Books of and about comics,
pop art books, a book that fills some pieces into television’s most exquisite
puzzle, and the bio of a man famed for his green cap and killer dip make up the
bulk of Psychobabble’s ten favorite retro pop-culture books of this past year.
(Each entry links to the original review)
10. Toybox Time Machine: A Catalog of the Coolest Toys Never Made by Marty Baumann
In short:
“…will get the nostalgia glands salivating.”
9. Psychedelia: 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums by
Richard Morton Jack
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History by Michael Klastorian
In short:
“…a gorgeous way to pay tribute to a sci-fi picture with ideas and images that
still instill wonder after forty years.”
7. The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen by Hope Nicholson
In short:
“…reading her cases for and critiques of these characters is like listening to
a good buddy tell you what makes her geek out over cocktails.”
6. Shag: The Collected Works
by Shag
In short:
“It’s a world in which every cat is super cool, every chick is ultra groovy,
every color is eye-poppingly brilliant, and every environment is de-luxe.”
In short:
“Eury covers the high-camp comics, cartoons, and other pop-cultural creations
that preceded and followed Batman
with jolly prose and eyeball-POW-ing images of comics and memorabilia…”
4. Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix
In short:
“Hendrix’s prose… will have you rolling in the checkout aisle.”
3. Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff by Michael Nesmith
In short:
“A pop autobiography with genuinely interesting stories is rare. One that is
also well written is rarer still.”
2. Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by
Mark Frost
In short:
“The Final Dossier is Mark Frost’s
satisfying conclusion to Twin Peaks
for those who were unsatisfied by Lynch’s elliptical television incarnation…”
1. Groovy: When Flower Power Bloomed in Pop Culture by Mark Voger
In short:
“…there have been no shortage or reverent, historically conscious books to
commemorate the Aquarian age. Groovy
is the first one I’ve read that actually captures the full flowering fun of
that period.”
