“As well as geopolitical angst and technological luxury, the spirit of the age also revolves around a big paradox: that in an era of supposedly rapid change, our popular culture is defined by a mass refusal to let go of the past. Pat references to postmodernism won’t work here, because what’s afoot is far more culturally stifling than that very worn-out term implies. Think about it this way: whereas, say, 1968 and 1958 denoted two different worlds, how is it that 2008 and 1998 seem so close?”