07/27/2020
Vice UK editor Ewens elevates female music superfans to superstardom in this passionate, smart take. At age 10, a friend “as much of a weirdo as me” introduced Ewens to music fandom, which “paradoxically gave me both the invisibility cloak I desperately wanted and... the only identity that felt like it fitted comfortably.” In defining female fans as a “community... on a collective journey of self-definition,” Ewens notes that “being a fan is serious business.” She decries the way female admirers have been belittled by the misogynistic “hysterical fan” label that’s been applied to fans of everyone from the 19th-century heartthrob-composer Franz Liszt, who inspired “classic stereotypical fangirling behaviours,” to Frank Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles, and One Direction. Ewens immersed herself in fangirldom by befriending London teens sleeping outside in line for concert tickets; Japanese girls flooding Tokyo’s Haneda airport to glimpse a teen star; a young couple living in the late Amy Winehouse’s former apartment, which has become a tourist destination; and members of the Beyhive, Beyoncé’s fiercely protective global fan club. A madcap climax finds Ewens and two middle-aged fans—a spin-class instructor and a high-powered lawyer—stalking Courtney Love at a rehearsal in an upstate New York performance space with nervous teenage glee. Fangirls—and pop music fans in general—will jump on this adrenaline-fueled tour. (Aug.)
Fangirls is a funny and poignant survey of an essential coming-of-age experience, an illuminating read for anyone who’s camped out at a venue or purchased all their favorite band’s merch.
An entertaining, in-depth examination of fan subcultures.
The important message of...Hannah Ewens's celebration of Fangirls is that anyone dismissing the members of a screaming mass as drones is likely failing to appreciate what's going on beneath the surface. This multi-generational dive into the experiences, and impact, of fangirls will leave you wanting to join a fandom yourself — or, possibly, to add a new one to your portfolio.
"Best music books of 2020" The Current
Exploring various artists and their fans, [Ewens] shows that these young women are not crazy, but rather their love of music and the connections it can create are what drive much of the industry and its profits...Lovers of and participants in fan culture will find a lot of joy here.
This book felt like a therapy session to heal my inner preteen…[Fangirls ] is...an enlightening ode to the teenage experience and fan culture. As Ewens’ dedication suggests, I recommend it to anyone who has ever found solace in an obsession.
Ewens...traces the history of fandom—from the days of The Beatles until the present—to contextualize what fandom means, how it functions, and how it both reflects and drives cultural conversations about everything from teenage girls to mental health.
Ewens rejects the narrative that her titular subjects are obsessive, hysterical, or unhinged—terms that critics have thrown at female music fans since pop’s advent, and that have been used to deride all sorts of passionate women for centuries before that...As a proud fangirl herself, [Ewens] approaches her subjects with empathy, validating the importance of these self-made communities.
"Our 15 Favorite Music Books of 2020" Pitchfork
[A] nuanced approach...Ewens wants to elevate the young girls whose fandom has been ignored, dismissed, or mocked in favor of the older men who are supposed to be the 'real' music experts. Beyond that, though, Ewens want to unpack the many ways that fandom works in the music world...Fangirls reads as an extended essay, but one informed by on-the-ground research with fans of artists from Elvis to Fall Out Boy.
Fangirls isn’t just a book about the many fandoms that exist for different artists. Fangirls is a book that takes the narrative of the 'crazy fan' and turns them into humans. Fangirls is a book about connection, inspiration, community, reflection, grief and sexuality, and how all of these things can be found when answering the question of why someone might be a fan.
Fangirls establishes a loose chronology of fangirling, spotlighting the diversity inherent in the experience and giving space to One Direction, Halsey, Beyoncé, My Chemical Romance, and Amy Winehouse fans in equal measure.
A celebration of fandom and the way younger fanatics steer music culture, Fangirls is a unique look at the people buying tickets, rocking merch, and living their best life celebrating the musicians they love. This affectionate love song to fans is one of the best music books.
Compassionate and clear-eyed...By pursuing diversity of thought and expression, [Ewens] gives the reader an insider’s look into the shared experience of being a fan from a woman’s perspective...Fangirls is an absolute joy to read.
The individual voices and profiles [featured in Fangirls ] vary as much as the people’s tastes—from boy-bands to Beyoncé to Courtney Love—giving fans the space to expand on personal truths like queerness, mental illness, sexual desire, and what it means to find community.
Excellent...Ewens paints a warm picture of female fandoms as communities in which friends look out for each other, both in person and online, and traces the camaraderie that comes from musical obsession, helping young people navigate the messiness and confusion of adolescence.
07/01/2020
To become a star, an appreciative audience is necessary, but what moves an admirer from supporter to fangirl status, a term that now encompasses all genders? Journalist Ewens (features editor, Vice ) focuses on the dedicated, sometimes passionate fangirls who may obsess but don't cross the line into stanning (a mix of stalker and fan). Ewens incorporates elements from her own life, mingled with interviews with Beyoncé's Beyhive, Lady Gaga's Little Monsters, and fans who screamed themselves hoarse at Beatles appearances or waited for hours for tickets to see Britney Spears. Fangirling (a gerund) encompasses writing fan fiction, tweeting relentlessly about mundane band activities, and memorizing the canon of Harry Styles's songs, both with and without One Direction. Mixing occasional research and scholarly writing with interviews and personal recollections, Ewens considers music fandom from the United States, Europe, and Japan. She includes herself among fangirls and is in tune with factors that motivate what to the unaffected may seem like outsize adoration. VERDICT Anyone who has wondered why someone would bid thousands for a wad of used chewing gum or collect a closetful of an idol's clothing will come away with greater understanding. May fit a niche for broad collections.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch., Fort Worth, TX
2020-06-09
VICE features editor Ewens probes the phenomenon of fan bases comprised primarily of girls and women, an important subculture within the music industry that she believes is misunderstood. Often, writes the author, the experience of fandom feels like the gathering of a like-minded collective with the unique ability to empower and identify with each other and to “scream alone together.” Ewens covers a wide swath of territory: holding down a sleeping bag in a ticket line at a London venue at 3 a.m.; interviewing older devotees of Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse as well as sexagenarian Beatles groupies; and watching the allegiant “emotional assembly line of girls” after a solo Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance) concert. The author expertly brings out the reality of their passion and devotion, and she reveals the often underappreciated interdependent relationship between musicians and fans. Adding a personal layer to the narrative, Ewens writes about her teenage years spent longing to “self-define” with connections to artistic cultures, specifically music, which seemed to buffer “everything hideous that was happening to me as a teenage girl.” The author also explores how fandom can blur sexual boundaries, and she zeroes in on the celebrated fan bases of certain megastars—e.g., Lady Gaga and her cherished “little monsters” and Beyoncé and her “Beyhive” collective. Refreshingly, Ewens shows readers that it’s not all wristbands and official merchandise. Somberly, she discusses the fervent fears of parents for their obsessive daughters, particularly in light of events such as the 2017 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, which killed 23 people. Offering a welcome new perspective on music fandom, the author effectively captures the solidarity of fans bound by their love of music.
An illuminating, sympathetic, and cautionary celebration of superfans, young and old.
