Who Would Like This Book:
Pulphead is a vibrant collection of essays that feels like a road trip through the quirks, oddities, and cultural crossroads of American life. Sullivan’s curiosity is infectious - he dives into Christian rock festivals, Michael Jackson’s legacy, Native American cave art, and more, often throwing himself and his personal perspective right into the mix. If you love sharp-but-friendly writing, a dash of Southern flavor, or essays in the tradition of David Foster Wallace, Chuck Klosterman, or Hunter S. Thompson, you’ll find lots to enjoy. It’s especially great for readers who appreciate a writer who can make almost any subject - no matter how niche - feel worth exploring.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers found the collection uneven, with a few essays missing the mark or feeling more like filler compared to Sullivan’s stand-out hits. If you prefer essays with clear, deep takeaways or want a collection that’s tightly focused rather than meandering, Pulphead might feel a little scattered. And if you’re turned off by frequent authorial involvement - Sullivan often places himself in the narrative - you might not find the approach to your taste. Expectations set by comparisons to David Foster Wallace can also lead to disappointment if you’re looking for DFW-level intellectual fireworks.
About:
John Jeremiah Sullivan's 'Pulphead' is an eclectic collection of essays that engage readers with a mix of personal experiences and insightful observations on various subjects such as music, pop culture, historical figures, and peculiar events. Sullivan's writing style combines humor, empathy, and a deep curiosity that allows him to bring to life even the most mundane topics like Christian rock festivals or forgotten explorers in a captivating manner. The book showcases Sullivan's ability to make seemingly uninteresting subjects intriguing through his engaging storytelling and personal involvement in each essay.
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From The Publisher:
Named A Best Book of 2011 by the New York Times, Time Magazine, the Boston Globe and Entertainment Weekly
A sharp-eyed, uniquely humane tour of America's cultural landscape-from high to low to lower than low-by the award-winning young star of the literary nonfiction world.
In Pulphead, John Jeremiah Sullivan takes us on an exhilarating tour of our popular, unpopular, and at times completely forgotten culture. Simultaneously channeling the gonzo energy of Hunter S. Thompson and the wit and insight of Joan Didion, Sullivan shows us-with a laidback, erudite Southern charm that's all his own-how we really (no, really) live now.
In his native Kentucky, Sullivan introduces us to Constantine Rafinesque, a nineteenth-century polymath genius who concocted a dense, fantastical prehistory of the New World. Back in modern times, Sullivan takes us to the Ozarks for a Christian rock festival; to Florida to meet the alumni and straggling refugees of MTV's Real World, who've generated their own self-perpetuating economy of minor celebrity; and all across the South on the trail of the blues. He takes us to Indiana to investigate the formative years of Michael Jackson and Axl Rose and then to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina-and back again as its residents confront the BP oil spill.
Gradually, a unifying narrative emerges, a story about this country that we've never heard told this way. It's like a fun-house hall-of-mirrors tour: Sullivan shows us who we are in ways we've never imagined to be true. Of course we don't know whether to laugh or cry when faced with this reflection-it's our inevitable sob-guffaws that attest to the power of Sullivan's work.
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1 comment(s)
Highs are high but some of it was kinda meh. Worth reading though because some of these essays are great.
What can you read after
Pulphead?
About the Author:
John Jeremiah Sullivan is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the southern editor of The Paris Review. He writes for GQ, Harper's Magazine, and Oxford American, and is the author of Blood Horses. Sullivan lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.
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