> <br/>In a sense I am here bragging. This is nerdy of me. <br/> <br/>Not to mention dropping the fact that I have a girlfriend. I so totally have a girlfriend. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/149340?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>