Book Review: Y2K

The early 2000s conjure images of inflatable furniture, flip phones, and low-rise jeans. It was a new millennium and the future looked bright, promising prosperity for all. The internet had arrived, and technology was shiny and fun. For many, it felt like the end of history: no more wars, racism, or sexism. But then history kept happening. Twenty-five years after the ball dropped on December 31st, 1999, we are still living in the shadows of the Y2K Era.

In Y2K, young critic Colette Shade offers a darkly funny meditation on everything from the pop culture to the political economy of the period. By close reading Y2K artifacts like the Hummer H2, Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” body glitter, AOL chatrooms, Total Request Live, and early internet porn, Shade produces an affectionate yet searing critique of a decade that started with a boom and ended with a crash.

Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything by Colette Shade will be published on January 7, 2025. Dey Street Books provided an early galley for review.

The cover of this one looked enticing and grabbed my attention. As the turn of the millennium was approaching, I remember distinctly reviewing my company's software products to see if there would be an issue for our customers when the calendars rolled over to year 2000. I also remember that New Year's Eve as we watched other countries around the world hit midnight before the East Coast did, breathing a sigh of relief as each one passed with no evident disaster.

Despite the age-gap between myself and the author (in 1999, I could have easily had a daughter who was eleven), I can certainly connect to many of her views in her ten essays. I too admit to being an owner of Smash Mouth's Astro Lounge CD after all. And I see how most recent current events (the end of 2024) would make one nostalgic for their youth. Only for me, it would bounce two decades prior (1977 to 1986).

Shade certainly was thorough with her research. Even having lived through these times, there were several things that had flown beyond my radar. It was enlightening to have some things put into context with others.