cover image A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster

A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster

Josh Aiello. Broadway Books, $12.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-7679-1372-0

Fast on the heels of Robert Lanham's The Hipster Handbook (Anchor; February 2003), Aiello, who honed his chops writing""scathing editorials for the school newspaper,"" presents round two of the hipster instruction manual. Strikingly similar to Lanham's guide, this book breaks down hipsters by category. There's the Audiophylum family, which includes glam rockers and goths; the Auteurial family, comprised of laptop rock stars, literati and starving artists; the Graecus family, where you'll find corporate hipsters and men who lunch; etc. Examining each species scientifically (describing, for example, its""exterior,""""plumage,""""mating habits"" and""habitat""), Aiello also notes his subjects' preferred hang-out spots, usually focusing on hipster hotbeds like New York (notably, more often Manhattan than edgier Brooklyn); Cambridge, Mass.; and Berkeley, Calif. Cartoon drawings highlight the characters' features, from the Eurotrash guy's chest hair to the mod chick's boots (""not actually made for walking""). Aiello's guide would be amusing if it weren't six months late to the scene.