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renreads2much's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
- Talks about a diverse range of artists which is nice, I enjoyed seeing how different industries work and how they function
- The writing style sometimes makes things harder to understand (so not as accessible, its more of an advanced read that needs more focus than usual.)
- Feels tedious and long at times
- A lot of historical context and information. Which is interesting, but can also be a bit of a drag. But its important information to know if you want to understand why things are the way they are currently.
- Confusing grammar, starts sentences with the word 'and' which kinda bugs me.
- Talks about culture and connection and its impacts on a area or community.
- Similar themes and discussions that I had in the "American Dream" class.
- Kind of discouraging and depressing to read if you are looking to have a creative/art based career.
hollywrench's review against another edition
5.0
This feels like one of the most important and meaningful books I’ve read in a long time and has given me soooo much food for thought. It covers all aspects of the arts, music, poetry, literature, painting, and comments on trends in journalism, the consumer culture, political agendas etc. Would 100% recommend it to anyone and everyone.
shoopie's review against another edition
4.0
The subject matter was novel and thought-provoking. Timberg and all members of the creative class are privileged in their identities, and I wish the book had touched upon this.
All in all, Culture Crash was one of my favorites this year!
All in all, Culture Crash was one of my favorites this year!
caelyncobb's review
4.0
Reads well and makes an important case for seeing the arts as a public good and a middle class economic issue. Minus one star for the winky winky cultural references, which I can see as unavoidable for this book but still give me unpleasant undergrad flashbacks.
violetpretty5's review
3.0
The idea that the polarity in haves/have nots is stretching the middle class thin is not especially unique -- it sounds like the alarmist rhetoric I hear when I skim presidential debates. Author Scott Timberg's slant is that this disparity deeply affects an arts community that primarily consists of middle class people making an average living -- artists in all types of mediums as well as the "support staffs" that do not necessarily create content, like book store clerks or copyeditors. A big piece of this crisis is that the record industry, news media, and others failed to adjust their business models to remain relevant in the digital age, resulting in lots of layoffs and job changes away from the arts in the last couple decades, and lots of shuttered businesses and opportunities. In short, support for the arts is eroding, and without decisive action the arts will either entirely implode into nothingness or become a stilted rich person's game -- Timberg seems to support both theories simultaneously.
While I can get behind the general gist, I had some issues with the execution of the book. Excessive quotations and references are not always fully explained or relevant (they just sound like a name dropper doing his thing). I was not clear as to Timberg's definitions of fundamental concepts, like "middle class" -- all I can recall that vaguely anchors the terminology is a reference to $26-34K per year being lower middle class (p. 91). Likewise, his conflagration of creators and support staff bewilders me because it's not clear where he draws the line. Is the "evil" accountant at a record label part of this support designation? A temp who is making art supplies at a factory? An ambiguous boundary between creators and assistants seems to actually invalidate his argument that the arts infrastructure is imploding, because with enough bs-ing almost any job can be tied to a creative impetus, and there are still lots of jobs in the world.
In the end, I found the tone of the book somewhere between liberal whiner and chicken-little syndrome. This delivery alienated me from the common ground I felt with the book, such as being a liberal whiner myself, or the uneasiness I've felt watching almost every record store I've cared about close down and almost every free press weekly become an eviscerated shell of its former self. I felt like the important points of the message were lost in a jumble of intellectualism and scope, and I have a harder time believing analyses that are histrionic instead of well-rounded. But I guess the upside is that, by not scribing the definitive analysis of this crisis, Timberg has inadvertently made room for those writerly jobs he mourns the loss of.
While I can get behind the general gist, I had some issues with the execution of the book. Excessive quotations and references are not always fully explained or relevant (they just sound like a name dropper doing his thing). I was not clear as to Timberg's definitions of fundamental concepts, like "middle class" -- all I can recall that vaguely anchors the terminology is a reference to $26-34K per year being lower middle class (p. 91). Likewise, his conflagration of creators and support staff bewilders me because it's not clear where he draws the line. Is the "evil" accountant at a record label part of this support designation? A temp who is making art supplies at a factory? An ambiguous boundary between creators and assistants seems to actually invalidate his argument that the arts infrastructure is imploding, because with enough bs-ing almost any job can be tied to a creative impetus, and there are still lots of jobs in the world.
In the end, I found the tone of the book somewhere between liberal whiner and chicken-little syndrome. This delivery alienated me from the common ground I felt with the book, such as being a liberal whiner myself, or the uneasiness I've felt watching almost every record store I've cared about close down and almost every free press weekly become an eviscerated shell of its former self. I felt like the important points of the message were lost in a jumble of intellectualism and scope, and I have a harder time believing analyses that are histrionic instead of well-rounded. But I guess the upside is that, by not scribing the definitive analysis of this crisis, Timberg has inadvertently made room for those writerly jobs he mourns the loss of.
zachkuhn's review
4.0
Yep, a whole generation of highly-qualified, educated human beings got totally screwed over. I didn't need this book to know that, but I think a lot of other people do need it.
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