A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster [Paperback]

Josh Aiello (Author), Matthew Shultz (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003

A Comprehensive Guide to Identifying More than 35 Species of Urban Hipsters

Like most wildlife, Urban Hipsters offer valuable and entertaining opportunities for observation and study. To date, casual students of wild Hipsters have been left without a tattooed ankle to stand on, as even the simple tasks of identifying and classifying each species have never been completed.  The Hip, though simpleminded, are wily.
Now, however, this cutting-edge manual by world-renowned hipthologist and dinner-party favorite Josh Aiello allows even the most amateur of observers to differentiate a Mod (Angophilia dandyum) from a Punk (Rebellium ostentatia), to identify the velvet rope-circumvention abilities unique to EuroTrash, and to recognize the symptoms of Ex-Frat–carried Loafer-and-Wallet Disease with confidence and ease.  A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster covers mating habits, the origins of species, and natural habitats for all species one may encounter, regardless of terrain.    
The result of over ten dateless years spent in the field, A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster is sure to educate and delight for generations to come.  Lavishly illustrated by former pet caricaturist Matthew Shultz, this comprehensive guide is the ultimate handbook for the urban observer.  

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

With once-populous rebel groups (hippies, punks, grunge rockers) reduced to cliques that converge at nightclubs for themed outings ("Wednesday is Anarchy Night," perhaps), along come the parodies to nail the club doors shut. On the heels of The Hipster Handbook (2003), this "field guide" takes a mock-scientific approach to identifying species, ranging from AlternaBoys to Urban Moms, in their native habitats. Plumage ("brightly dyed" for Ravers) and voice ("short barking notes" for Metal Heads) are noted, as are mating habits, herd mentality, and natural enemies (Struggling Actors fear Models for their ability to snare roles without talent). Each section ends with examples of actual habitat (bars, usually) in which each respective breed may be observed (use caution when approaching Thugz). Some researchers may object to the inclusion of Ex-Frats (from the Graecus family) in the Hipster genus, but Aiello's fieldwork is otherwise solid. Clever and funny, despite a passage in which Activists take more of a beating than a ribbing; may prompt occasional musing on the nature of conformity. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767913728
• ISBN-13: 978-0767913720
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nicely written, but misses the mark........., July 12, 2006

By 

Robert E. Lee (Richmond, Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster (Paperback)

This book is an interesting read, or at least partially interesting anyway. But it is seriously flawed. For one thing, it includes profiles of non-hipsters or scenesters (which are close, but not the same) and lumps them in with hipsters.

For example: A Raver is NOT a hipster. They are Scenesters. A Goth is a Non-Hipster. Hipsters wouldnt be caught dead with Goths, and vice versa. A true Hipster remains deep and philosophical, yet shallow and savvy enough to know where they belong. " Euro Trash" are Non-Hipsters are well, as are "Ex-Frats". There is nothing more Un-Hipster than belonging to a fraternity, even if it was in the past tense. And furthemore, it uses cliches which arent quite that funny. If you want a far MORE ACCURATE discription of the true Hipsters and their psyche, buy "Hipster Handbook".

17 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Um...did Josh Aiello write all these reviews?, April 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster (Paperback)

The similar natures of the reviews written here lead me to believe that Josh Aiello is pulling a Bebe Buell and reviewing his own book over and over again, giving it five stars again and again from different "readers" in various states.

Nice try, but this book definitely misses the mark. I sort of feel badly that it had to follow the publication of the Hipster Handbook, which is WAY more accurate and WAY funnier than The Field Guide to the Urban Hipster.

I've read both, and while The Hipster Handbook absolutely positively nails it, the Field Guide to the Urban Hipster feels like it was written by my sixty year old father trying to be funny about kids today and picking up only about 20% of the general gist of the thing

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More detailed and complex than noticable at first glance..., September 9, 2003

By 

dave bug (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Urban Hipster (Paperback)

The first surprise when first picking up this book was its size. 224 full pages! No 2 inch margins, 18 point text, or blank "section" pages so often used to fill out the "good-premise, no follow-through" bathroom books that usually sell for twice as much. This book will take you some time to go through, start to finish. That's a very good thing, considering how insightful and clever each page is.

The second surprise was in the illustrations. There are tons of them! And I suppose I should have expected sharp details considering the book's satire source (bird-watching and other nature guides), but the depth of humor in the drawings keeps some of the best jokes hidden until your third or fourth viewings. You'll find yourself scanning each page intently looking for each next piece of wit.

This book inspires thoughts of hugely expanded games of hipster bingo, brings up ideas for snappy Halloween costumes, improves your insulting techniques, and, of course, identifies, clarifies, and classifies any big city hipsters you'll come across.