To date, I’ve published three non-fiction books, and written a variety of articles on topics such as cinema, literature, experimental art, geek culture, and Magic: The Gathering. Here’s some of what you can find online.
1. I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing: Star Wars and the Triumph of Geek Culture (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018)
In I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing, A. D. Jameson takes geeks and non-geeks alike on a surprising and insightful journey through the science fiction, fantasy, and superhero franchises that now dominate pop culture. Walking us through the rise of geekdom from its underground origins to the top of the box office and bestseller lists, Jameson takes in franchises like The Lord of the Rings, Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and, in particular, Star Wars—as well as phenomena like fan fiction, cosplay, and YouTube parodies. Along the way, he blasts through the clichés surrounding geek culture: that its fans are mindless consumers who will embrace all things Spider-Man or Batman, regardless of quality; or that the popularity and financial success of Star Wars led to the death of ambitious filmmaking.
A lifelong geek, Jameson shines a new light on beloved classics, explaining the enormous love (and hate) they are capable of inspiring in fan and non-fan alike, while exploding misconceptions as to how and why they were made. I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing tells the story of how the geeks have inherited the earth.
More information: Audiobook | Excerpts, reviews, and interviews
2. Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies (with artist Andrew DeGraff) (Quirk Books, 2017)
Acclaimed artist Andrew DeGraff has created beautiful hand-painted maps of all your favorite films, from King Kong and North by Northwest to The Princess Bride, Fargo, Pulp Fiction, even The Breakfast Club—with the routes of major characters charted in meticulous cartographic detail. Follow Marty McFly through the Hill Valley of 1985, 1955, and 1985 once again as he races Back to the Future. Trail Jack Torrance as he navigates the corridors of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. And join Indiana Jones on a globe-spanning journey from Nepal to Cairo to London on his quest for the famed Lost Ark. Each map is presented in an 11-by-14-inch format, with key details enlarged for closer inspection, and is accompanied by illuminating essays by film critic A. D. Jameson, who speaks to the unique geographies of each film. This beautifully designed atlas is an essential reference for anyone who loves great art and great films.
More information: Reviews and awards
3. 99 Things to Do When You Have the Time (Compendium, 2013)
Our everyday routines can be so all-encompassing that we often forget to make room for anything else. With 99 simple, creative ideas of things to do when you have the time, this whimsically illustrated book is designed to help you remember what matters to you.
4. Selected articles and blog posts:
“Can Marvel Movies Be Works of Art? A Response to Martin Scorsese.” FSG Work in Progress. 10 Jan. 2020.
“Why the Past 20 Years Have Witnessed the Triumph of Geek Culture.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 17 Sep. 2019.
“The Death and Rebirth of Star Wars: Part 1 & Part 2.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 8 & 12 Sep. 2018.
“The Evolution of Wolverine, Part 1.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 14 Aug. 2019.
“Defining the superhero genre.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 1 Jul. 2019.
“‘Return I will / To old Brazil’: The use of recurring space in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 5 Jun. 2019.
“What Was Twin Peaks? Part 1 & Part 2.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 28 Feb. & 12 Mar. 2019.
“An open letter to Cedric Phillips, Gerry Thompson, and the Pro Magic community at large.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 4 Dec. 2018.
“The Surprisingly Intricate Plot of G.I. Joe: ‘The M.A.S.S. Device’.” Tor.com. 22 May. 2018.
“Remembering Johnny Mnemonic.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 26 Apr. 2018.
“Making Sense of The Last Jedi.” FSG Work in Progress. 26 Jan. 2018.
“There Must Have Been Some Magic in that Old Fake Set They Built: Artificial Exteriors in Jack Frost.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 10 Jan. 2018.
“Disney should remake the Star Wars prequels. Here’s how.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 11 Dec. 2017.
“Poltergeist III: Déclassé, Perhaps, but Great.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 27 Nov. 2017.
“If Magic: The Gathering Cares about Women, Why Can’t They Hire Any?” With Justin Roman. Broadly. 18 Jul. 2016.
“‘Nobody Likes the Way They Look’: The Value of Beauty in The Neon Demon.” The Talking Book. 8 Jul. 2016.
“Indiana Jones and the Misunderstood Character Arc.” IndieWire: Press Play (archived). 23 Feb. 2015.
“The Value of Incoherency: Taking Michael Bay’s Transformers Films Seriously.” IndieWire: Press Play (archived). 11 Jul. 2014.
“What Is Mise-en-scène, and Why Does It Matter?” IndieWire: Press Play (archived). 25 Jun. 2014.
“Some Thoughts on the Star Wars: Episode VII Casting Announcement and the Reaction To It.” IndieWire: Press Play (archived). 30 Apr. 2014.
“250 Points: The Hobbit Part 2: The Desolation of Smaug.” HTMLGIANT. 29 Apr. 2014.
“What Should Be Done with the Mutant Menace?” Sequart. 19–23 May. 2014.
“WTF Is Happening in My Shower?” HTMLGIANT. 18 Mar. 2014.
“Let’s over-analyze to death … Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart.” HTMLGIANT. 13 Jan. 2014.
“Let’s overanalyze to death … Macaulay Culkin eating a slice of pizza.” HTMLGIANT. 6 Jan. 2014.
“That’s it, this site is dead—I’m outta here.” HTMLGIANT. 18 Dec. 2013.
“25 More Pints: Revisiting The World’s End.” HTMLGIANT. 2 Sep. 2013.
“25 Points: Only God Forgives.” HTMLGIANT. 24 Jul. 2013.
“The Longest Average Shot Lengths in Modern Hollywood.” IndieWire: Press Play (archived). 26 Jun. 2014.
“Experimental fiction as genre and as principle.” HTMLGIANT. 22 Apr. 2013.
“Are Animated Gifs a Type of Cinema?” IndieWire: Press Play (archived). 17 Apr. 2013.
“How to Be a Critic.” HTMLGIANT. 8 Apr. 2013.
“25 Points: 3 Novels by Barry N. Malzberg (Beyond Apollo, The Men Inside, & Galaxies).” HTMLGIANT. 1 Apr. 2013.
“The difference between a concept & a constraint, part 2: What is a constraint?” HTMLGIANT. 25 Mar. 2013.
“25 Points: Susan Sontag’s ‘Against Interpretation.’” HTMLGIANT. 18 Mar. 2013.
“The difference between a concept & a constraint, part 1: What is a concept?” HTMLGIANT. 25 Feb. 2013.
“25 Points: The House with a Clock in Its Walls.” HTMLGIANT. 24 Jan. 2013.
“250 Points: The Hobbit Part 1: An Unexpected Journey.” HTMLGIANT. 20 Dec. 2012.
“An interview with Colin Winnette regarding his new short story collection concerning animals, Animal Collection.” HTMLGIANT. 10 Dec. 2012.
“25 Points: Cloud Atlas.” HTMLGIANT. 26 Nov. 2012.
“I’m sorry, Mario, but your cultural critique is in another castle: some thoughts on hipster irony.” HTMLGIANT. 13 Nov. 2012.
“God help me, but I spent some actual time thinking about who should direct Star Wars: Episode VII.” A. D. Jameson’s Blog. 14 Nov. 2012.
“I Read It for the Plot: The Narrative Artistry of Harry Mathews’ Cigarettes.” The Quarterly Conversation. Sep. 2012.
“Catching up with comics and cartooning maestro Tom Eaton.” HTMLGIANT. 2 Jul. 2012.
“I recorded a commentary track for Drive.” HTMLGIANT. 28 Mar. 2012.
“Let’s over-analyze to death…Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know.” HTMLGIANT. 5 Mar. 2012.
“100 things to do when you have the time.” HTMLGIANT. 1 Mar. 2012. (I later revised this into the book 99 Things to Do When You Have the Time.)
“How Many Movies Have You Seen?” HTMLGIANT. 16 Jan. 2012.
“How Many Movies Are There?” HTMLGIANT. 9 Jan. 2012.
“The Smiths Songs You May Be Missing: Part 1: The Smiths | Part 2: Meat Is Murder | Part 3: Strangeways, Here We Come | Part 4: Hatful of Hollow | Part 5: Miscellaneous Uncollected | Part 6: Charting It All .” Big Other. Oct. 2011 – Jan. 2012.
“Reading Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 .” Big Other. Jan 2010 – Aug. 2011.
“A Pan-English Dictionary (for readers of Harry Mathews’s The Sinking of the Odradek Stadium).” Big Other. 6 Jul. 2011. (This is also available at HTMLGIANT.)
“From Doom House to Mood House: How Simple Aesthetic Strategies Can Create Experimental Films: Part 2.” Big Other. 5 Jun. 2011.
“From Doom House to Mood House: How Simple Aesthetic Strategies Can Create Experimental Films: Part 1.” Big Other. 18 May 2011.
“Is Your Villain Appropriate?—Examining Character Construction in Different Media.” Big Other. 30 Mar. 2011.
“An Interview with Yuriy Tarnawsky: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 .” Big Other. Feb.–Apr. 2011.
“Schrödinger’s Laura.” Big Other. 21 Dec. 2010.
“What’s So New about the New Sentence?” Big Other. 19 Dec. 2010.
“Seventeen Ways of Criticizing Inception.” Big Other. 8 Aug. 2010.
“Wittgenstein’s Mistress: An Index.” Big Other. 7 Jun. 2010. (This is also available at HTMLGIANT.)
“Some Thoughts on Agnès Varda’s Vagabond.” Big Other. 5 Feb. 2010.
“Cobblestones Turn Me On: Artistic Inheritance and Renewal in Jeremy M. Davies’s Rose Alley.” Golden Handcuffs Review #13 Jul. 2010.
“Tiny Shocks: Uncovering the Reductive Plot of James Wood’s How Fiction Works.” Big Other. 31 Jan. 2010.
If you’re looking for more beyond that, then thanks (!), and check out the following links:
A. D. Jameson's Blog 