Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class

In this collection of essays based on articles that originally appeared in Salon, Timberg laments the loss of an industry that afforded graphic artists, roadies, editors, cartoonists, and journalists a middle-class life. The book ambitiously tackles the waning of many forms of “culture,” including indie rock, architecture, and book publishing. Inevitably culture was better in “the past,” and Timberg takes readers back to the days when poetry had a huge audience and Los Angeles had a vibrant art scene. He furthers his argument for the decline of the creative middle class by contrasting the success of mega-hit music producer Dr. Luke with contemporary struggling poet and musician Chris Stroffolino. He argues that the U.S. has become a “winner-take-all” society that forces the creative class into a culture where only blockbusters succeed. Timberg cites the disappearance of clerks at physical record and book stores as a greater loss for the whole culture. Ultimately, Timberg is long on complaints but short on solutions, and he consistently overlooks or dismisses “digital technology” in the process. The book successfully documents the lost economic opportunities of an artistic society, but offers only vague suggestions for improving the lot of workers in the arts. [em]Agent: David Patterson, Foundry Literary + Media. (Jan.) [/em]