During the summer, I make an effort to read books that are unrelated to debate. I am currently reading American Nerd: The Story of My People by Benjamin Nugent. The book attempts to define “nerd,” trace the origins of the word, and identify the common ground between the various subcultures that are viewed as nerdy.

I first heard about the book on The Sound of Young America. There was no mention of debate in Jesse Thorn’s interview with Nugent, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the author included debate as part of nerddom.

Everybody knows that boffers, like nerds who play fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and attach latex points to their ears to make themselves more elflike, are engaged in a game of pretend, a chance to inhabit another body. They’re voyeurs. But sports nerds play online rotisserie baseball games in which they’re managers of real teams. High-school debaters do the same thing, only they’re role-playing cabinet secretaries. Even music nerds, who sometimes pretend to be cool, seem to hope that a familiarity with defunct record labels and one-hit wonders creates kinship between musicians and themselves.
(p. 15)

One chapter, “Zack and Jack and High-School Debate” (pp. 99-109) is devoted to high school debate. The chapter primarily focuses on Zack Malitz & Jack Jenkins from Westlake High School in Austin, TX. Zack & Jack embrace postmodernism and the kritik and basically eschew their suburban trappings.

There are some factual errors in the chapter, but most of the back story about the evolution of high school debate is correct.

I suspect that many in this audience will be less than enthused with the author’s take that debate tournaments are filled with nerds learning to flirt. I met my wife through debate, so I can’t really say much.

The book is a quick read and I found the subject matter compelling. However, I do think the book drags in a few places, particularly when the author is tracing the racial origins of the stereotype.