Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse

by Maya Phillips

Overview

In the vein of You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and Black Nerd Problems, this witty, incisive essay collection from New York Times critic at large Maya Phillips explores race, religion, sexuality, and more through the lens of her favorite pop culture fandoms.

From the moment Maya Phillips saw the opening scroll of Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, her life changed forever. Her formative years were spent loving not just the Star Wars saga, but superhero cartoons, anime, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, Tolkien, and Doctor Who—to name just a few.

As a critic at large at The New York Times, Phillips has written extensively on theater, poetry, and the latest blockbusters—with her love of some of the most popular and nerdy fandoms informing her career. Now, she analyzes the mark these beloved intellectual properties leave on young and adult minds, and what they teach us about race, gender expression, religion, and more.

Spanning from the nineties through to today, Nerd is a collection of cultural criticism essays through the lens of fandom for everyone from the casual Marvel movie watcher to the hardcore Star Wars expanded universe connoisseur. “In the same way that the fandoms Phillips addresses often provide community and a sense of connection, the experience of reading Nerd feels like making a new friend” (Karen Han, cultural critic and screenwriter).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982165796
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Maya Phillips is a critic at large at The New York Times and the author of the poetry collection Erou. She received her BFA in writing, literature, and publishing with a concentration in poetry from Emerson College and her MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson’s MFA Program for Writers. Maya’s alter egos are Natsu Dragneel, the Eleventh Doctor, and Dustin Henderson from Stranger Things. She lives in Brooklyn. Visit MayaBPhillips.com and follow her on Twitter @MayaBPhillips.

Editorial Reviews

06/27/2022

Phillips (Erou) casts a keen eye, honed as a New York Times art critic, on the comics and cartoon figures that shaped her in this astute collection. In “The Animation Domination, Toonami, and Hellmouth High,” she breaks down her fandom as her tastes evolved from superhero cartoons to teen horror, and recounts her father, exhausted from an overnight shift, settling in to watch TV with her: “These Saturday morning cartoons gave us a universe that was infinite.” In “Moon Prism Power, Make Up!” Phillips explores anime’s subversive representation of girlhood and queer relationships, and in the book’s most affecting essay, “The Birth of a Black Hero,” she grapples with her lifelong love of an art form that excluded her in its representation of the heroic—until, that is, she and her mother attend a screening of Black Panther in a Long Island theater: “I, a fan who had grown up seeing white heroes, saw a powerful and multifaceted depiction of Blackness. It felt like a homecoming.” Sometimes Phillips’s detailing of cartoon plots verges on encyclopedic, but for the most part, she keeps things brisk and is never short on sharp reflections. These sparkling essays demolish the boundaries between high and low art. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

With humor and exacting criticism, Phillips serves up food for thought—a whole meal, really—for anyone who’s ever struggled to see themselves as the hero.

BookPage (“2022 Preview: Most Anticipated Nonfiction”)

From its very first pages, NERD is a delight. Equal parts autobiography and history of the way these genres and fandoms—and fandom itself—has grown, this collection of essays provides an impressive look at the larger cultural context in which these movies, TV shows, and comics exist. In the same way that the fandoms Phillips addresses often provide community and a sense of connection, the experience of reading NERD feels like making a new friend.

Karen Han

Like the heroes’ journeys that inspired her, Maya’s odyssey into fandom will resonate with anyone who ever camped out in the graphic novels section. Maya is a kindred spirit and Nerd a handy guide for fans of everything, everywhere.

Daniel Kibblesmith

Maya Phillips has done the impossible: She has rescued fandom from the toxic grip of trolling dude-bros and reclaimed it for the rest of us, reminding readers why we become fans in the first place. A personal Pilgrim’s Progress of one nerd’s journey from Hoth to Mordor, Wakanda to Sunnydale, the Island of Long to a mystical land named ‘Manhattan’ (via a fluid prose that inspires its own swooning acolytes), Phillips’s superhero origin story shows us an alternate universe in which fantasy lit, comic books, and anime do not stunt one’s personal growth and adult perspectives—they enable them. It’s worth its weight in mecha suits.

David Fear

06/10/2024

"Every nerd has a fan moment that sparks off the circuits in your brain like a train of firecrackers," writes Phillips. Whether one is mentally in Metropolis or Mordor, a Twihard or a Trekkie, arts and entertainment critic Phillips (Erou) wants to talk about what makes people tick. In this engaging collection of essays, she analyzes fandoms—why they are so beloved, when they hit the mark, and where they fall short. From race to religion to gender identity, Phillips shows how modern society is represented and remade through various fandoms of film and fiction. When done right, pop culture can confront and correct real-world issues; when done wrong, they can compound and even create them. Read by the author, the narratives take on a nostalgic note that is approachable and absorbing. Phillips gives a pensive and playful performance, enticing listeners with her incisive observations. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking a thought-provoking analysis and social critique of pop culture paragons from Sailor Moon to Spider-Man. Recommended for fans of media meets memoir that is well researched but relatable.—Lauren Hackert

Library Journal - Audio

05/01/2022

New York Times critic Phillips's (Erou) enjoyable essay collection delves into the world of animation, TV series, and pop culture from the 1990s to today. Analyzing and critiquing the mostly 1990s fare, Phillips explores how Saturday morning cartoons have changed over the decades since the introduction of Ren and Stimpy and SpongeBob SquarePants and the effects of being able to stream entire TV series in one sitting. Beginning with the beloved 1993 cult film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, she surveys the rise of superheroes, nerds, and fandoms (both the good and bad aspects). Star Wars and Harry Potter get a look, as does the antihero mythology. Exploring racial and national identities, she notes Afro Samurai as an example of feudal Japan merging with Black culture. Black Panther along with Get Out receive due credit for their contributions to pop culture, as does the British import Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. VERDICT Hardcore fans will enjoy the analysis while new viewers will find a wealth of ideas.—Barbara Kundanis

Library Journal

Media critic Maya Phillips narrates her own memories and knowledge of fantasy, superheroes, sci-fi, and anime through a millennial lens. Her life as a New Yorker, as well as a Black woman, allows her to offer a unique perspective when examining certain aspects of nerd culture. Phillips’s crisp voice delivers the correct pronunciation of both New York places, like Roosevelt Bridge, and Japanese anime names. She addresses the audience as “listener” a few times, a change made for the audiobook version. Each chapter is a separate essay; topics include anxiety and Black heroes. This nonfiction work calls for more of a reading than the demanding type of delivery often required for fiction audiobooks. S.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile

Media critic Maya Phillips narrates her own memories and knowledge of fantasy, superheroes, sci-fi, and anime through a millennial lens. Her life as a New Yorker, as well as a Black woman, allows her to offer a unique perspective when examining certain aspects of nerd culture. Phillips’s crisp voice delivers the correct pronunciation of both New York places, like Roosevelt Bridge, and Japanese anime names. She addresses the audience as “listener” a few times, a change made for the audiobook version. Each chapter is a separate essay; topics include anxiety and Black heroes. This nonfiction work calls for more of a reading than the demanding type of delivery often required for fiction audiobooks. S.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile

2022-07-06
How did superheroes and giant robots take over the entertainment business? Phillips tells the story while telling her own.

The author is in the enviable position of making a good living at something she has loved since childhood. She is a critic at large for the New York Times, writing about not just theater and poetry, but also science fiction, comics, animation, and other pop-culture areas that used to be fringe but now dominate the mainstream. In her debut book, she paints a broad canvas, from her early days watching Saturday morning cartoons to the epic complexity of the Marvel universe. Along the way, she looks at the seminal impact of the original Star Wars movies, how TV animation became increasingly bizarre (think Ren & Stimpy), and the influence of Japanese anime such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. Phillips was in her teens during the rise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which showed her what a young woman could do, and she writes about how the hero of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an awkward teenager. As she demonstrates, this is what fantastic stories can accomplish: They make us braver by revealing possibility. At the same time, fandoms provide a unique sense of community, whether through huge conventions or by sharing a movie with friends. “I’ve been a Sailor Scout, a Pokémon Master, and a Super Saiyan,” writes the author, “but most importantly, I have been and continue to be a Black female fan who has understood herself inside and outside of the spaces my fandoms have built.” Phillips still finds herself touched deeply by special moments, such as Captain America’s beautifully understated rallying cry in Avengers: Endgame. The depth of the author’s knowledge is impressive, but the core of the text is her emotional journey to maturity. It wasn’t always easy, but like the heroes she loves, she ultimately prevailed.

A fascinating book that blends stories of personal and cultural transformation into a thoroughly entertaining package.

Kirkus Reviews