Paperback Crush
The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction
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Narrated by:
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Emily Woo Zeller
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By:
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Gabrielle Moss
About this listen
A hilarious and nostalgic trip through the history of paperback preteen series of the '80s and '90s.
Every 20- or 30-something woman knows these books. The pink covers, the flimsy paper, the zillion volumes in the series that kept you reading for your entire adolescence. Spurred by the commercial success of Sweet Valley High and The Babysitters Club, these were not the serious-issue YA novels of the 1970s, nor were they the blockbuster books of the Harry Potter and Twilight ilk. They were cheap, short, and utterly beloved.
Paperback Crush dives in deep to this golden age with affection, history, and a little bit of snark. Listeners will discover (and fondly remember) girl-centric series on everything from correspondence (Pen Pals and Dear Diary) to sports (The Pink Parrots, Cheerleaders, and The Gymnasts) to a newspaper at an all-girls Orthodox Jewish middle school (The B.Y. Times) to a literal teen angel (Teen Angels: Heaven Can't Wait, where an enterprising guardian angel named Cisco has to earn her wings "by helping the world's sexist rock star"). Some were blatant ripoffs of the successful series (looking at you, Sleepover Friends and The Girls of Canby Hall), some were sick-lit tearjerkers a la Love Story (Abby, My Love), and some were just plain perplexing (Uncle Vampire?) But all of them represent that time gone by of girl power and endless sessions of sustained silent reading.
In six hilarious chapters ("Friends", "Love, School", "Family", "Jobs", "Terror", and "Danger"), Bustle features editor Gabrielle Moss takes the listener on a nostalgic tour of teen book covers of yore, digging deep into the history of the genre as well as the stories behind the best-known series.
©2018 Gabrielle Moss (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Librarians spend their lives weeding - not weeds, but books - books that have reached the end of their shelf life both literally and figuratively. They remove books that patrons no longer check out, and they put back books they treasure. Annie Spence, who has a decade of experience as a Midwestern librarian, does this not only at her Michigan library but also at home, for her neighbors, at cocktail parties - everywhere. In Dear Fahrenheit 451, she addresses those books directly.
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Totally captivating
- By Grace Smith on 03-24-18
By: Annie Spence
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My Life with Bob
- Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues
- By: Pamela Paul
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens, Pamela Paul
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Pamela Paul has kept a single book by her side for 28 years - carried throughout high school and college, hauled from Paris to London to Thailand, from job to job, safely packed away and then carefully removed from apartment to house to its current perch on a shelf over her desk - reliable if frayed, anonymous-looking yet deeply personal. This book has a name: Bob. Bob is Paul's Book of Books, a journal that records every book she's ever read.
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An uncanny mirror and a celebration of book love
- By Cherilyn Parsons on 07-28-19
By: Pamela Paul
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Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story
- A Life of David Foster Wallace
- By: D. T. Max
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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David Foster Wallace was the leading literary light of his generation, a man who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In this, the first biography of the writer, D. T. Max sets out to chart Wallace’s tormented, anguished, and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest.
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Max avoids hagiography or a sycophant's biography
- By Darwin8u on 06-11-13
By: D. T. Max
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Superman
- The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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From two-fisted crimebuster to über-patriot, social crusader to spiritual savior, Superman—perhaps like no other mythical character before or since—has evolved in a way that offers a Rorschach test of his times and our aspirations. In this deftly realized appreciation, Larry Tye reveals a portrait of America over seventy years through the lens of that otherworldly hero who continues to embody our best selves.
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This Superman soars
- By tru britty on 07-13-15
By: Larry Tye
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Cinderella Ate My Daughter
- Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Pink and pretty or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somewhere between the exhilarating rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and today, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as a source - the source - of female empowerment. And commercialization has spread the message faster and farther, reaching girls at ever-younger ages.
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No solution just worry
- By Marie on 06-28-12
By: Peggy Orenstein
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So We Read On
- How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
- By: Maureen Corrigan
- Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.
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Reading Gatsby as an adult reveals its greatness!
- By Mark on 10-06-14
By: Maureen Corrigan
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Manifesto
- On Never Giving Up
- By: Bernardine Evaristo
- Narrated by: Bernardine Evaristo
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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From the best-selling and Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo’s memoir of her own life and writing, and her manifesto on unstoppability, creativity, and activism.
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Glorious performance and inspiring story
- By Maggi Morehouse on 01-25-22
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Batman Unauthorized
- Vigilantes, Jokers, and Heroes in Gotham City
- By: Dennis O'Neil - editor, Leah Wilson - editor
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Compiled by a veteran writer of the comic series, this collection of essays explores Batman’s motivations and actions, as well as those of his foes. Batman is a creature of the night, more about vengeance than justice, more plagued by doubts than full of self-assurance, and more darkness than light. He has no superpowers, just skill, drive, and a really well-made suit.
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batman uninformed opinions
- By Aurey C. on 04-13-17
By: Dennis O'Neil - editor, and others
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The Ten-Cent Plague
- The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
- By: David Hajdu
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created in the bold, pulpy pages of comic books. The Ten-Cent Plague explores this cultural emergence and its fierce backlash while challenging common notions of the divide between "high" and "low" art.
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Very frightening
- By Paul on 09-24-08
By: David Hajdu
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Bookworm
- A Memoir of Childhood Reading
- By: Lucy Mangan
- Narrated by: Lucy Mangan
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lucy Mangan was little, stories were everything. They opened up new worlds and cast light on all the complexities she encountered in this one. She was whisked away to Narnia and Kirrin Island and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. She wandered the countryside with Milly-Molly-Mandy and played by the tracks with the Railway Children.
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The author’s sarcasm
- By Phil B. on 10-01-24
By: Lucy Mangan
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Salinger
- By: David Shields, Shane Salerno
- Narrated by: Peter Friedman, January LaVoy, Robert Petkoff, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Shields and Salerno illuminate most brightly the last 56 years of Salinger’s life: a period that, until now, had remained completely dark to biographers. Provided unprecedented access to diaries, letters, legal records, and secret documents, listeners will feel they have, for the first time, gotten beyond Salinger’s meticulously built-up wall. The result is the definitive portrait of one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century.
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Ingenious novel or biography? Hard to tell....
- By Melinda on 09-05-13
By: David Shields, and others
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Best. Movie. Year. Ever.
- How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
- By: Brian Raftery
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999 - arguably the most groundbreaking year in American cinematic history.
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Like talking about movies with a friend
- By Shawn Inmon on 05-30-19
By: Brian Raftery
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Robin Williams
- By: Emily Herbert
- Narrated by: Marston York
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Through roles in cherished films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Aladdin and Hook, he became the genial face of family comedy. His childlike enthusiasm was infectious, sweeping viewers away. Allied to his lightning-quick improvisation and ability to riff lewdly off any cue thrown at him, Robin was that rare thing - a true comic genius who appealed to adults and children equally. He could also play it straight, and empathetic depth came to him naturally.
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Good... but too many quotes
- By DDub on 11-09-18
By: Emily Herbert
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Labor of Love
- The Invention of Dating
- By: Moira Weigel
- Narrated by: Kyra Miller
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Weaving together over 100 years of history with scenes from the contemporary landscape, Labor of Love offers a fresh feminist perspective on how we came to date the ways we do. This isn't a guide to "getting the guy". There are no ridiculous "rules" to follow. Instead Weigel helps us understand how looking for love shapes who we are and hopefully leads us closer to the happy ending that dating promises.
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Not Meant To Be Useful, But Quite Fun
- By Gillian on 02-14-17
By: Moira Weigel
What listeners say about Paperback Crush
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kristen Hanna
- 03-19-24
Totally Rad Read
in addition to this being a delightful trip down memory lane starring all the best YA books of my tweenage years, I also enjoyed the narrator's buoyant delivery. She hit all the right notes of joy, sarcasm and eye rolling that these books inspire! A fabulous treat for girls who learned to live reading in the late 80s and early 90s.
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- Kindle Customer
- 06-12-23
Fun trip down memory lane
This is a great journey down memory lane, talking about a lot of the hit books and series from the 80’s and 90’s. It was great to get some context on books and also see how some books connect to others.
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- Amanda
- 08-08-21
Fabulous
This was amazing. I got all kinds of nostalgic feelings reading it because it talked about a lot of the books I enjoyed when I was younger. There were also some snarky flashes of humor that I totally did appreciate.
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- Harley Easton
- 01-23-23
Love story for 80's & 90's teen girl books
Sweet Valley High, Babysitters Club, and Nancy Drew. If these books were the stuff of your childhood, you're going to love the pop-culture dive into the history of the books that helped establish YA and Teen fiction.
It's an overview of books from the mid 70's to the late 90's. Academic in nature but fun, snarky, and an easy listen for the average person. Fair Warning: The author delves into the sociopathic nature of the Wakefield twins, the inability of authors to represent racial or socio-economic diversity, and the general horror of cranking out 8-10 books a year to keep the fanbase spending their coins. But she also touches on how these novels were many girls' first introductions to sex, how they represented teens with emotional or substance problems, and how the authors got started writing the books that influenced so many readers.
This gives a very broad overview, Many readers complained that their particular favorite wasn't mentioned, but there is honestly too much to cover. The book is split into easy categories like Family, Jobs, and Danger and the narrator does a great job conveying both the lighthearted and the darker aspects of the genre.
It's a comfort read/frequent listen of mine when I need something fun to relax.
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- S. M. Robare
- 01-06-23
Love the concept, maybe a bit too snarky
I really dug this book, especially the concept. Overall I think the tone may have been a bit too snarky, killing some of the nostalgia for this era of YA fiction. Would have benefited greatly from an attached pdf of the interiors as half of the selling point of this book is literally looking back at the old book covers. That negated a star for me.
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- E. L. Sapp
- 11-24-23
Not What I Expected
There was a lot more to this book than I expected. When I started, I expected a snarky look at books like Sweet Valley High and the like. Instead, this is an in-depth look at a large assortment of topics that are actually addressed in teen books - including a lot I was not expecting. (I read some teen fiction in the 80s, but had mostly moved out of the teen section around 1989. I was kind of picky about the books I did read, preferring to avoid ones that appeared to have vapid characters.)
The book is a bit slow, but part of that is because the author deals with so much.
Worth reading once, but maybe not more.
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- Lila Fowler
- 11-09-18
A trip down memory lane.
I love to revisit the teen novels I read as a child. Born in the mid seventies, I was a teen in the eighties and books like SVH were a huge part of my life. So many of the book series I read are discussed here. I just wish more 80's were involved as I didn't read these books into the 90's. Overall, it was fun and put a smile on my face.
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- Sammy
- 01-05-23
Great concept for this book
Great concept, wonderful narration Bought back childhood memories. Encouraged me to read other books, esp young adult.
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