A San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area Notable Book of 2009

One of LargeHeartedBoy’s Top Nonfiction Books of 2009

“Relays indie’s development with uncommon insight [and] makes an impassioned, optimistic case for indie’s vitality that doesn’t assume readers are coming to [the] book already well versed in the subject. A comprehensive approach to a subject that is too often reduced to discrete parts¦. Fresh and perceptive.”San Francisco Chronicle

“[An] absorbing nonfiction study of indie culture…. Oakes is no dry outsider. She believes in what she describes, she contributes to it and she speaks its language.” — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

“Oakes easily weaves in and out of various histories and draws parallels between the New York School poets publishing themselves with mimeo machines in the ’60s, the rise of punk zines in the ’80s and riot grrrl zines in the ’90s, and the blogs, chapbooks, and small press publishers supporting the independent writers of today… Slanted and Enchanted shows how what once was has re-emerged and redefined itself time and time again. It is not a lament of the past, nor does it declare the end of indie culture. It is a reaffirmation of the culture and a promise that there is more to come.” — Bookslut

“[A] lively and highly literate explication of various American indie scenes and art forms . . . [Oakes'] focus on independent publishing and writing provides a worthy parallel narrative to Michael Azzerad’s essential indie music history, [Our]Band Could Be Your Life . . . Oakes begins the book with a much appreciated primer on some of the intellectual forebears of her book’s central characters, including the poets Frank O’Hara and Allen Ginsberg and the revolutionary street theater group the Diggers. As an explanation and excavation of the already fading recent past, it is essential reading.”Publishers Weekly

“[F]illed with excellent and extensive reporting… provides a sustained look at indie culture itself, from the mule-like stamina of Mike Watt (former bassist for the Minutemen and Black Flag) to the institutional significance of punk club 924 Gilman Street, the influence of K Records founder Calvin Johnson and the overlooked politics of Riot Grrrl… a superb analysis of 21st century culture.” –Toronto Star

“Oakes doesn’t mythologize the movement she chronicles. Nor does she make the mistake of thinking its existence depends on jeering at whatever it is not. Her treatment of the evolution of “indie culture”… is wise, expansive and a little wistful. It understands both history and its passage. And it carries no bitterness that “indie” is largely gone, not because it was defeated but because it triumphed.” — Huffington Post

“[C]ompelling… Oakes isn’t just approaching the subject academically, she’s not just studying the sociological impact of an unfamiliar subculture; she’s telling her own story… deftly weaves her own experiences in with interviews and commentary from musicians, poets,  and underground comic artists… a fabulous testament to the adaptability of indie… and the freedom afforded by DIY.” — Popmatters

“Given all the possible routes Oakes could have taken in navigating this scene, her choices here, everything from music to publishing to comics and crafts add breadth and purpose to the book… The evolution of this cultural resource manual is not just a one-stop guide to punks and zines and too-tight, tapered trousers, it is a peek into a lifestyle that cannot quite be pinned down.” — MARY Magazine

“Oakes’ status as a participant-observer adds insight to all of the scene-setting and scene-hopping without making them inaccessible. The people and movements that she encounters encompass a wide variety of disciplines and genres. Placed together in the context of the book they represent a wide-ranging and loosely knit community of like-minded individuals bushwhacking their parallel trails.” — The Fanzine

“An intelligent… passionate manifesto for Indie culture and its ideals.” Synthesis Weekly

“A guaranteed conversation-starter at a point when technology and changing times have made the line of demarcation between mainstream and indie almost unrecognizable.’ ” Straight.com

“Oakes pulled me in… [she] identifies the point where comics publishers twigged that a whole new market could be opened up with a simple repackaging expedient: gathering serial comics into single-volume collections that could be sold in any respectable bookstore. That use of “respectable” is of course laced with deliberate irony on Oakes’ part, acknowledging as it does the long and tangled history of the formr’s stepchild status within the wider literary world.” — Montreal Gazette

“As Oakes reminds us, indie culture has a strong history of reciprocity between producer and consumer; it is a creative community that should produce an equal amount of inspiration and consumption. . . . Covering musicians, zines, comics, independent presses, and homemade crafts and events, Oakes uses the concept of a creative community as a mediating theme to illustrate how indie culture has oscillated between the music and literary scene throughout the last few decades. . . . this will particularly appeal to artists, musicians, writers, and kids with thick-rimmed glasses.”Library Journal

“Oakes’ entry on underground comics gives a focused history for the uninitiated, while her firsthand experiences in self-reliant publishing provide a unique insider’s view of the struggles to keep such operations afloat. Luminaries such as itinerant bassist Mike Watt, Silver Jews leader David Berman and Ghost World author Dan Clowes give further insight into their respective fields.”Kirkus Reviews