#37: “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth” by Alexandra Robbins
I’d like to partially justify my steady decrease in book reviews and point out that I’ve been reading three books at once. This one, I finished this morning. But more on that later.
I’ve been wanting to read this book from the moment it was published. We received a shipment of them at my former place of employment and I remember thinking (and, let’s be honest, probably exclaiming) “Finally. A pseudo-sociology nonfiction piece that focuses on high school outsiders, not one that focuses on the perplexities of those who torment them.” It’s no secret that I’m a nerd. I’ve been one since way before it was cool. I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to hang onto those quirks and intricacies that make me different, because it’s those same things that make me happy to be the woman I am today. So, of course, I was really interested to see what this author had to say on the subject. Also, I liked that I broke into song every time I read the title. It was that last point that made it clear that this was written for me.
Maybe it’s because I was hyping it up too much, because I was way too invested in the subject matter, but this book really didn’t do it for me. I was interested in following the story of one or two of Robbins’ (for lack of a better word) case studies, but there were several instances when these students’ story lines would get mixed together in my mind. The style of the writing wasn’t particularly appealing, so I couldn’t view it as an engaging piece of nonfiction. Alexandra Robbins made a lot of great points in this book, but the execution left something to be desired.
On a slightly unrelated note, I’d like to express my frustrations with my current reading habits. Ever since I moved out of Boston and lost my trusty oh-so-slow transit system, my reading has decreased. I relied on that 45 minute subway ride to and from work each day, the only reason I was able to read at my former book-a-week pace. I also now work somewhere where people actually talk to each other during their lunch break. I need to find a new way to read. I feel incomplete without my books.
