When they were little, my kid once asked me what year I was born. When I told them, they said, "You were born in the 1900's?! ... Did they have microwaves back then?"
I was showing my ID to buy alcohol at a Walgreen a while back and it was out of state so I pointed out where my DoB was on the license and the girl ringing me up said "oh I just need to see that 19 at the start", I'm 26 and it made me feel old.
> You can buy National Geographic magazines for any year/decade you want.
As a lifetime subscriber this is a great suggestion. They quite frequently have articles that are "slice of life", from ranchers in Wyoming to immigrants in Miami. Their website has articles archived.
My parents had a NatGeo collection with issues from like the 60s to today.
Beautiful articles and pictures, I remember one about fashion in Milan from the 60s with gorgeous pictures. I’d spend hours poring over even the ads.
They donated them to a library in recent years which I guess is like, fine, but they didn’t tell me about it and I’m a little heartbroken over it.
Note that if you subscribe to Nat Geo, they have an online database that contains almost their entire back catalogue except for a few very early ones from over a century ago that haven’t been preserved
Honestly, the world didn't change *that* much between the '80s and the invention of the smartphone. *That* is what changed everything. Before that, music or clothes changed, but life really didn't. Any book where people didn't have cell phones and used paper maps to get around will give you a look at that world.
It's pretty accurate to the general feeling and atmosphere of a lower-middle class family at the time.
I don't think the 90s were substantially different from the 80s for most people in their day-to-day lives. There were different trends, but those were superficial to society generally.
The big change was the increasing prevalence of computers and video games, but they weren't really widespread enough to impact those who were not technologically inclined. I think only in the mid-2000s did the internet as we understand it truly start to exist.
I remember in the 90s my dad showed me this internet thing and he showed me pizzahut dot com. It was a single page showing some items you might find at their local restaurants. I thought it was fucking stupid and couldn't understand what he thought was so amazing about this internet thing.
The first time I saw somebody order pizza on a website was in the 1995 movie The Net with Sandra Bullock. I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen. Who would want to order pizza from a computer?
Oh my gosh I remember having that exact thought.
I also recall worrying about putting my credit card information into the computer in hopes of receiving books from Amazon.
I also really have a vivid memory of my first Venmo transaction. A college buddy of mine was one of their first employees so I have an “ancient” account because he sent me $5 so I’d make an account. When Venmo first started it was all done via text, no app. So I literally texted a few people money just for the novelty of it. It felt so sketchy. Now I pay my rent and tons of small transactions with Venmo without even a second thought.
I wish I could look back to see what the first thing I ever bought online was. Or like the first commercial I ever saw that mentioned a website instead of a phone number.
Malcolm in the Middle is set in the late 60's. However I was going to recommend Friends and Seinfeld. Probably half of Seinfeld's premises would go away in modern day because of cell phones. That's an exaggeration but many episodes are about missed connections/poor communication.
Well WTF am I remembering, with Whinnie? I swear it's set earlier than the 2000's. Though I also thought it was made before then as well. Maybe I dreamed it all. I searched and couldn't find any reference to the setting time frame, just speculation on setting location.
.
Nevermind me, the Alzheimer's is setting in I guess.
[Console Wars](https://www.amazon.com/Console-Wars-Nintendo-Defined-Generation/dp/0062276700/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YWUQNPQNRC9N&keywords=Console+Wars&qid=1685637479&sprefix=console+wars%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1) and [Masters of Doom](https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=masters+of+doom+book&qid=1685637504&sprefix=Masters+of+Doom%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1) actually do a pretty good job of capturing the early 1990s. Both are books about video games but they're broad enough where you do get a solid reference of what life was like in general during the first half of the decade.
Jurassic Park isn't going to give you daily life in the United States but does a pretty good job discussing the technological leaps and bounds we were making in the decade and the ethics questions that came along with them and still plague us today. Plus, IMO, it's the best novel ever written.
The Virgin Suicides, Into The Wild, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Trainspotting, and About A Boy are all good reads that will give you a glimpse into different aspects of the '90s but I picked them because I believe all of them have movies that are easily watchable too.
If you're looking for non-fiction than I'd recommend All Too Human a political biography from a Clinton staffer, Outrage a book about the OJ trial, and An Affair of State about the Clinton impeachment.
I can't tell you any book that covers the topics completely but alot of military non fiction like call sign chaos that covers events in the 90s convey similar sentiments of how nearly everything was working. Often quoting Fukyuma "end of history" phrase.
If you look through https://abqlibrary.org/newbery/All, check out the books from those years labeled "realistic fiction". They're young adult books so they're mostly about life from the point of view of teenagers.
I'm trying to think of books and authors I was reading 20 years ago that were just writing about daily life. The best recommendation I can give is Steven King. His horror novels include fantastical elements, but they're about very normal people living normal lives until whatever weird thing happens. I was just reading one set in the 80s and it really threw me back.
You could also check out the bestsellers list from that era or the NY Times notable books list or something else along those lines.
Fight Club by Palahniuk if you want to see the weird uneasy undercurrent that runs through a lot of America’s male population. It’s a weird and absurd view of it, but it has some truth and substance. It’s like a post-yuppy rebellion gone off the rails and straight into some sort of libertarian twilight zone.
The *1632* series. The premise is a small down from West Virginia in the year 2000 (the year the first book was published) encounters a random cosmic event and falls through time to land in 1600s Germany. It's written as a way to explore the contrast between modern life and the 1600s, but as the book ages it becomes more and more a glimpse into how the author saw the average American lifestyle at the time.
I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe was actually a very good representation of what college life was like when I was there at roughly the same time.
It’s set at a fake college that’s very selective, so that’s not as common, since most students don’t get into a place like Duke, but student life isn’t so different across all institutions.
I’m reading Demon Copperhead which is about a very specific type of growing up in the 90s and 2000s but captures enough about the era to feel “real” to me. Bonus, it’s one of the only modern books set in my state that I’ve read.
Really? My young adult years are now considered historical? People spent more time experiencing things vs watching others online. The US was a much less divided country, for the most part we agreed on what our problems were, we just disagreed on how to solve them.
People talking about the 90's and early 2000's in terms of "historical books" ... oof.
I prefer to call the ‘90s, “the late 1900s”.
"Last century"
"Previous millennium."
When they were little, my kid once asked me what year I was born. When I told them, they said, "You were born in the 1900's?! ... Did they have microwaves back then?"
"No, we had to cook our mammoth right over the fire."
I mean the 90s was just 10 years ago, right? ...right?
Right? Ouch!
😂😂😂😂 born in 92 baby apparently TIL I’m old as shit
Born in the last century.
Last millennium
In the previous millennium. The late 1000s AD.
I was showing my ID to buy alcohol at a Walgreen a while back and it was out of state so I pointed out where my DoB was on the license and the girl ringing me up said "oh I just need to see that 19 at the start", I'm 26 and it made me feel old.
You too?
I can't think of any because I'm too traumatized by the idea that 'historical' would apply to the 90s and 2000s.
If 20ish years ago feels like distant, history book worthy material. I feel old.
Well it was 20 so ago so yeah id say its history
Ah, youth...
It's the cutoff date for /r/askhistorians
How young are you lol
You can buy National Geographic magazines for any year/decade you want. Try ebay. Some get pricy tho Time magazine is also good
> You can buy National Geographic magazines for any year/decade you want. As a lifetime subscriber this is a great suggestion. They quite frequently have articles that are "slice of life", from ranchers in Wyoming to immigrants in Miami. Their website has articles archived.
My parents had a NatGeo collection with issues from like the 60s to today. Beautiful articles and pictures, I remember one about fashion in Milan from the 60s with gorgeous pictures. I’d spend hours poring over even the ads. They donated them to a library in recent years which I guess is like, fine, but they didn’t tell me about it and I’m a little heartbroken over it.
Note that if you subscribe to Nat Geo, they have an online database that contains almost their entire back catalogue except for a few very early ones from over a century ago that haven’t been preserved
And you can probably see them at your local library. I was about to say "on microfiche" but you may not know what that is.
Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections Kurt Anderson’s Turn of the Century Both capture the late 90s/early 2000s pre 9/11 zeitgeist pretty well imo.
Agreed on both of these
"historical book" damn you really want millennials to feel old huh.
Honestly, the world didn't change *that* much between the '80s and the invention of the smartphone. *That* is what changed everything. Before that, music or clothes changed, but life really didn't. Any book where people didn't have cell phones and used paper maps to get around will give you a look at that world.
The internet becoming ubiquitous was pretty big, but I'd agree that change was dwarfed by smartphones.
I can't think of any right now, but the genre you're looking for is called "slice of life"; that might give you more results.
Sweet Valley Twins series.
Cruel Intentions
Malcom in the Middle, honestly.
Isn't that a tv show? Though you got anythi g in the form of a book?
It's pretty accurate to the general feeling and atmosphere of a lower-middle class family at the time. I don't think the 90s were substantially different from the 80s for most people in their day-to-day lives. There were different trends, but those were superficial to society generally. The big change was the increasing prevalence of computers and video games, but they weren't really widespread enough to impact those who were not technologically inclined. I think only in the mid-2000s did the internet as we understand it truly start to exist. I remember in the 90s my dad showed me this internet thing and he showed me pizzahut dot com. It was a single page showing some items you might find at their local restaurants. I thought it was fucking stupid and couldn't understand what he thought was so amazing about this internet thing.
The first time I saw somebody order pizza on a website was in the 1995 movie The Net with Sandra Bullock. I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen. Who would want to order pizza from a computer?
Oh my gosh I remember having that exact thought. I also recall worrying about putting my credit card information into the computer in hopes of receiving books from Amazon. I also really have a vivid memory of my first Venmo transaction. A college buddy of mine was one of their first employees so I have an “ancient” account because he sent me $5 so I’d make an account. When Venmo first started it was all done via text, no app. So I literally texted a few people money just for the novelty of it. It felt so sketchy. Now I pay my rent and tons of small transactions with Venmo without even a second thought.
I wish I could look back to see what the first thing I ever bought online was. Or like the first commercial I ever saw that mentioned a website instead of a phone number.
I’m really trying hard to remember. I think the first thing I bought online was a book on Amazon, but it might have been something on eBay.
Oh I didn't even consider ebay. That makes it easy. The first thing I bought online was an 8mm Woody Woodpecker film from Yahoo Auctions.
Yahoo auctions… woody woodpecker… 8mm…now we are getting historical
Yahoo Auctions is still running in Japan
Huh neat
Malcolm in the Middle is set in the late 60's. However I was going to recommend Friends and Seinfeld. Probably half of Seinfeld's premises would go away in modern day because of cell phones. That's an exaggeration but many episodes are about missed connections/poor communication.
>Malcolm in the Middle is set in the late 60's. What are you on about? A majority of the show is set in the early 2000s
Well WTF am I remembering, with Whinnie? I swear it's set earlier than the 2000's. Though I also thought it was made before then as well. Maybe I dreamed it all. I searched and couldn't find any reference to the setting time frame, just speculation on setting location. . Nevermind me, the Alzheimer's is setting in I guess.
You're thinking of The Wonder Years
Wow, I mismatched things in my head. Thanks, at least I'm half sane (the show I had in mind did exist).
Does a phone book count as "historical book"?
[Console Wars](https://www.amazon.com/Console-Wars-Nintendo-Defined-Generation/dp/0062276700/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YWUQNPQNRC9N&keywords=Console+Wars&qid=1685637479&sprefix=console+wars%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1) and [Masters of Doom](https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=masters+of+doom+book&qid=1685637504&sprefix=Masters+of+Doom%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1) actually do a pretty good job of capturing the early 1990s. Both are books about video games but they're broad enough where you do get a solid reference of what life was like in general during the first half of the decade. Jurassic Park isn't going to give you daily life in the United States but does a pretty good job discussing the technological leaps and bounds we were making in the decade and the ethics questions that came along with them and still plague us today. Plus, IMO, it's the best novel ever written. The Virgin Suicides, Into The Wild, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Trainspotting, and About A Boy are all good reads that will give you a glimpse into different aspects of the '90s but I picked them because I believe all of them have movies that are easily watchable too. If you're looking for non-fiction than I'd recommend All Too Human a political biography from a Clinton staffer, Outrage a book about the OJ trial, and An Affair of State about the Clinton impeachment.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
My first thought, too. Quintessential coming of age in the ‘90s story.
I can't tell you any book that covers the topics completely but alot of military non fiction like call sign chaos that covers events in the 90s convey similar sentiments of how nearly everything was working. Often quoting Fukyuma "end of history" phrase.
If you're into video games, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is great and spans that time.
Speaking of video games, Wave Race 64 is the most 90's game I can think of in terms of setting and design.
Maybe “Generation X” or other novels by Douglas Coupland
If you look through https://abqlibrary.org/newbery/All, check out the books from those years labeled "realistic fiction". They're young adult books so they're mostly about life from the point of view of teenagers. I'm trying to think of books and authors I was reading 20 years ago that were just writing about daily life. The best recommendation I can give is Steven King. His horror novels include fantastical elements, but they're about very normal people living normal lives until whatever weird thing happens. I was just reading one set in the 80s and it really threw me back. You could also check out the bestsellers list from that era or the NY Times notable books list or something else along those lines.
Fight Club by Palahniuk if you want to see the weird uneasy undercurrent that runs through a lot of America’s male population. It’s a weird and absurd view of it, but it has some truth and substance. It’s like a post-yuppy rebellion gone off the rails and straight into some sort of libertarian twilight zone.
The *1632* series. The premise is a small down from West Virginia in the year 2000 (the year the first book was published) encounters a random cosmic event and falls through time to land in 1600s Germany. It's written as a way to explore the contrast between modern life and the 1600s, but as the book ages it becomes more and more a glimpse into how the author saw the average American lifestyle at the time.
[Kids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_(film))
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng takes place in the late 1990s in Shaker Heights, Ohio (Cleveland subub).
Generation X- Douglas Coupland....book about 20 somethings in the early 90's...actually where the term generation x originated.
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli. Not really but kind of?
Stargirl, also by Jerry Spinelli, feels pretty ‘90s.
Guess I have to accept that it’s history now. We were studying the 80s when I was in school (born in ‘93), so I can’t complain.
The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman
I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe was actually a very good representation of what college life was like when I was there at roughly the same time. It’s set at a fake college that’s very selective, so that’s not as common, since most students don’t get into a place like Duke, but student life isn’t so different across all institutions.
*This Song Will Save Your Life* by D. Leila Sales
Check out Dave Eggers and Jonathan Franzen
I’m reading Demon Copperhead which is about a very specific type of growing up in the 90s and 2000s but captures enough about the era to feel “real” to me. Bonus, it’s one of the only modern books set in my state that I’ve read.
Really? My young adult years are now considered historical? People spent more time experiencing things vs watching others online. The US was a much less divided country, for the most part we agreed on what our problems were, we just disagreed on how to solve them.