The Big Rewind by Nathan Rabin

The Moment: You give your home movies a thumbs-down

by Michael Pelusi

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Published: Jun 10, 2009

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The Big Rewind
by Nathan Rabin

In the last few years, The Onion's arts and entertainment newspaper/Web site The A.V. Club has emerged from the shadow of its parent publication with a geeky, inquisitive tone that (mostly) avoids snark. Arguably, head writer Nathan Rabin is The A.V. Club's ace in the hole in this regard. With regular features such as My Year of Flops and Dispatches from Direct-to-DVD Purgatory, Rabin has demonstrated an almost ravenous appetite for the stranger corners of film, TV and music, combined with a gourmand's taste for camp.

Rabin's memoir and first book, The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You by Pop Culture, reveals the turbulent upbringing that led to this livelihood. When his parents divorce when he is 3, Rabin's father acquires custody of their two children, while his errant mother quickly slips out of their lives. As his father's job prospects and subsequent marriage falter, Rabin's childhood grows increasingly troubled. The combination of social unease and depression take their toll, leading to the teenage Rabin's suicide attempt, followed by a stay in a mental hospital. From there, he bounces from icy foster parents to a group home for emotionally disturbed adolescents. And so, Rabin chronicles his slow evolution into a relatively happy if neurotic entertainment writer, from a college-era stint living in a co-op to his failed attempt at a Roger Ebert-like TV career. And he connects each chapter of his life to a seminal work, including the likes of Sullivan's Travels, The Chronic and Grey Gardens.

As Rabin crams goofy asides, obscure references and stoner tangents into The Big Rewind, the book feels more like an extended but breezily readable blog post. Often, the pop-culture insights fail to gel with the autobiographical narrative. Nevertheless, the book is bracingly honest, and Rabin ably captures the way troubled, kindred spirits can form into ad hoc families.

Scribner, 368 pp., $25, July 7

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