Background
Mr. Cohen was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, on September 20, 1967. He is a son of Martin (an attorney) and Marilyn (an educator; maiden name, Tobin) Cohen.
(Haunted by the spectre of the Beats and the Boomers, the ...)
Haunted by the spectre of the Beats and the Boomers, the Hippies and the Punks, today's twentysomethings are desperate for anything that gives them a generational self-image. This waggishly ironic book takes a riotous jab at the Generation X/twentysomething phenomenon and examines various aspects of their pop culture, including music, literature, and politics. Line drawings.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671886940/?tag=2022091-20
Mr. Cohen was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, on September 20, 1967. He is a son of Martin (an attorney) and Marilyn (an educator; maiden name, Tobin) Cohen.
Jason Cohen was a graduate of Northwestern University and received his Bachelor of Science in 1989. In 1992 he finished University of Texas with Master of Arts degree.
Mr. Cohen served as a music director at WNUR Radio, Evanston, IL, from 1987 to 1989. During the period of 1989-1990 he worked at Fire Records in London, England, and United States as a co-manager. Since 1990 he has become a self-employed journalist.
Jason Cohen was an author of column “Rabelaisian without a Clue,” with Krugman. Columnist for Rayburn magazine and contributor of numerous articles to various publications including Rolling Stone, Option, Spin, Details, Texas Monthly, and the Austin Chronicle. He has written a number of books.
(Haunted by the spectre of the Beats and the Boomers, the ...)
Quotations:
"It’s an admission that music critics aren’t supposed to make, but I probably began Writing because my fingers worked a typewriter far m°re proficiently than a guitar. Because I’ve always Written (in third grade I attempted a book about a college basketball-playing moose), being a music cntic is what got me to write regularly in college, professionally afterward. I think that all writing ls autobiography—writing about my passion for a w°rk of art is as much about me as the work — and what I’ve always aspired to as a critic is to move a reader, or introduce him or her to something great, in he same way writers did for me as a teenager."
"As for contemporaries — well, most of Generation Ecch! was about trashing them, and again without excluding myself, I do believe there’s something fundamentally missing from my generation’s literary sensibility. On the other hand, the truly talented twenty-five-year-old writer is rare, so we’ll see what happens. But I’m always astounded to look at my peers and see how little value is placed on the written word today, whether it’s the New York Times or a novel. The one thing I hate about being absorbed in a long-term writing project is that it gives me less time to read; if I’m not in the middle of a book I generally get antsy. I don’t really feel influenced by anybody specifically, except maybe music critics like Simon Frith, Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus, Peter Guralnick, and Ira Robbins. For sheer nastiness and pure humor, Joe Queenan, and for her combination of big laughs with dead-serious intent and pointed insight, Barbara Ehrenreich. The writers I’ve treasured most over the years include John Irving, Mordecai Richler, Harry Crews, Neil Gaiman, James Ellroy, William Boyd, John Guare, Elmore Leonard, and a whole bunch I’m forgetting at the moment."
