31. Superman: The Unauthorized Biography by Glen Weldon
Despite being a big fan of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour of which Glen Weldon is a part, I never had any intention of reading this book. I am not much of a comics reader and I have never really been a fan of Superman in any of his other pop culture forms save for a couple seasons of Lois and Clark. I didn’t even watch that all the way to its end. Therefore I just chalked this book up as not for me and figured it wasn’t something I would ever read, but then I came across a free galley copy of the book and figured why the heck not.
Despite my general lack of enthusiasm about Superman I actually really enjoyed this book. The book basically tracks the history of Superman in comics and pop culture in general over the course of 75 years. It’s a sort of history not just of the character but comics in general over that time period. I obviously learned a lot I never knew about the character, and it was all presented in a way that kept me interested despite my limited background with the subject matter. So even if you’re not that interested in Superman this book still might be for you. I give it a 7 out of 10.
Around the Year in 100 Books 