You Don't Know Me But You Don't Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse, and My Misadventures with Two of Music's Most Maligned Tribes

Rabin, former head writer for The Onion A.V. Club, takes on two disparate, much-lampooned music fandoms in this memoir, accounting for his years recreationally following the jam band Phish and professionally covering "Juggalos", fans of Detroit horrorcore hip-hop act Insane Clown Posse. He becomes a participant in each culture, his appreciation shifting from ironic to earnest, and realizes profound truths about his health, relationships, and career. These communities contain multitudes of troubled lives and drug casualties, but Rabin also encounters truly thoughtful and fascinating people in each fandom. This is less surprising when speaking about Phish's comparatively sophisticated music; the ICP material is the true revelation. Popular imagery of ICP and juggalos is colored by classism, and readers who hope to have their self-superior biases confirmed will be disappointed; a credit to Rabin's evenhandedness. Whether or not you enjoy either act, the story is a universal one about the ways we connect with the music we adore. By making it personal, and by profiling such a broad spectrum of fans, Rabin puts a human face on what would be caricatures. Agent: Daniel Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (June)