Writer Chuck Klosterman is releasing a book, “The Nineties,” about the decade that has come to define life before the Internet, cell phones and international upheaval changed our way of existence. The book is scheduled to be available on February 8. Klosterman takes a look at what has happened to our culture and everyday life since the turn of the century, and from previews it sounds like he nailed it.
We still had landlines back in 1990, and when the phone rang, you picked it up because caller ID was not common. We had grunge music, and an era of music fans answered to the call of Kurt Cobain and the Nevermind album to “entertain us.” Seinfeld was the television show to watch. Thelma and Louise was a popular movie. The Mall of America became the largest retail mecca in the country. East and West Germany came together after the Berlin Wall came down two months before the decade began. We were introduced to Harry Potter. Scientists cloned a sheep.
On the downside, we lost Queen leader Freddie Mercury, and music died a little again. OJ Simpson became the center of a homicide controversy. Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced. Students at Columbine High School were victimized in a mass shooting. The World Trade Center was bombed for the first time. President Bill Clinton became another subject of scrutiny. Rodney King was beaten by police officers, and a tape of the assault shocked the nation.
The decade didn’t bring us the same groundbreaking firsts as the past 21 years, but those that did mattered. Cell phones came into bigger use by the end of the decade, and computers became a must in our homes (and soon, portability became a demand as well). The tragedies of that period helped us build better protections for today. Klosterman’s look back is just a glimpse at a time that now seems long behind us. Let’s hope he will be around to write about these last 20 years, sometime in the future.
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