Trisha Arora/Staff Photographer
To some students, scouring the first-floor shelves of Broad Street Books can seem like a hip, indie way to spend a free afternoon without leaving campus. These undergraduates may feel a sense of cultural superiority when they sample political biographies and noir crime fiction while their less literature-oriented peers pick up pinnies and copies of People. Now, bookstore visitors have yet another opportunity to enhance their hipster credibility at Wesleyan’s purveyor of books without straining their already overworked student brains.
One display at Broad Street Books boasts an assortment of unconventional books, mostly with humorous tones and unexpected subject matters. Casual bookstore explorers will be intrigued by titles like “Please God Let it Be Herpes: A Heartfelt Quest for Love and Companionship,” which provides a candid look at comedian Carlos Kotkin’s love and sex life. The book goes through the author’s life in chronological order, starting the study of Kotkin’s lifelong misfortune with women on an elementary school playground at the ripe age of seven. Chapters like “Nomance in Paradise” and “Not Making Out” tell cringe-worthy anecdotes about Kotkin’s romantic failures, but the book has a happy ending, finishing on a relatively optimistic note with a section entitled “Waiting for the One.”
At the other end of the spectrum is “The Book of Beer Awesomeness,” by Ben Applebaum and Dan DiSorbo. Described as the “brew-lover’s bible,” this piece of literature features drinking tips, innovative drinking game ideas, and even brewing tutorials. The book, which also contains amusing anecdotes and little-known beer facts, is sure to make social gatherings like frat parties and dorm room pre-games more bearable to the out-of-place hipster.
The truly alternative among the student body might initially find themselves disappointed by titles like “Photobombed!: Making Bad Pictures Good and Good Pictures Awesomely Bad.” Chapters like “BFF Bombs” and “Party Bombs” display young people posing together as unwanted guests lurk in the background, photos that are commonplace on the average college student’s Facebook News Feed. Still quirkier sections like “Animal Bomb” and “TV Bomb” will surely impress even the most disenchanted nonconformists.
Also available at Broad Street is Stephen and Wayne Miltz’s “Crazy Things Parents Text,” adapted from the website crazythingsparentstext.com. The book contains amusing and confusing text conversations between young people and their technologically oblivious relatives, a plight with which any hyper-connected Wesleyan student can commiserate. This entertaining collection of SMS dialogues is not to be missed, even if you believe that the traditional family model is merely a social construction.
Those acquainted with French alternative rock may recognize the reference in the title of “Listomania: A World of Fascinating Facts in Graphic Detail,” but they will still be enlightened by the 190 visual lists in this volume, with topics ranging from “15 Unlikely Intoxicants” to “20 Strange Art Supplies.” Readers seeking specific arbitrary information can use the index to find terms like “Carrie the Musical” and “mud cloth fabric patterns.” This may be the most relevant how-to guide for obscure information experts ever.
Others still insecure about their hipster status may flip though “The Indie Cred Test” by Henry H. Owens. Its “Wardrobe Checklist” section advises wannabe hipsters to own garments ranging from ruffled tuxedo shirts to “Golden Girls” hoodies. Its “Should You Be in a Band?” flowchart provides the musically inclined with sage advice. More nihilistic readers might appreciate the possibly offensive “Older Cred” chapter, which wryly lists “Acceptable Reasons to Commit Suicide.”
The shelf, which brings to mind an Urban Outfitters display, also contains classic children’s books like Roald Dahl’s notoriously gruesome “The Twits.” But those too jaded to enjoy even the most sinister kiddie literature will be pleased with the selection of children’s book parodies. Undeadheads will be in awe of “Alice in Zombieland” by Lewis Carroll and Nickolas Cook, a mashup described as “sincerely cute, if not a little morbid.” Techies will find Anne Droyd’s “Goodnight iPad” as amusing as its author’s pseudonym. The book encourages readers to unplug their gadgets and enjoy a slower pace of life, but fear not, aspiring hipsters: a Kindle edition is available for those with a truly keen sense of irony.
Students hoping to attain an alternative image by way of this collection of lighthearted books should pounce on this opportunity to pull out their Wescards and take one home. Now that Broad Street Books has made them readily available, these kitschy, offbeat volumes are bound to hit the mainstream.