TOW 24: IRB

Judging at face value.. or rather, the back cover synopsis, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers seems like a soberingly self-aware account of loss, responsibility, and the bond of two brothers after their lives are forever changed with the death of their parents. It seems like a sob story, but a sarcastic, thought provoking sob story. However, when one gets past the first thirty pages of the book relating the immediate aftermath of the main character's parents' death, the book's tone changes, and we are left with the author's very self centered accounts of his life in San Francisco as a young, counter-cultured adult, and the hijinks that ensue (the main character's little brother, who is supposed to be the main point of conflict during the memoir as he is now under the care of his ill-prepared older brother, plays a cursory role). So while the book masquerades as a provoking work of "hope and hysteria", it is really just a book written by a hipster, about hipsters, for hipsters. So while I may not have gleaned A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius's (AHWoSG) original purpose, what I did gain from reading it is that throughout modern American history there has been a systemic subculture of "hipster-dom" and that this subculture will forever be (although under different monikers) a part of American culture.

AHWoSG takes place in the 1990's, long before we labeled the plaid-wearing, IPA-drinking, beard-grooming young urban folk as "hipsters". However, the main characters in AHWoSG display many of the traits that define the subculture we now identify as hipster. A hipster is simply a name for the counter culture of young individuals who have renounced conformity in the name of cultural revolution and what the define as the lifestyles and attitudes of the future. The main character and his friends have left behind the normativity of life back in suburban Chicago for San Francisco: a land of young folk and "ahead of the curve" culture. They believe that they are revolutionaries, going against the grain to change the way the masses think by being ironic or avant-garde in the low-budget, too-cool-for-you-to-know-about magazine that they produce. This subgroup of young people who believe in going against the norm, going against the ideas of their parents and grandparents, and seemingly (operative word being seemingly) changing the world has been a large part of American culture for at least the last century, and AHWoSG provides just a snapshot of that group as it manifested itself in the 1990's. The magazine editors in AHWoSG compare their work to that of "The Factory", the place where Andy Warhol and friends produced their art in the 1960's. This comparison is pivotal, because it shows that the group we now identify as hipsters have been around before, but just under different names. Whether it be the folksy Beatniks of the 50's and 60's, the Warhol inspired punk culture of the 70's and 80's, AHWoSG's pre-2000's paragons of young adult angst, or today's Brooklyn-bound unicycle enthusiasts, we will always have a relatively vocal group of young folk who, for better or worse, are bent on changing the world.. for the hipper.