The Sprawl - by Jason Diamond (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

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 clichéeacute;s and pieties, these essays stretch across the country in an effort to show that this uniquely American milieu deserves another look.

Review Quotes

An NPR Favorite Book of 2020
A Booklist Best New Book 2020
An Esquire Best Summer Book of 2020
A Town & Country Best Summer Book of 2020
An Electric Literature Best Nonfiction of 2020
A Planetizen Top Urban Planning Book of 2020
A Refinery29 Best Summer Book of 2020

"A humble and curious must-read." -Booklist, starred review

"A warm, engaging reminder that places quickly written off can be the birthplace of the next big thing." --Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire

"Using personal experience, history, and cultural reportage, Diamond finds these tidy, bland environs have produced or inspired some of the country's finest artists." --Amy Sutherland, The Boston Globe

"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 epitaph to where that childhood was discarded." --Isabel Slone, Hazlitt

"Excellent. . . . Diamond's omnivorous and expansive sense allows him to weave history, popular culture, literature, film, and his own experiences into a revelatory take on suburban life." --Nick Ripatrazone, The Millions

"It's the rare work of cultural criticism with a purview that encompasses William Gibson, Celeste Ng, and Anthony Bourdain--and it's all the stronger for it." --Tobias Carroll, Literary Hub

"Diamond is a keen cultural critic leveraging a deep reservoir of knowledge. The Sprawl leads us on a journey through the promise of suburbia while expertly peeling back the curtain." --Ian MacAllen, Chicago Review of Books

"Exceptionally smart and wildly fun at the same time." --Hillary Kelly, Vulture

"Funny, smart, and heavy on pop culture allusions. . . . Where this book really excels is in identifying certain moods that relate to suburban America." --Joseph Houlihan, Rain Taxi Review

"This is a warm and thoughtful book that doesn't just coast on beauty and nostalgia without challenging both." --Hanif Abdurraqib

"Thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully rendered. The Sprawl is a necessary cultural analysis for understanding who we are as a nation and what we will become." --Lyz Lenz

"A child of the suburbs myself, I devoured this smart, probing, and deeply human meditation on what it means to be promised comfort, and what it feels like to tear yourself apart trying to escape it." --Amanda Petrusich

About the Author