Best of the year: Popular Culture

Planet Simpson by Chris Turner (Ebury, $34.95)

Subtitled How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation this treasure of trivia accompanied by sociological insight into the satirical aspects of The Simpsons confirms the show as a cultural phenomenon — effectively The Beatles of a more cynical time.


* Ebury, $34.95

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31 Songs by Nick Hornby (Penguin, $25)

Popular British novelist Nick Hornby (Fever Pitch, About a Boy) uses diverse songs from rock culture to weave an intriguing, amusing and integrated essay about the emotional power of music, marketing, the relationship of musician to audience and vice-versa, and how high art can be created out of common clay.


* Penguin, $25

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Wrong about Japan by Peter Carey

Booker-Winner Carey, with his 12-year old son, embarks on a personal journey through Japan using manga (comics) and anime (animated films) as vehicles to penetrate that country's elusive, sometimes baffling, pop culture. He emerges more knowledgeable but no wiser. Tight, dense, and full of hard-won insight.


* Vintage, $27.95

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Chronicles Vol 1 by Bob Dylan (Simon and Schuster, $50)

In this first volume about his creative growth, Bob Dylan the man remains mysterious, but he writes about pivotal periods in his life with a keen eye for detail. He admits to creative stagnation, indifference to his work, and ruthlessly debunks the notion he was the voice of his generation. Ever the thoughtful troubadour.


* Simon and Schuster, $50

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Feel: Robbie Williams by Chris Heath

He's headline-grabbing, troubled, cocky and irritating, yet Heath's biography, written after two years of free-ranging interviews and close contact with his subject, offers an insight into the man and the culture he inhabits.

* Ebury, $59.95