Shade’s approach oscillates between her personal experiences, narratives about contemporaneous brands and fads and figures, and her trenchant commentary, resulting in essays on subjects that range from the rise of the internet to globalization, climate change, fashion, Starbucks and hip-hop ... Shade renders her personal struggles as well, which show admirable fortitude ... Shade is a deft and dexterous writer, emotionally intelligent and authoritative. Y2K is her first book, but I hope, for literature’s future at least, that it won’t be her last.
Compact, yet powerful ... As Shade persuasively demonstrates, this hopeful energy masked not only the failures of global capitalism...but also the political vacuity and cultural rot of the period ... Wide-ranging and tremendously compelling.
If readers can overlook the book’s dizzying nonlinear timeline, Shade’s exploration of those indelible years creates a fun, fulfilling, and rewarding time capsule. A reflective, nostalgic, backward glance at a bygone era some recall fondly and others regret.
