The Sprawl - by Jason Diamond (Paperback)

About the Book

"For decades the suburbs have been where art happens 'despite': despite the conformity, the emptiness, the sameness. The familiar story is one of gems formed under pressure, creative transcendence fueled by suburban resentment. But what if the suburb has actually been an incubator for distinctly American art, as positively and as surely as in any other cultural hothouse? Mixing personal experience, cultural reportage, and history while rejecting clichâes and pieties, these essays stretch across the country in an effort to show that this uniquely American milieu deserves another look"--

Book Synopsis

From garage rock to Greta Gerwig, Jason Diamond asks us to reconsider the creative potential of the American suburb as he leads us down the cul-de-sac and out again.

Review Quotes

NPR, "Favorite Books of 2020"

Booklist, "Best New Books 2020&rdquo

Chicago Tribune, "10 Summer Books to Read"

Esquire, "Best Summer Books of 2020"

Town & Country, "Best Summer Books for 2020"

The Week, "19 Books to Read in 2020"

Electric Literature, "Best Nonfiction of 2020"

"Literary Hub, "Best New Books to Read This Summer"

Planetizen, "Top Urban Planning Books of 2020"

Refinery29, "Best Summer Books of 2020"

"The American suburbs have taken on a mythical reputation: hyper-planned communities of uniformity, offering safety and security to some, suffocation to others. In this fascinating history, Diamond presents readers with a new way of viewing this ubiquitous environment. . . . A humble and curious must-read." --Booklist, starred review

"In this lively book of narrative nonfiction, Jason Diamond blends cultural criticism, reportage, and memoir to destigmatize America's oft-derided suburbs. . . . A warm, engaging reminder that places quickly written off can be the birthplace of the next big thing." --Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire

"In this insightful work of narrative nonfiction, journalist Diamond (Searching for John Hughes) draws from personal experience, history, and media to consider the significance of the suburbs in American culture. . . . his cultural criticism is consistently astute. This is a smart, enjoyable study that will be particularly appreciated by other suburban expats." --Publishers Weekly

"[W]riter Jason Diamond examines how suburbia has shaped the country's cultural landscape in profound ways. Using personal experience, history, and cultural reportage, Diamond finds these tidy, bland environs have produced or inspired some of the country's finest artists, writers such as Dave Eggers and Jonathan Lethem and filmmakers John Hughes and Sofia Coppola." --Amy Sutherland, Boston Globe

"As the narrative progresses, the author becomes increasingly eloquent about such things as pop music. . . . literature as written by the likes of Dave Eggers and Jonathan Lethem, and film such as, yes, John Hughes' oeuvre and Sofia Coppola's interpretation of The Virgin Suicides. . . . A literate meditation on clipped-lawn places easily taken for granted but that well deserve such reflection." --Kirkus

"Diamond argues in a series of essays that the suburbs are essential to the development of American art and culture. He considers both the segregated nature of the suburbs themselves, grounding his study in the Chicagoland towns where he grew up, as well as the books, music and films they inspired." --Jennifer Day, Chicago Tribune

"The suburbs, with their strip malls and IHOPs and quiet nights, are for Diamond redolent both of nostalgia and terror. . . . The question is whether this new generation is going to recreate the suburban culture of America's long-gone boom times, or aim for something else." --Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic

"Part melancholic meditation on the meaning of the suburbs, part encyclopedic survey of the suburbs in pop culture references, and part futurist reimagining of the possibilities of suburbia. At its core, it's both a paean to the place that formed Diamond and a wistful epitap

About the Author

Jason Diamond is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. His first book was Searching for John Hughes.