vulture reading room

Vulture Reading Room Returns With And Then There᾿s This

It’s that time again! Following the success of our Wetlands discussion, New York book critic Sam Anderson has assembled another elite team of literati — including Anil Dash, Virginia Heffernan, David Rees, and Charlie Todd — this time to discuss Bill Wasik’s And Then There’s This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture. Anderson fires first: “I guess it’s so easy to be against viral culture — the word itself always makes me think of pandemics and STDs. (’Virus’ comes from the Latin for ‘poisonous slime.’) But what about its legitimate human pleasures? Charlie, when you convince hundreds of people to ride the subway without pants, does this lead to some kind of actual, non-shameful, positive emotion like social joy or empowerment, or is it all about buzz and scene and cynical post-humanist ennui?” [Vulture Reading Room]

Vulture Reading Room Returns With And Then There᾿s This