{"product_id":"9780692629581","title":"Index: Essays, Fragments, and Liberal Arts Homework","description":"\u003cp\u003eYou can dissect a song or analyze a movie until you're blue in the face. But when a favorite TV show or a book really, truly speaks to you, it's a feeling you just can't explain. There's no mathematical formula for that otherworldly joy, that love that drives fans to obsess over their media darlings. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo what's a critic of pop culture to do when forced to find a balance between dissecting the value of this media and simply letting the magic of enjoyment happen?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince 2006, Jeff Pike has been discussing these conundrums of cultural criticism while reviewing music, books, and movies on his blog \u003ci\u003eCan't Explain\u003c\/i\u003e. There, he contemplates the value of mindless versus mindful entertainment, issues of consensus and taste, and the complexities of constructing a cultural canon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, in this collection of short essays, Pike provides a fascinating look into his life and work as a media critic with a handpicked selection of reviews from his blog.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOrganized alphabetically, from \u003ci\u003eAI: Artificial Intelligence\u003c\/i\u003e to an analysis of the letter Z, \u003ci\u003eIndex\u003c\/i\u003e serves as a guide to pop culture and the reasons we love it-written for people everywhere who love to listen, read, and watch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pike Editorial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50088496300272,"sku":"9780692629581","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780692629581","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}