Tex and Kurt are burned out by modern life and creative failure, but then again who isn’t? When the two friends connect after Kurt takes a soul-numbing job at a massive pop culture toy company, their reunion sparks a chaotic plan to push back against a culture of consumerism that leads them on an absurd nightmare of rebellion, infighting, self-doubt, fandom, corporate success and terrorism. Equal parts Fight Club and Sideways, Pop! explores friendship, authenticity, desperation, and the collapse of art in a world dominated by nostalgia, branding, and three and a half star reviews. Here’s hoping they find some personal growth before the end?
I wrote my review but it was a comment instead but it won’t let me copy paste comments so i’ll just say it again: this book is dope. it’s everything you want. it’s got a real beating heart to it. it’s a riot. idk, u kinda said it well in my original review / the comment below this, but i’ll keep talking about POP!, sure. Each writer gets their time to be virtuosic, which I loved. Tex and Kurt have an almost athletic synergy of just writing insane thing after insane thing, exploring friendship and creativity the entire way. I didn’t say that earlier but I should’ve.
Tex and KKUURRTT craft a smart, self-reflexive novel equal parts, by their admission, absurd and earnest. POP! follows the authors/narrators through multiple attempts to take down the FUNKO corp which backfires spectacularly at every turn. Double-crossing? Murder frame jobs? Overblown Hollywood budgets? Wayne and Garth impersonators? Prison psychosis? What the hell, sure.
For all its twists and turns, POP! is ultimately a meditation on the way fan culture and content creation cannibalizes art. Underneath the mile-a-minute jokes, film references, clever cynicism, and buddy comedy schtick is a sincere plea to preserve the humanity and ragged imperfection in creativity. To go down blazing in the attempt. These boys would rather see art destroyed than co-opted by content creators, brand influencers, AI, and cheap facsimiles. Can't say I blame them.
"Is that enough?/ We'll make it enough? / Or we won't. /But, like... at least we'll have tried." is as good a mission statement as any artist needs. 300 pages of pure chaos, the indie lit equivalent of a bomb vest. Strap in and have fun, kids.
A VERY funny book. Also dealing, quite seriously, with what it means to make art. So many little details made me laugh throughout, often nodding my head in admiration. The username 'WelksInALightCreamSauce' really made me giggle, and having '2 taxidermied raccoons fighting over an empty McDonalds soda cup' in a CEO's office is emblematic of the humor within. Great Gravity's Rainbow reference too
A hilarious, slapstick caper that's also a serious and thought-provoking treatise. If you've ever been discouraged about art in the age of "churn" and "content," this is a must-read.