Suburban Manners: An Irreverent View of the 1990s as Witnessed in the Politics, Wealth and Culture of Orange County, California

Subversive, funny, and thought-provoking, this collection of Callahan's writings offers a lively deconstruction of contemporary culture at its most absurd. The rich and powerful, the sexually challenged, the religiously restricted, William Burroughs’ ghost, Donald Bren, the Clinton Administration, and the dead all come to life as Callahan encourages the reader to peer into the center of the suburban dream and snicker. A panoramic and captivating portrait that lingers in your mind long after the final page, Suburban Manners speaks to the contradictions and comedy of life itself. “In Nathan Callahan, Orange County, California has at long last produced its own Mark Twain. Witty, pugnacious and perceptive, Suburban Manners exposes, dissects, and demystifies the ordinariness of power — political, social, and economic — in one of America’s most consequential, yet little-understood regions.” - Mark P. Petracca, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Political Science, University of California, Irvine