Lanham, Robert 1971-

PERSONAL:

Born 1971, in Richmond, VA; married Amy Brown (a documentary filmmaker).

ADDRESSES:

Home—Brooklyn, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer; FREEwilliamsburg.com, Brooklyn, NY, founder and editor.

WRITINGS:

The Hipster Handbook, illustrated by Bret Nicely and Jeff Bechtel, Anchor Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees, and Other Creatures Unique to the Republic, illustarted by Jeff Bechtel, Penguin Group (New York, NY), 2004.

The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right, New American Library (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of The Emerald Beach Trilogy. Contributor to periodicals, including the New York Times, Nylon, Playboy, and TimeOut.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer Robert Lanham is best known for his humorous books dealing with pop culture and the meaning of cool. The Hipster Handbook, a guide to the differences between being cool and being square, offers readers an assortment of entertaining definitions divided by categories, including advice regarding the best in music, automobiles, celebrities, and literary figures, as well as an assortment of cutting-edge vocabulary for the impossibly hip. Lanham also looks at various subcultures and labels them as to their cool quotients. Illustrations by Bret Nicely and Jeff Bechtel round out the book, which ends with a questionnaire to help readers determine if they are hip. Rick Marin, writing for the New York Times Book Review Online, called the book a "thorough and thoroughly entertaining field guide." Library Journal contributor Tania Barnes remarked: "Even when it doesn't ring quite true, this book is still very funny."

Food Court Druids, Cherohonkees, and Other Creatures Unique to the Republic, Lanham's next effort, takes a comical look at certain types of people that he has observed as being unique to American culture, including individuals dressed in Goth-style clothing and hanging around at the local mall's food court and women who shop for Christmas all year long. Lanham followed that book with The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right, a satirical look at the social and political lives of the Christian right in America. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked: "Despite the sometimes predictable snarkiness and easy targets, Lanham keeps the humor sharp."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, February 28, 2003, review of The Hipster Handbook, p. 83.

Library Journal, January 1, 2003, Tania Barnes, review of The Hipster Handbook, p. 111.

Publishers Weekly, June 26, 2006, review of The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right, p. 45.

ONLINE

New York Times Book Review Online,http://www.nytimes.com/ (February 9, 2003), Rick Marin, "The Good, the Bad, and the Frado," review of The Hipster Handbook.

Robert Lanham Home Page,http://www.robertlanham.com (June 20, 2007).

Washington Post Online,http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (November 7, 2004), Hank Steuever, "Your Life: Highly Classified," interview with Robert Lanham.