Cigarette Lighter (Object Lessons) by Jack Pendarvis

Object Lessons

by Jack Pendarvis

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Smokers, survivalists, teenagers, collectors…. The cigarette lighter is a charged, complex, yet often entirely disposable object that moves across these various groups of people, acquiring and emitting different meanings while always supplying its primary function, that of ignition. While the lighter may seem at first a niche object―only for old fashioned cigarette smokers―in this book Jack Pendarvis explodes the lighter as something with deep history, as something with quirky episodes in cultural contexts, and as something that dances with wide ranging taboos and traditions. Pendarvis shows how the lighter tarries with the cheapest ends of consumer culture as much as it displays more profound dramas of human survival, technological advances, and aesthetics.Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Paperback

First published January 28, 2016

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love thematic histories as a rule. This one, not so much. Maybe it was the proverbial exception to the rule. Maybe there just isn't that much to say about cigarette lighters. It's a small book, especially considering that the last quarter of it is taken up by the bibliography, etc. There are some interesting historical facts, but primarily it's a list of memorable mentions of matches and lighters on pages and on film. And it sort of reads like a list as well, which is obviously far from optimal. Quick read, just doesn't offer all that much by the way of substance. Then again, an insubstantial book about an insubstantial object seems quite appropriate. Thanks Netgalley.

[William Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I had known him less than half an hour when Ted Ballard showed me a tobacco pouch made from a human scrotum." First line from the only book about cigarette lighters you'll ever need. Not only a meditation on the power and impermanence of objects but a brilliant and hilarious cultural tour of lighters in film and beyond. Not just for lighter aficionados. Film buffs will especially appreciate what Pendarvis has done here. I love this book so damn much.

[Megan Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just a gem of a book, with Jack Pendarvis's utterly distinctive, utterly like no other voice: ridiculously funny, richly complicated, buoyant and full of mystery and joy.

[Simone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like this series, and I was interested to read this dispatch on cigarette lighters, but it just never really came together for me.

Lighters are Jerry Bruckheimer. Matches are David Lynch. A lighter is a threat. A match is a promise. A match has a death wish. A lighter wants to live and fight another day.

Sentences like the above make me want to scribble in the margins, expand! Push harder! Instead, Pendarvis goes into a rant about Reservoir Dogs and how he didn't feel like re-watching it.

And so ultimately, this fails to do what the other books in the series (at least the ones that I've read) do so well, take a small thing and turn it and turn it until it becomes about something much bigger, Golf Ball does this with the thing about the moon, Hood does this by linking European history to contemporary histories of power and powerlessness, and Driver's License does both a media history representation and a section on state power and 9/11. This seemed to never get out of the media representation mode where he makes a list of places cigarette lighters appear. I wish the chapter on World War One and Zippo was expanded (for much of the book I wanted to say, slow down! Focus! Push harder!).

Ultimately, there's a telling line toward the end, "Materials is so skimpy that I regretted mentioning car cigarette lighters in earlier chapters and not saving them for this space.". Yep, sadly there's the sense here that there's not enjoy material driving this. Which, fair. Part of the reason I love these books is that I want to watch the tightrope walk the authors do taking something small and making it big. But I guess the tightrope isn't exciting unless everyone once and a while you watch somebody fall.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Cigarette Lighter (and which I was much delayed in reading and reviewing), all opinions are mine.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came to this one with high hopes; I’ve liked the other Object Lessons I’ve read and I’ve followed Jack Pendarvis for a while. This book is probably perfect for some people, but so much of it was steeped in moments from old movies that I didn’t know or care much about. The central character, Ted Ballard, who runs the “museum,” was a great character, and I feel like the structure of the book was a tribute to his style: ping-ponging around history and pop-culture and folklore and science and anthropology. That is sometimes an appealing structure for me, but it fell flat this time around.

[David Macpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at the history of the lighter. He focused on the owner of a defunct lighter museum and was able to keep it light and interesting

[Eric T. Voigt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely at its best when Pendarvis is digressing or shading stated facts with subjectivity.

[Ashley]

“Cigarettes were considered cheap and womanly until men started killing one another while smoking them, then everybody liked them.”

[Julia]

dnf, had some very interesting tidbits

[Ashlee-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice and simple read but a bit all over the place imo

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Smokers, survivalists, teenagers, collectors…. The cigarette lighter is a charged, complex, yet often entirely disposable object that moves across these various groups of people, acquiring and emitting different meanings while always supplying its primary function, that of ignition. While the lighter may seem at first a niche object-only for old fashioned cigarette smokers-in this book Jack Pendarvis explodes the lighter as something with deep history, as something with quirky episodes in cultural contexts, and as something that dances with wide ranging taboos and traditions. Pendarvis shows how the lighter tarries with the cheapest ends of consumer culture as much as it displays more profound dramas of human survival, technological advances, and aesthetics.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic

This was quite the entertaining - but frustrating - little book. It fluctuated from extremely interesting to extremely annoying, usually within a few pages of each other...

The good points: wonderful history of the modest little cigarette lighter. From the humble beginnings, through to its uses on film and screen to weird and wonderful things that have been re-purposed to be a lighter. Lots of anecdotes and lists keep this fresh and interesting.

The downsides: Very scattered approach to the organisation of this book. There were times when I just wanted to slam the Kindle on the desk in frustration. Lots of topics get touched on but none of them are examined for more than a few paragraphs. I really wished that some depth had been gone into.

Apart from that, certainly an interesting book on a subject that you don't even know you are interested in!


Paul
ARH

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of gems:

“Your cigarette lighter represents your soul, so you get drunk and give it away to your pal, or your pal steals it without compunction. Either way, you can’t hang onto it forever.”

(From Urban Dictionary): "The real history to the white lighter myth and why they are unlucky is based on four famous and revolutionary musicians of the second half of the 20th century. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain were all left-handed, all died at the age of 27, and all their autopsies reported that a white bic lighter was found in their pockets.

"Lighter culture can be shady...Lighters get borrowed and never returned, passed around and pocketed without a conscious thought. It's okay to steal a lighter from your most trusting friend; always keep a few hidden away, say the serious smokers of my acquaintance."

"A lighter is a threat. A match is a promise. A match has a death wish. A lighter wants to live to light another day."

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who’d have thought the simple cigarette lighter would have had such an interesting and significant history. One of Bloomsbury’s series called Object Lessons – each one an examination of an ordinary object –the author of this one finds a museum dedicated to lighters, and uses this as a starting point to embark on a rambling (and admittedly sometimes repetitive) riff on lighters in all their manifestations, especially in film. Certainly I will now always be on the lookout for them when I watch TV or films. An interesting and fun little volume with enough serious research behind it to keep any reader engaged.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A jumpy, scattershot look at the cigarette lighter as a cultural icon - there's a lot of "Look at this! And what about that!" in the organization of the piece that takes some getting used to. I think I would have appreciated a deeper dive into one of the topics Mr. Pendarvis touches upon (say, lighters in Humphrey Bogart movies), but there's enough here to spark a reader's interest in pursuing a subject matter on his or her own.

I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[rhea · Rating 4 out of 5]

One time I found a lighter on a bench at House of Blues. Later someone asked if I had a light. I gave them the lighter. This has happened a few times in my life and maybe yours!

Want stories like that? But better because I'm not a writer and that's as interesting as my story is. Well them read this, lots of fact on lighters, including my favorite: where to find lighters in movies.

Fun, quick read. Interested to look into the other stories in this series one day.

[Saretta · Rating 2 out of 5]

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[Brenda]

Much of this book was woven through pop culture references that I wasn't remotely aware of, and if I were, I would have enjoyed it even more. Millennials, shrug! :)