(Particularly regarding selfishness and isolation.) Observing these cyclical historical undercurrents, large and small, is both entertaining and engaging.

Perhaps the best part of Personal Stereo was seeing parallels between reactions to the Walkman and recent complaints about smartphone ownership. Plus Tuhus-Dubrow shares her own personal memories of Walkman ownership, offering a nice intimate touch to a book full of fun pop-culture trivia and anecdotes.

Personal Stereo explores the development of the Walkman, its impact on our culture, and its legacy, not only highlighting its time as a status symbol but discussing its surprising resurgence today as part of the analog revolution. * Sasha Issenberg, author of The Sushi Economy * Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow's affectionate history traces the Walkman out of an electronics workshop in bombed-out postwar Tokyo to global icon of solitary, un-networked bliss. * Nathaniel Rich, author of Odds Against Tomorrow * Now I understand why I still own the taxicab-yellow Walkman my grandmother gave me in 1988. Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow writes as beautifully about Georg Simmel and Allan Bloom as she does about Jane Fonda and Metallica. Personal Stereo is loving, wise, and exuberant, a moving meditation on nostalgia and obsolescence.

Tuhus-Dubrow an elegant, engaging storyteller who unpacks complex social and political concepts with clarity and panache. It would appear that she has left no Walkman-related stone unturned. Tuhus-Dubrow is a master researcher and synthesizer. After finishing Personal Stereo, I found myself wondering about the secret lives of every object around me, as if each device were whispering, 'Oh, I am much so more than meets the eye'. Tuhus-Dubrow illuminates a web of stories connected to the Walkman, her references as ubiquitous as its users. * Pitchfork (named one of Pitchfork's favorite books of 2017) * Her thoughtfulness imbues this chronicle of a once-modern, now-obsolete device with a mindfulness that isn't often seen in writing about technology. But as Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow outlines in the delightful Personal Stereo, being able to do so is a relatively recent development. In 2017, having music pumped into your ears through headphones while existing in public is a thoroughly normal thing to do. * New Books Network *Īn honest & deft entry in Object Lessons series.

A compelling and expertly researched study of the Sony Walkman.

Personal stereo rebecca tuhus dubrow