The Advanced Genius Theory: Are They Out of Their Minds or Ahead of Their Time?

by Jason Hartley, Chuck Klosterman (Foreword by)

Overview

Let the debate begin...

 

The Advanced Genius Theory, hatched by Jason Hartley and Britt Bergman over pizza, began as a means to explain why icons such as Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Sting seem to go from artistic brilliance in their early careers to "losing it" as they grow older. The Theory proposes that they don’t actually lose it, but rather, their work simply advances beyond our comprehension. The ramifications and departures of this argument are limitless, and so are the examples worth considering, such as George Lucas’s Jar Jar Binks, Stanley Kubrick’s fascination with coffee commercials, and the last few decades of Paul McCartney’s career. With equal doses of humor and philosophy, theorist Jason Hartley examines music, literature, sports, politics, and the very meaning of taste, presenting an entirely new way to appreciate the pop culture we love . . . and sometimes think we hate. The Advanced Genius Theory is a manifesto that takes on the least understood work by the most celebrated figures of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439117484
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	05/18/2010
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jason Hartley is a writer, musician, and online marketer. He holds a BA in English from the University of South Carolina. He has worked professionally as a dancer and choreographer, and has studied at the American Dance Festival, Dance Space, Inc., and Movement Research. He has written for Esquire, Spin.com, and VH-1's Best Week Ever blog. Since 2004, Jason has maintained his own website, Advanced Theory Blog. Originally from South Carolina, he now lives in Georgia.

Chuck Klosterman is the bestselling author of many books of nonfiction (including The Nineties, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, I Wear the Black Hat, and But What If We're Wrong?) and fiction (Downtown Owl, The Visible Man, and Raised in Captivity). He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Esquire, Spin, The Guardian, The Believer, Billboard, The A.V. Club, and ESPN. Klosterman served as the Ethicist for The New York Times Magazine for three years, and was an original founder of the website Grantland with Bill Simmons. 

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction 1

A Few Words About the Structure of the Book 13

Chapter 1 Falling Out of Love 15

Chapter 2 Stages of Advancement 33

Chapter 3 Advanced Musicians 55

Chapter 4 The Most Advanced Musicians Ever 68

Chapter 5 The Second Tier 91

Chapter 6 Who Was the Most Advanced Beatle? 111

Chapter 7 The Curious Cases of Sting and Bono 121

Chapter 8 On the Bubble 131

Chapter 9 The Stage and Mostly Screen 149

Chapter 10 "A" Is for Advanced: Orson Welles 154

Chapter 11 Overt Riders, Overt Bulls 162

Chapter 12 Marlon Brando: The Third Fat Man 174

Chapter 13 Steve Martin: Advancement Is Not Pretty 184

Chapter 14 Fine Artists, but Are They Advanced? 190

Chapter 15 Writers 201

Chapter 16 Advancement and the 2000 Presidential Election 208

Chapter 17 The Advanced World of Sports 213

Chapter 18 What Might Have Been and What Might Yet Be 229

Chapter 19 The Advanced State of Mind, or How to Like Everything 240

Acknowledgments 253

Index 255

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Advancement is a profoundly optimistic way to experience art, and that’s what makes it difficult to accept; it requires a flexible mind, a certain kind of intellectual humility, and a willingness to disregard what initially seems obvious. But once you let your mind slide in the advanced direction, it can never slide back. Not totally. Things will always sound a little different … and a little better.” —From the Foreword by Chuck Klosterman

“Advancement scholars do not foster a spirit of inquiry. It's really just a way for Advancement proponents to appreciate shitty music by people they consider to be nonshitty. It allows you to engage with Lou Reed's music from the 1980s, but not the Hooters or the Outfield [not true! I love ‘And We Danced.’–JH]. This entire theory is shackled by a Heisenbergian principle of self-consciousness.” —Rob Sheffield

"Hartley gently advances his "Advanced Genius Theory" with rigor, enthusiasm, and a game sense of (re-)discovery. Eschewing the snide critical distance that many fans take for granted, Hartley gives the artist in question the benefit of the doubt."—Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

Starred Review.

Fans of any art form or entertainment-especially music-have seen at least one beloved favorite's youthful brilliance, with time, turn to embarrassing self-parody. What pop culture writer Hartley proposes is that their genius hasn't faded-it's just outstripped the public's ability to appreciate. Though it can feel a bit tongue-in-cheek, Hartley gently advances his "Advanced Genius Theory" with rigor, enthusiasm, and a game sense of (re-)discovery. Eschewing the snide critical distance that many fans take for granted, Hartley gives the artist in question the benefit of the doubt: if we accept that Lou Reed, for example, was a musical genius in his youth, are we even qualified to say he's lost his brilliance as he's gotten older? (Regarding George Lucas, Hartley submits: "The fact is, Jar Jar Binks is no better or worse than Chewbacca. Just ask your dad.") Defining his terms clearly ("Advanced" geniuses must have alienated their original fans and lost much of their popularity), he proceeds through key aspects and examples of his theory, including the ideas of "Overt" achievement and "Irritants," the "most advanced musicians of all time" (Bob Dylan and Lou Reed), and the Advanced success story of Steve Martin. Though it should ignite many debates over whether your current favorite is Overt or Advanced, it also shows that, in either case, there's more pleasure to be found when one keeps an open mind.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Advancement is a profoundly optimistic way to experience art, and that’s what makes it difficult to accept; it requires a flexible mind, a certain kind of intellectual humility, and a willingness to disregard what initially seems obvious. But once you let your mind slide in the advanced direction, it can never slide back. Not totally. Things will always sound a little different … and a little better.” —From the Foreword by Chuck Klosterman

“Advancement scholars do not foster a spirit of inquiry. It's really just a way for Advancement proponents to appreciate shitty music by people they consider to be nonshitty. It allows you to engage with Lou Reed's music from the 1980s, but not the Hooters or the Outfield [not true! I love ‘And We Danced.’–JH]. This entire theory is shackled by a Heisenbergian principle of self-consciousness.” —Rob Sheffield

"Hartley gently advances his "Advanced Genius Theory" with rigor, enthusiasm, and a game sense of (re-)discovery. Eschewing the snide critical distance that many fans take for granted, Hartley gives the artist in question the benefit of the doubt."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher