The Next Big Thing: A History of the Boom-or-Bust Moments that Shaped the Modern World

Gr 10 Up—Covering "the last 3,000 years (more or less)…west of the Caucasus and north of Florida (more or less)," Faulk offers treatments of about five pages each on 37 subjects, from alcohol to microbiomes, with stops along the way for the flying buttress, scientific racism, Kodak cameras, TV dinners, Prozac, and more. Each topic is given a score out of 10 for the hype it generated in its day and another for its actual historical impact. There is a bibliography for those interested in learning more; however, nine of the entries reference only one or two sources. Faulk defines "the next big thing" as "a nodal point in time, when…we finally believe that we really know what the future is going to look like." It is thus unclear why certain subjects—such as the musical genre and radio format of easy listening—merited inclusion. The geographic focus is narrow, and the book presents a limited vision of the forces that shaped the modern world, but the information-dense entries are readable and engaging, with a light humorous touch. Most teens are unlikely to read this volume in its entirely but may be intrigued to learn that the concept of the teenager is a modern invention or that their parents' rock 'n' roll had such radical origins. Porn is mentioned in the entries on NC-17 and the movable type printing press, and coprophagia and bestiality come up in the section on irony, making this a choice for older teens.