You'll have to forgive me because I read the book three weeks ago and so this helter skelter review is cooked up from pure memory.
Alrighty then, so let's get started. I won't go too in-depth because I am not used to all the terminology the genius Bill Wasik uses, but basically And Then There's This is my perfect nonfiction novel. In layman's terms, he discusses how the internet and viral culture has affected our lives, our businesses, our relationships and our attention spans. Wasik, the inventor of the flashmob, is a man after my own heart. He must know that I care a lot about minuscule facts about the Entertainment Industry and culture in general. He loaded his book up with them just so people like me would be happy! Awww.
What really got me is that the book is just. so. interesting. For me, as a blogger and an aspiring free lancer, Wasik offers invaluable insight into the way the Internet works. He discusses amateurism on the Internet vs. big business corporations and teaches you how to build an audience through observation and experimentation.
Wasik uses his own experiments to provide some insight into this whole meme, viral, how does this work exactly? thing that we call the Internet. For instance, he was interested in the concept of buzz and how quickly indie "it" bands are glorified and then forgotten in mere months. He created a website to stir up antibuzz for indie music darlings Peter Bjorn and John to see if that would slow down their actual "buzz" (Hint, it didn't). And of course there was that whole flash mob thing...
Wasik's main purpose, however, for writing And Then There's This is not to give you blogging tips, talk about Swedish musicians or get you to be at a certain place on a certain date. Wasik tracks the memes, nanostories and microtrends that define the Entertainment Industry, Politics, Advertising, and much more to teach us about ourselves. It's psychology gone viral.
In short, I would say read this one at least once in your life, preferably within the next two years before it becomes obsolete (gotta love that fast churning culture we have). The novel is humorous, short, easy to read and engrossing. You won't even know you're learning things until you bust something out in a conversation with someone like I did! "Did you know, that whenever you post a link to facebook, send a youtube video or click on an online article, you are in effect becoming a trendsetter?"
If you are like me and have an abnormal interest in viral culture, then I would say it's safe to buy a copy, grab a pencil and get started.
Also, I'm sure Bill Wasik would want you to feel free to post your favorite quotes to facebook, maybe get the book trending on twitter, make a video of your reactions as you read and post it to youtube, listen to some indie music as you peruse and definitely, definitely blog about it.
Well, One down...
