Stuff Hipsters Hate: A Field Guide to the Passionate Opinions of the Indifferent

Frustrated by the Brooklyn hipster dating scene, freelance writers Ehrlich and Bartz recorded their observations of the subculture that spurned them in their popular blog. Assuming a tone of serious anthropological researchers, which is cute in small doses but quickly grows tiresome, they analyze hipster habits and beliefs like apparel (forgoing socks as "a testament to their rejection of mainstream, sock-wearing society"), mating (females prefer males "whose spindly legs barely support their concave chests") and grooming (favoring "practiced disarray"). Charts, drawings, and photos illustrate how hipsters determine the coolness of a music venue and the facial characteristics that prevent them from conventional attractiveness. Though Ehrlich and Bartz can point out hipsters' social contributions (a rejection of any cultural output that achieves popularity is "necessary for society to create new and varied forms of entertainment"), their contemptuous tone too often veers toward nastiness; anyone but other resentful hipster haters may find these scathing passages more snarky than funny. Photos. (Sept.)