Robot revolution of the late nineties
I came across a slightly older book in my library when updating records and it had a couple of interesting, often amusing, summary descriptions.
Book: Dreams of millennium : report from a culture on the brink, by Mark Kingwell. Originally published in 1996.
Summaries: Kingwell draws on pop culture (body-piercing, angel obsession, psychics fairs, "The X-Files," "Star Trek," "The Simpsons," Pulp Fiction), current events (the Ebola virus, Waco, the Unabomber), and historical parallels (decadence in 1890s Paris, self-flagellation in 1490s Florence, the Crusades) to show how millennial anxiety threatens to extinguish our faith in ourselves.
The year 2000 is fast approaching and a lot of people are worried about what the future holds. Mark Kingwell, uninterested in prognostication, looks instead to the present and backward to link millennial anxiety to other apocalyptic periods in history. In every previous millennial (and often centennial) finale there has been both a crisis of leadership and a penchant for cross-dressing. Conspiracy theories, distrust of government, renewed religiosity, and sex and gender flux are also symptomatic of end-times throughout recorded history.
Me: all I remember in 2000 is the Y2K thing, but I don't know if the book mentions that. Now I REALLY want to survive to 2100 just to see if I start wearing men's clothing again.
Book: Dreams of millennium : report from a culture on the brink, by Mark Kingwell. Originally published in 1996.
Summaries: Kingwell draws on pop culture (body-piercing, angel obsession, psychics fairs, "The X-Files," "Star Trek," "The Simpsons," Pulp Fiction), current events (the Ebola virus, Waco, the Unabomber), and historical parallels (decadence in 1890s Paris, self-flagellation in 1490s Florence, the Crusades) to show how millennial anxiety threatens to extinguish our faith in ourselves.
The year 2000 is fast approaching and a lot of people are worried about what the future holds. Mark Kingwell, uninterested in prognostication, looks instead to the present and backward to link millennial anxiety to other apocalyptic periods in history. In every previous millennial (and often centennial) finale there has been both a crisis of leadership and a penchant for cross-dressing. Conspiracy theories, distrust of government, renewed religiosity, and sex and gender flux are also symptomatic of end-times throughout recorded history.
Me: all I remember in 2000 is the Y2K thing, but I don't know if the book mentions that. Now I REALLY want to survive to 2100 just to see if I start wearing men's clothing again.