Nerds Rule at the Bookstore
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 9/14/2007 9:20:00 AM
Publishing may rank close to chemistry and molecular biology as one of the most nerd-friendly fields. The vocation tends to attract brainy types who may not have excelled at math and science in school, but reread books until their spines fell apart. Editors are rarely not reading books, whether on elevators, in supermarket lines, or even walking on the sidewalk. And they usually wear glasses. Hike up those pants, add a pocket protector, and… well, if it isn’t Alfred E. Newman.
This winter brings the publication of two books on nerds, David Anderegg’s Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them (Tarcher/Penguin, Dec.) and Benjamin Nugent’s American Nerd: The Story of My People (Scribner, Mar.). Nerds looks at how children learn what nerds are and what happens to their identities when they do so. American Nerd is a history of the nerd archetype mixed with reporting on nerd subcultures and personal memoir. Anderegg, a professor of psychology at Bennington College in Vermont, is concerned with the negative connotation of the word "nerd" and its implications on children’s development. "Younger children have no idea what they’re talking about when they use that word. All the know is that it’s bad." Nugent, meanwhile, is interested in the evolution of nerds and nerdiness, including his own. "I was a very nerdy kid," he says. "I went back and I found my nerd friends from elementary school and junior high. I went to find out what kind of function the nerdy things they did as kids—like Dungeons & Dragons—filled for them. I also talk about myself a little bit."
In the spirit of embracing nerdiness, here's a timeline of some great books in nerd history, including some of Anderegg’s and Nugent’s favorites.
c. 800 BC: The Odyssey by Homer. Anderegg says "Odysseus is the smartest ever of the Greeks. And he’s physically courageous and attractive."
1813: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The third Bennett daughter, quiet introvert Mary, prefers reading to schmoozing.
1820: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving. Schoolmaster Ichabod Crane might just have been America’s first nerd.
1934: Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse. Nugent says "the nerd I wind up talking about the most is Gussie Fink-Nottle," the "teetotal bachelor with a face like a fish" who sports horn-rimmed glasses and devotes his life to the study of newts.
1954-1955: Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein. Are you a nerd if you own the box set?
1976: American Splendor series by Harvey Pekar. One character, Toby Radloff, once drove 200 miles round-trip to see Revenge of the Nerds.
1979: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Adams’s groundbreaking work combined sci-fi and humor. Who knew nerds could actually be funny?
1980: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The protagonist is a 30-year-old medievalist who lives at home with his mom, writes his magnum opus on notepads he keeps hidden under his bed, and can’t stop droning on about the traumatic experience he once had on a Greyhound bus bound for Baton Rouge. Enough said.
1996: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Only true book nerds can slog through 1,100 pages of footnotes and like it.
1997-2007: The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. Harry is Anderegg’s favorite modern nerd. "He wears glasses and seems kind of shy and awkward, but when it comes to wizardry, he’s absolutely the best. You would think he’s not going to be allowed also to be a jock, but he’s actually a really good quiddich player, too. If this were an American book, he would not be allowed to be both."
2006: The Nerd Series by Vicki Lewis Thompson (includes Nerds Like It Hot and Talk Nerdy To Me). Who says romance novels have to feature hunky Fabio-types? In Lewis Thompson’s genre series, the brain is the sexiest body part.
2006: Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. Blue van Meer appeals to everyone’s inner nerd. She wants to be cool but can’t help spewing bits literary, philosophical, scientific and cinematic knowledge.
2007: I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. Nerdy Denis Cooverman proclaims his love for a hot cheerleader in his high school graduation speech.
2007: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. Oscar—a comics wonk who’s heavy into sci-fi and fantasy and uses big words like "indefatigable"—absolutely fits the nerd bill.
