Pure Innocent Fun

Essays

De: Ira Madison III

Narrado por: Ira Madison III

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this nostalgic and raucous collection of sixteen original essays, Ira Madison III—critic, television writer, and host of the beloved Keep It podcast—combines memoir and criticism to offer a brand-new pop-culture manifesto.

“This is the most fun I’ve had reading all year. Like Chuck Klosterman before him, Ira Madison III takes seriously and analyzes the pop culture detritus that took up hours of our lives.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda

You can recall the first TV show, movie, book, or song that made you feel understood—that shaped how you live, what you love, and whom you would become. It gave you an entire worldview. For Ira Madison, that book was Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, which cemented the idea that pop culture could be a rigorous subject—and that, for better or worse, it shapes all of us.

In Pure Innocent Fun, Madison explores the key cultural moments that inspired his career as a critic and guided his coming of age as a Black gay man in Milwaukee. In this hilarious, full-throttle trip through the ’90s and 2000s, he recounts learning about sex from Buffy the Vampire Slayer; facing the most heartbreaking election of his youth (not George W. Bush’s win, but Jennifer Hudson losing American Idol); and how never getting his driver’s license in high school made him just like Cher Horowitz in Clueless: “a virgin who can’t drive.”

Brimming with a profound love for a bygone culture and alternating between irreverence and heartfelt insight, Pure Innocent Fun, like all the best products of pop culture, will leave you entertained and surprisingly enlightened.

©2024 Ira Madison, III (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This is the most fun I’ve had reading all year. Like Chuck Klosterman before him, Ira Madison III takes seriously and analyzes the pop culture detritus that took up hours of our lives as byproducts of the late 1900’s. From Coldplay to Family Matters to Passions and everything in between, It feels like Ira has taken apart every dumb thing I’ve obsessed over and put it back together again—all my ‘roman empires.’ I laughed and cried and felt so, so seen. Buy it and KEEP IT.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award winning creator of Hamilton and NYT bestselling author of G'morning G'night

“Ira’s wit, intelligence, and reverence for pop culture is on full display in this fantastic essay collection. What a pleasure to read.”—Phoebe Robinson, award winning comedian and NYT bestselling author of You Can’t Touch My Hair

“If you’re old enough to have typed A/S/L in AOL chat rooms this will unlock so many core millennial memories. If you don’t know what that means, this book will help you talk to your boss at work!”—Cody Rigsby, NYT bestselling author of XOXO, Cody

Shoutout to Ira

Insightful, nostalgic, and enough references to make you wish you had watched more TV in the 90s and 00s. Bravo.

Too Much Fun

Ira writes a great book and narrates this listen with witty candor. I loved listening to his stories about growing up and the touchstone moments that shaped him into the person he is today.

Laugh out loud perspectives on 90s-00s pop culture

Ira's voice and take on the pop culture that has influenced him is both fun and poignant. He seamlessly weaves iconic pieces of culture with vulnerable personal stories. One of my faves!

instantly selfishly want more

maybe it's my age, maybe it's the fact you can remember anything from the early 00s, but I want to know about your senior project, your first apartment, your move to New York, and every adventure after! shared two essays the moment I finished them. found myself reading parts aloud to a girlfriend on the tele. I just couldn't get enough. loved it.

A funny, thoughtful, timely, and timeless series of essays

If you are already a fan of Ira’s you’ll love it. If you are just a fan of good writing, essays, pop culture criticism, and millennial nostalgia, you’ll also love it.

short and sweet

funny anecdotes and pop culture references wrapped in a relatable Queer Black experience... also great when the author reads their own book

Excellent and enthralling personal dissection of culture

Madison is a worthy successor of Klosterman. A fun engagement with how 90s and 00s American culture impacted us through Madison's unique point of view.

Amazing Debut!

I didn’t want it to end. I could listen to Ira tell me every minute detail of his life. I look forward to subsequent collections of essays. In the meantime, thank god for Keep It.

A fun and hilarious memoir from one of my favorites

If you know Ira Madison III from Keep It, you will love this deep dive into the experiences and culture that has made the man we know and love today. If you don’t and you love pop culture, get listening! You won’t regret it.