August 26, 2016 
Amy Bishop 
If you’re like me, I’m starting to think longingly about fall—nestling into soft sweaters and scarves, brisk temperatures, and the explosion of pumpkin that seems to accompany autumn. It also signals a new wave of books, TV shows, and movies that many of us have been eagerly waiting for all summer. With the new wealth of things available to lose yourself in, it can seem overwhelming. I’ve noticed that since moving to NYC, I’ve found myself in a mad dash to try and keep up with pop culture and just…culture in general. As a newbie to the publishing industry, there’s so much to learn and so much to read. I’ve subscribed to a few literary/publishing industry newsletters, try and read Publishers Weekly and Publishers Lunch fairly religiously, I’ve dipped a tentative toe into the podcast waters, and I have constant running fines at the New York Public Library. However, when it comes to movies and TV shows, I’m totally out of my element. And with all the suggestions flooding in from various sources, it can be tough to figure out exactly what you want to spend your time immersed in.
Thankfully, for the film/TV illiterate like me, Vulture has released a fall entertainment generator, which they describe as, “an interactive guide to this season’s 306 best offerings” for books, movies, TV shows, theatre, art, and music. You pick what you’re in the mood for and how you want it to make you feel, and it spits out a list of recommendations for you to choose from. I’m excited to see what it might steer me towards in the ever-busy autumn months! I’ve already got a fall reading list going, but am always looking for new recommendations.
Where do you get your book recommendations from? How do you get your daily dose of culture? What makes one book or movie stand out to you from a list?
Tags:
Ask Eric to locate a DVD of PHANTASM for you and grab the stuffiest, most humorless friend(s) you can find to watch it with you-classic 70\’s horror/humor flick, came out right before HALLOWEEN and that whole genre. Also educational, because it\’ll show you what guys looked, talked and sounded like in the Van Halen Era. Very atmospheric, totally autumnish, and goofily disoriented…
Where do you get your recommendations from? You know, this was less of a problem when there were only 3 or 4 television stations, studios put out only 85 films a year, and publishing houses turned out, what, 1000 books a year? Now, we have hundreds of channels, literally millions of new books each year and I-don’t-know-how-many movies with Amazon, Netflix and the rest throwing in. Consequently, we now have everyone telling us what to read/watch/digest next. It used to just be Consumer Reports and the NYT Bestseller List. Now you have thousands of book blogs, youtube channels, Rotten Tomatoes, emails in your inbox, Goodreads’ ratings, God knows, everyone has a blog, Angie’s List, Yelp, etc. There are more sources that review materials and tell us what to do than there were sources 20 years ago.
I’m not saying the old times were better. But with tons of free books thrown at me every day, or all of Hollywood available for $1.63, going to the movies or choosing the next book has become a research project! Who can I believe when every day I get 60 people hawking their books, movies or TV shows–and all of them are “great”?
I tend to fall back into pack mentality: if everyone is reading The Girl on the Train, maybe there’s something to it. (And there is.) My friend says, read Cutting for Stone. Okay, I’ll try it. That method’s imperfect too I found after having the movie, Saw, recommended to me. So, now I watch the trailers, go to websites or Amazon to read first chapters, lean on friends whose taste match mine, or keep reading an author until s/he disappoints. These days, I no longer have any compunction jettisoning a book or ejecting a DVD when the first portion has proven unworthy. God knows, I’ve even made mistakes trusting Tom Hanks.
The thing is, no matter how many disappointments, no matter how overwhelming the job to choose wisely is, I continue to look for the next Fault in Our Stars, Eleanor & Park, classic Bourne movie or Breaking Bad because that rare work of art that can transport me, exhilarate me and make me understand myself and the human condition a little differently is worth the trouble.
Next!
georgeeckel.com
Well, in spite of the info-overload delivery systems now in place, one does best to fall back on Theodore Sturgeon\’s Law: \”90% of everything is crap\”…Speaking for myself, I limit the number of people I allow beyond my spam box to a controllable number, and cherrypick the good stuff as best I can. Ms. Amy is self-admitted pop-culture illiterate who\’s honest enough to admit it, therefore it\’s our job to give her something she can one-up her insufferable hipster friends with-my only footnote to my recommend being-watch this on a decent flatscreen, not on YouTube or your phone. With plenty of fried chicken takeout for your guests, of course!