Wannabe
Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
BEST READS OF 2023: New York Times Book Review • USA Today • The Skimm • Bookpage • St Louis Post-Dispatch / BEST HOLIDAY GIFTS 2023: Publishers Weekly / MOST ANTICIPATED READS OF 2023: ELLE • The Millions • Essence
“Aisha Harris is one of our smartest, most entertaining modern cultural critics (…) which might as well be parlance for, “Read me immediately.”—ELLE
Aisha Harris has made a name for herself as someone you can turn to for a razor-sharp take on whatever show or movie everyone is talking about. Now, she turns her talents inward, mining the benchmarks of her nineties childhood and beyond to analyze the tropes that are shaping all of us, and our ability to shape them right back.
In the opening essay, an interaction with Chance the Rapper prompts an investigation into the origin myth of her name. Elsewhere, Aisha traces the evolution of the “Black Friend” trope from its Twainian origins through to the heyday of the Spice Girls, teen comedies like Clueless, and sitcoms of the New Girl variety. And she examines the overlap of taste and identity in this era, rejecting the patriarchal ethos that you are what you like. Whatever the subject, sitting down with her book feels like hanging out with your smart, hilarious, pop culture–obsessed friend—and it’s a delight.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this blend of memoir and cultural critique, entertainment journalist Aisha Harris dives into the pop culture that molded her and discovers racism, misogyny, toxic fandom, and more. As a co-host for NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, Harris is no stranger to thinking deeply about music, movies, and TV, and in these nine essays, she goes even deeper, often drawing on her own experiences as a Black woman. The results are both entertaining and searingly on point. Having grown up in a mostly white Connecticut suburb, her analysis of the Black friend trope (one that stretches back through time from New Girl to Clueless all the way to Huckleberry Finn) isn’t just incisive, it’s also very personal. And we nearly cheered when she elevated the Spice Girls to a level of discourse that white male culture writers have historically reserved for artists like Tom Petty and Jeff Buckley. Harris’ smart and candid perspective makes Wannabe a much-needed breath of fresh air.
