Pagan Kennedy's Living: A Handbook for Maturing Hipsters

by Pagan Kennedy

Zinester, author, maturing hipster, and graduate of the prestigious Wesleyan University, Pagan Kennedy first captured the hearts of America with her personal zine Pagan's Head . Drawing from this source, she presents not only the zine-world standards (an interview with the ever-beguiling Lisa Suckdog, articles on dumpster diving, and eight-track collecting), but also includes some helpful dating tips, such as "Pretend to go to the bathroom and never come back." Indeed, only Kennedy seems to have noticed the bizarre visual similarity between avant-pop neo-beatnik author Kathy Acker and hyperactive fitness guru Susan Powter. In articles and cartoons that address the difficulty of staying hip, Kennedy provides a welcome alternative to People magazine and the later works of Hegel. Cruise through this book only if you want an extremely entertaining read and the opportunity to develop an unhealthy fixation on the fabulous Queen of the Zines. Originally published in 1997, this new edition features "Where are they now" updates.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Pagan Kennedy is a regular contributor to the New York Times and author of eleven books. A biography titled Black Livingstone made the NewYork Times Notable list and earned Massachusetts Book Award honors. She also has been the recipient of a Barnes and Noble Discover Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a Smithsonian Fellowship for science writing. Visit her online at www.pagankennedy.net.

"

Reviews

[Smiley III · Rating 5 out of 5]

From "Men Who Don't Put Out" to menstrual stains on the sofa, Pagan's got the low-down on what you need to cope.  "Sure, the system has its rewards" (quoting from memory, here), "but if you want to get out of your room with the Jackie Chan posters and the RE/Search books, you're going to have to make a lot of choices."  Including "your life being so jury-rigged you couldn't explain it in one sitting," -- so, in that case, consider yourself a success.
Follow up to Coupland's Generation X and Linklater's Slacker, in case you were keeping score.

(beat.)

Or my own Icosadyadria ...

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of zine articles and comics.If you can imagine what a maturing hipster is, you can probably guess at least some of the topics of these collected articles. There's dating and sex, and group living in old houses, but there's also a story about a guy who lives in a large robot in his college office. Reminds me of articles from older zines, or Whole Earth Digest. Eclectic, liberal, and fun.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short funny book about gen x 'lifestyles'....made me lol on the subway with her account of visiting Las Vegas. It's short essays on things like dumpster diving your decor and communal living, and included some cute comics (ie; men who won't 'put out' and the scourge of hipsters at the gym) and an interview with Lisa Carver. It's a dated book for sure but if you like 1990s ephemera you'll enjoy this.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny, a tad outdated (was published i believe in '97), and full of personal essays, comics and zine-articles. truthfully, the most useful thing this book gave me was a green cleaning tip: clear your drain by squeezing a full lemon down the sink and letting it sit overnight. totally worked! thanks Pagan Kennedy.

[Shant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as enjoyable as Zine.

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hipsters make fun of straights who age pretty much straightforwardly. I think I was probably one of those kinds of people but now I'm realizing the folly of that.

I mean which person looks cooler today:

Keith Richards in his spandex threads?
Eric Clapton wearing GLASSES, old man pants and nice shoes?

If you said Keith Richards then this book is for you. It will teach you to prolong your youth well past your sell-by date and have 17 year old snickering behind your back.