Gift Ideas for Hipsters

gifthipsters Whether you are one or know one, or simply want to have a good laugh with one, there’s no denying that life would be a lot blander without hipster culture in our streets and on our shelves. Below are a few book ideas for those who are of the truly hip (and we use the term affectionately), from the aching cool Miranda July to the ironies of a hipster-wannabe.

The Casual Cyclist’s Guide to Melbourne
Matt Hurst

For the hipster who loves nothing more than cruising around on their vintage fixie is The Casual Cyclists Guide to Melbourne by Matt Hurst (of The Humble Vintage bike hire service fame). With hand drawn maps, illustrations from artists Tin & Ed and a list of guest contributors that includes the who’s who of hipster Melbourne, this brilliant little publication, designed by cult agency Studio Pip & Co, is the perfect addition to the bike-lovers bookshelf.

It Chooses You
Miranda July

Hipsteratti Miranda July has done just about everything you could artistically aspire to do these days – winning prizes at both Sundance and Cannes with her debut feature film Me and You and Everyone We Know, writing fiction for The Paris Review and The New Yorker, and releasing her first collection of short stories with No One Belongs Here More Than You in 2007. Now, comes her follow-up book, It Chooses You, a beautifully designed collection of real-life vignettes of the people behind LA’s famous PennySaver ads – from Michael, who sells $10 leather jackets to seventeen-year-old Andrew, who builds ponds in his backyard and sells tadpoles for just $2.50 each. A mix of narrative, transcripts and achingly cool photography by Brigitte Sire, this is something to add to the artist’s vault.

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Lightning Rods
Helen DeWitt

Helen DeWitt is probably one of the most fascinating authors of our times - her first novel, The Last Samurai (which any good hipster will know had absolutely nothing to do with the Hollywood film), was a cult hit and her follow-up, Your Name Here was first published online as an ever-changing, ever-growing experimental text. Her latest book, Lightning Rods comes under the wing of New Directions Publishing with a simply awe-inspiring cover and has already garnered rave reviews from The Milliions and co: 'DeWitt brings to satire what Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 brought to the detective story: purity of means, ineffability of ends'.

Nobrow Press

Set up in 2008 in the UK, Nobrow Press have been releasing a steady stream of mind-bogglingly good illustrative publications - from comics to graphic novels - over the years. Sure highlights include Everything We Miss by Luke Pearson, a beautiful and sometimes surreal portrait of the dying days of a relationship; Bento Bestiary, Ben Newman's artistic revival of the Yokai, an ancient race of Japanese demons who preceded the more popular mythical monsters Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan; and Ada Berlin based artist Atak's graphic rendition of Gertrude Stein's original poem.

HipsterMattic
Matt Granfield

And finally, what’s the fun of being a hipster (or the friend of one) if you can’t have a bit of a laugh with it? Brisbane local, blogger and writer (for Crikey and The Drum) Matt Granfield was already a bit of a hipster, and fresh from a break-up, he decided to set himself the ultimate challenge and become the hippest hipster on the planet. The quest begins innocently enough – visiting trendy cafes, selling homemade jewellery at the market and writing poetry – but it quickly spirals out of control. Soon there are National Bike Polo Championships to attend, tattoo parlours to visit, bands to start and organic vegetables to grow. A book about the hilarity of trying to be (and perhaps failing to be) cool.

Hipster Puppies
Christopher R. Weingarten

Just one more knowingly referential bit of hipster-humour to cap off this post – this collection of photos is based on the blog hipsterpuppies.tumblr.com, which is something like a cooler (although somehow equally daggy) version of LOLcats. In short, it features puppies doing various hipster things, from visiting farmers markets and record stores to wearing oversized glasses and a variety of scarves. For the hipster who doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

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