In this collection of erudite stories, writer John Jeremiah Sullivan tackles far corners of American culture with wit, soul, and fluid prose.
Depending on the reviewer, writer John Jeremiah Sullivan is the inheritor of Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, or Flannery O’Connor. And perhaps he’s all of the above. As one of great practitioners of magazine journalism, before the industry shriveled to a hollow, his prose is erudite, sharply rendered, and sometimes haunting; his adventures simultaneously outlandish and deeply felt. Drawing on his magazine reporting, his essay collection Pulphead brings his talents to bear on the American psyche, with a weighty profile of an aged Axl Rose, an investigation of the lives of Gulf Coast residents after the double whammy of Katrina and the BP oil spill, and an epic, soul-searching visit to a Christian rock festival, among them. No wonder, then, that his book earned a spot on the New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.
