More Fun, Please - by Jarret Keene (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

More Fun, Please: Exploring the Strange Intersection of Identity and Pop Culture lovingly dissects the overt and underlying influences of popular culture on personal development and evolution, and how pop culture defines personal interpretations of "fun".

From a reminiscence of the author's abuela spoiling him at a young age with episodes of That's Incredible! and bowls of Jell-O, to launching a Las Vegas heavy metal band at the age of 35, to discovering Amiri Baraka's early poem about a comic book superhero, this unexpected series of engaging pieces offers a radically different way of thinking about the often-misunderstood pleasures of Smokey and the Bandit, Saturday morning cartoons, and roller-skating rinks. Sometimes serious, occasionally silly, More Fun, Please will inspire both pop culture aficionados and overworked busy people to dig in a little deeper into consciously experiencing more fun. Please!

Review Quotes

"Jarret Keene's smart, serrated pop-culture essays are bliss for those of us raised in the movie theaters of the 1980s, when zombies, gremlins, and masked killers plagued our nightmares and stoked our dreams. More Fun, Please is an adrenalized funhouse." --Alissa Nutting, author of Made for Love

"Like Chuck Klosterman set loose in the grindhouse circuit, More Fun, Please offers readers a post-postmodern vision of retro-entertainment that few writers can match. Keene's short essays are twisted, gorgeous, and very smart fun." --Stephen Graham Jones, author of Don't Fear the Reaper

" 'Black Death Doom Grind' is the best essay written about starting a metal band in middle age, and More Fun, Please is among the best 'retro-postmodern' collections of essays to date. Keene is a monster of a writer." --Walter Kirn, author of Blood Will Out

About the Author

Born in Tampa, FL to mixed-race parents, Jarret Keene is currently an assistant professor at University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where he teaches American literature and the graphic novel. He has written a travel guide (The Underground Guide to Las Vegas), a rock-band biography (The Killers: Destiny Is Calling Me), and poetry collections, including Monster Fashion. He has also edited short-fiction anthologies including Las Vegas Noir and Dead Neon: Tales of Near-Future Las Vegas. He is the series editor for Las Vegas Writes, sponsored by Nevada Humanities and published by Huntington Press.