Pulphead

Essays

By: John Jeremiah Sullivan

Narrated by: John Jeremiah Sullivan

One of The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • Named a Best Book of the Year by Time, The Boston Globe, and Entertainment Weekly

A sharp-eyed, uniquely humane tour of America's cultural landscape―from high to low to lower than low―by the award-winning young star of the literary nonfiction world.

In Pulphead, John Jeremiah Sullivan takes us on an exhilarating tour of our popular, unpopular, and at times completely forgotten culture. Simultaneously channeling the gonzo energy of Hunter S. Thompson and the wit and insight of Joan Didion, Sullivan shows us―with a laidback, erudite Southern charm that's all his own―how we really (no, really) live now.

In his native Kentucky, Sullivan introduces us to Constantine Rafinesque, a nineteenth-century polymath genius who concocted a dense, fantastical prehistory of the New World. Back in modern times, Sullivan takes us to the Ozarks for a Christian rock festival; to Florida to meet the alumni and straggling refugees of MTV's Real World, who've generated their own self-perpetuating economy of minor celebrity; and all across the South on the trail of the blues. He takes us to Indiana to investigate the formative years of Michael Jackson and Axl Rose and then to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina―and back again as its residents confront the BP oil spill.

Gradually, a unifying narrative emerges, a story about this country that we've never heard told this way. It's like a fun-house hall-of-mirrors tour: Sullivan shows us who we are in ways we've never imagined to be true. Of course we don't know whether to laugh or cry when faced with this reflection―it's our inevitable sob-guffaws that attest to the power of Sullivan's work.

Eclectic topics and astute observations

The essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan are an eclectic collection from a distinct southern American perspective. Some topics are quite profound while others merely entertaining. John Jeremiah Sullivan’s writing at times reminds me of the essayist and author Chuck Klosterman. The overall recording is read by the author, but perhaps it would’ve benefited by a professional reader who doesn’t swallow their words.

Slight spoiler Alert

One of the essays is only partially true and you don’t find that annoying nugget out until after the story is over

Outstanding writing

Sullivan shows a masterful ability to enter the minds of others and writes witty prose on a wide range of topics inviting us to see the world more broadly

Interesting Perspectives

Very easy to listen to a series of essays in audible format. Engaging topics that are thought provoking.

Absolute masterpiece

Sullivan has picked up DFW’s consider the lobster mantle with this brilliant collection of essays. And his narration is alternately hilarious and heartbreaking.