I liked this book, but to be honest, there were so many typos in the ARC that it actually made it difficult to read and fully decipher. I've never come across this before, so I don't really know what happened, but it was really disappointing. I hate to think that readers wouldn't hear about an upcoming release because anyone who read an ARC couldn't understand half of it. I'm giving he book 4 stars, but the ARC gets 1.

As an avid @keepitshow listener, I could not have been more excited to dig into @irathethird’s debut collection of essays, Pure Innocent Fun.

And what a time I had! As someone who loves pop culture and nostalgia, and grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs this hit all the right notes.

Ira is a fabulous storyteller and did an incredible job weaving in his life experiences through the lens of his favorite and most poignant pop culture memories. I both snorted so many times and was moved by the stories he shared. I loved knowing a lot of the specific Milwaukee -area landmarks he mentioned - though I also appreciated leaening all of the things I didn’t know growing up just a few towns over.

Everything feels pretty bleak right now, but I’m thankful for @irathethird, his wit and the stories he shares. His love of tv, music and movies shared this way is a gift for us readers . Big thanks to my friends at @netgalley and @randomhouse for this advanced copy!!

Pure Innocent Fun is out NOW!!

This was a fun millennial ride- even though I’m not a Millennial. But as a Gen-X/Xennial, I appreciated the commentary and references to several things I (mostly) remembered fondly from Madison’s adolescence in the ‘90s and early aughts. Like Black sitcoms, AIM, Ally McBeal, Oprah Winfrey, Sex and the City, TRL, Mariah Carey, Clueless and all of the Disney movies released between 1989 and 1999.

I think if someone is too far removed from his generation and taste, it will be harder to fully connect to these essays but that’s okay! (And I do think the point is to connect with readers, while also weaving in some personal, vulnerable recollections- not to teach.) Madison knows who his target audience is, and they will enjoy the nostalgia.

Quality of Writing 4/5
Value for Intended Audience 5/5
Pacing 4/5
Vulnerability 4/5
Overall Enjoyability 4/5

Ira, Ira, Ira. I tried to be objective but as a die hard Keep It fan, I knew that I was going to thoroughly enjoy myself and I did. Ira's voice is so clear in this book and the story of his life is wrapped up in pop culture nostalgia, humor, and a nice little dig (or two).

If having to approach this book critically, I do think the editing could have been stronger - I would imagine its a challenge to edit writing that flows so naturally in the author's voice, which can mean it flows all over the place, but there were times in the book where I did feel like the train of thought went slightly too rambling. Again, that doesn't hurt the book for me since I am a fan and very familiar with the book.

After reading the digital ARC, I also listened to the audiobook upon release and I think this series of essays is served well in that format because for the reader, it can really clarify Ira's stylings.

Overall, I think this was a great book of essays. I found myself laughing during a great deal of it, recalling millennial pop culture memories, and realizing the role someone like Ira's grandmother can have in someone's life. I recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In this essay collection, Ira Madison, III takes us all on a nostalgic, hilarious ride through some of the best and occasionally obscure pop culture of the best 30+ years. I flew threw this funny romp in a couple days time, and particularly enjoyed the references to forgotten pop and soap stars; Survivor; and The Traitors.

Madison is an engaging critic, making connections I never would have thought of between all different aspects of pop culture, I loved the variety of topics he covered, and the things he was saying - I could read 50 more of his essays. My only complaint is this felt underedited - it needed to be tightened up, and sometimes the editing made it feel more like a diary of loose thoughts rather than a collection of essays when he was trying to make those connections. Still, I loved it - and I bet the final copy fixed those issues up!

I've been a listener of the Keep It podcast for many years, so I was excited to read this. It's a fun, quick read, and I always appreciate a blend of pop culture and memoir. I also selfishly like books written by people close to my age range with similar cultural touchstones. Probably because I read a lot of books like this, I didn't get a lot of new insight from reading this. And I wish the author hadn't taken such pains to explain the premises or plots of a lot of things, like let the people who don't know them do their own research. But I hope that this isn't Ira's only book, I think he has more in him!

I wasn't aware of Ira Madison III until reading this book, but I was absolutely delighted by his writing and his stories of growing up Black and gay in Milwaukee (and in some very white spaces in Milwaukee). With almost my entire extended family living in Milwaukee, a lot of references and situations he talks about were familiar to me and I really enjoyed that, but I think that his storytelling would make this entertaining for readers anywhere. I loved the pop culture references and other millennials will find lots that they remember here too.

As a listener of the podcast Keep It! since it premiered in 2018, I've been a fan of Ira's cultural commentary on current events and entertainment news for many years. I was super excited when he announced he was writing "Pure Innocent Fun," his memoir/book of essays detailing his life growing up Black and queer (and closeted) in Milwaukee throughout the 90s and 2000s. Each essay combines formative moments from his life with the pop culture moments that coincided. Standout essays for me were "Being Steve Urkel", "Oprah Ruined My Life" and "A Virgin Who Can't Drive". Each were a great balance of offering insight and perspective with hilarious one-liners that literally had me laughing out loud. While I enjoyed reading the arc, I also preordered the audiobook and listened to some as well - both were great!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House, for the advance copy.

Ira continues to impress with this fun, funny, and shocking collection of essays. I expected to be entertained, and Pure Innocent Fun certainly hit the mark.

I don't know what I expected, but this is another case where I am not the target audience for this book. Essays purporting to explain popular culture to the reader popular reflected on a young, black gay man were not as enlightening as I'd hoped, but for the right reader, this could be a lot of fun and very relatable.

4 stars

Fun and frivolous, filled with pop culture and footnotes. I think I was looking for a little more on the memoir side, but it was a quick pleasant read. I think if you are around the same age as the author, these essays will particularly resonate with you (or you’ll have at least watched the shows and movies).

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy to form opinions from.

This book is written exactly for millennials who want to discuss NSYNC v BSB, Erika Kane, Passions (omg remember Timmy?), American Idol, Buffy, and more.

Madison brings his takes he's made famous in Keep It but adds in a lot of himself. Not just essays on pop culture, the essays are infused with stories of Madison growing up Black and closeted in Milwaukee.

I didn't relate to every story (I do not care at all about Survivor) but I overall enjoyed myself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review. Pure Innocent Fun is out today!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Random House publishing for this ARC!!

Ira’s stories are fun, nostalgic, and thought-provoking! Definitely a must read for early 2000s kids/millennials! From *NSYNC to The O.C. Ira mentions all the classics. I also loved hearing all of this through his underrepresented perspective and lens as a Black queer man. Definitely recommend as a gift for your pop culture bestie!

I am a huge fan of Ira Madison III’s writing, so I was thrilled to read an advanced copy of Pure Innocent Fun. I love the way Ira weaves in pop culture with stories of his own personal narrative. We are similar in age, so almost every reference resonates with me and my memories of the time. This is such a fun and insightful collection of essays. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this title. I have already pre-ordered the book to keep for myself!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of this title.

This was a more frustrated read than I expected - there's a clear aim here to go for the Chuck Klosterman cultural-ephemera-as-connector-to-the-world type of essays here, but a lot of the essays quickly detour into memoir, and the bits that feel like they're a perfect setup for going deeper in memoir just as quickly pivot to slightly more fleshed-out listicles. Everything felt a little unfocused as a result.

I requested this book as an early arc through Net Galley as I'm a long time fan (never missed an episode) of the author's podcast "Keep It". These essays read as quick glimpses into the author's past framed through the culture he was taking in at the time. The first essay discusses one of Madison's favorite authors, Chuck Klosterman, and throughout many of these essays Madison has done a good job of approximating, with his own style, Klosterman while integrating his own pop culture. Pair this book with Chuck Klosterman's The Nineties!
Like some other reviews I've read, would I have liked to have been treated to more personal bits of Ira's life? Of course. I'm nosy and through listening to him weekly I've developed a parasocial relationship. But that's my issue.
This is a quick fun read that I recommend even if you aren't a Keep It listener.
Many thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the copy.

Each essay stands on its own, especially for insight into its cultural moment and the piece of media Ira Madison III is examining (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Bring It On or Jurassic Park), but as the essays progress, and the narrator takes up incrementally larger bits of the page to tell personal anecdotes, he becomes more interesting than the analyses. It reminded me of "Pale Fire." By the end, he's devoting a whole essay to tell a personal story, and the book (taken together) feels like the character arc by which he learned to tell his own story--first by mediating it through (hiding behind?) the trillion different stories of his (in my case, as a fellow millennial, "our") youth.

I'm a junkie for '90s and Y2K pop culture essay collections, and there's been a boom in that department recently, but Ira Madison's is the most relaxed, enjoyable, artful and moving of any I've read so far--in fact, of any essay collection I"ve read in years.

I am Ira's target audience.

I listen to his pod and follow him on all the socials he's not banned on. It's a huge win when I hear him guest on "Bitch Sesh." To say I was excited for his book is an understatement.

Ira's biography is laid out through a pop culture tour of his life. It's laid out in a series of essays that are thought provoking and hilarious at the same time.

There were multiple times while reading that I texted a friend and said 'Ira is basically our best friend.'

I highly recommend this, for his point of view and for the nostalgic look at how pop culture can help us tell our life stories.

Full disclosure, I came to this book with the expectation that I would love it, and I was not disappointed. I have been a fan of the author for years, as I regularly listen to his brilliant podcast, "Keep It!", which he co-hosts with the equally talented Louis Virtel. If you enjoy the pop culture discussions from that podcast, you're likely to love this book as well. It feels like one continuous pop culture rant, reminiscent of the podcast, and deliciously intertwines the author’s personal story with the cultural moments that shaped his coming-of-age as a Black queer person.

However, if you prefer clear, linear storylines, this book might not be for you. The author has a tangential writing style, often interrupting himself to delve into side stories before returning to the main point. While this may bother some readers, it was perfect for my ADHD brain, as I tend to think in a similar way.

So, dear readers, I give this book a very biased five stars, but five stars nonetheless!

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley courtesy of the publisher in exchange for my honest review. My review is my honest opinion.