Sunday, September 27, 2009

Leslie Simon & Trevor Kelley - "Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture"

Please don't think I'm taking anything in this book seriously.

I've read one of Trevor Kelley's books before, and I enjoyed it. It's all very tongue in cheek, jokey kind of stuff. Or maybe I'm just not as emo as I've been led to believe.

Anyway, so basically, this is a whole book dedicated to teaching you how to be emo, and simultaneously making fun of emo kids.

If you don't know what an emo kid is... why are you on the internet? Seriously, Google it. Something will come up. I promise. Also, before I get into this, I'm what's considered an emo kid. Um, or I thought I was until I read this book!

So it breaks down the beginnings of emo, starting with the founding way back in the day in DC. Fuck yeah, I moved to the birthplace of emo! Wait, I can't legitimately be excited about that. It profiles what kind of emo kid you are (for the record, I'm "frat emo" which is kind of like not even being emo at all except for I listen to a lot of Taking Back Sunday and get the snot beaten out of me at shows by the Bros Who Are Gay For Taking Back Sunday), what kind of relationships you're going to have if you like a certain kind of emo dude (if you're into the Chris Carrabba type, if you're into the Adam Lazzara type, etc - it's all going to end badly but who's counting).

There's actually a pretty interesting list of venues (Emo's in Austin, DC's own Black Cat), vegan restaurants, and albums that are essential to any emo kid (The Promise Ring, etc). Basically, it teaches you how to be an Emo Kid if that's what you want to be.

One of my favorite things about this book comes from it having been published in 2006 - it mentions Pete Wentz's supposed fling with Ashlee Simpson and makes a joke about how ridiculous that is. And look what happened!

Maybe it's a little outdated, but it's not that big of a deal. It's still an interesting read, and if you're emo or know someone who is... give it a shot.

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