Fangirls: Scenes From Modern Music Culture

Description

A FINANCIAL TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 From Beatlemania in the early 1960s to the Directioners and Beyhive of today, female music fans have long driven the objects of their affection to the dizzying heights of life-changing fame. But marginalized fan groups are never given appropriate credit. Frequently derided, their worlds and communities are self-contained and rarely investigated by cultural historians and commentators. Yet without these people, in the past, records would have gathered dust on shelves, unsold and forgotten. Now, concerts wouldn't sell out and revenue streams from merchandising would disappear, changing the face of the music industry as we know it. In Fangirls: Scenes From Modern Music Culture, journalist Hannah Ewens is on a mission to give these individuals their rightful due. A dedicated music lover herself, she has spoken to hundreds of fans from the UK to Japan to trace their path through recent pop and rock history. She's found the untold stories behind important events and uncovered the ups, the downs and the lengths fans go to, celebrating the camaraderie and lifelines their fandoms can provide.

Hannah Ewens is currently Features Editor and writer at VICE, having previously worked at Dazed and Confused. She writes about youth culture, mental health, music and film for publications that include the Guardian and the Telegraph. Her interview subjects include everyone from Patti Smith and Deftones to Jennifer Lawrence and Sofia Coppola. Over her short but rapidly rising career, she has proven that her intimate, humorous and analytical writing always cuts to the heart of the subject at hand.

Rejoice, then, for the Vice journalist Hannah Ewens's calm, thoughtful and illuminating study of female fandom... Fangirls is a warm and vivid portrait of the elation and devastation felt by female music fans and a place in which the passions and anxieties of young girls are really listened to and understood. * The Guardian * Hannah Ewens's Fangirls shows how fan culture runs deeper than the euphoric thrill of teenage girls. * New Statesman * A comprehensive look at fangirls, from the Beatles to Bieber, it goes beyond the screaming girl trope to celebrate fans as a vital part of the music food chain. A must-read for anyone who ever had a poster on their bedroom wall, or scrawled "Mrs Lead Singer" on their pencil case. * Miss Vogue *