The last two decades in the United States has seen the emergence of a mass alternative nation, populated by struggling screenwriters, oddball thrift stores, indie rockers, and thousands of coffee houses. It has sprouted in locales ranging from San Diego to Seattle, Athens to Cleveland. Now, in his new book NEO-BOHEMIA: Art and Industry in the Postindustrial City, Richard Lloyd asks: how did bohemia become such an ordinary thing? In the past, bohemia was always a small and embattled refuge for society's weirdos, its starving artists, its avant-garde, and its dope fiends. Now, not only is bohemian established district in every medium-sized city, it drives up real estate prices and gets promoted as a lifestyle amenity. In this witty exploration of one of America's most successful new bohemias, Chicago's Wicker Park—site of the hip film High Fidelity and launching pad of alt rock stars like Liz Phair—Lloyd shows that bohemia's new status is a result of broader social and economic transformations. Cities crave "creative" industries like media, tourism, advertising, and design, and hence have a newfound tolerance for nonconformists. As NEO-BOHEMIA shows, bohemia's creatures of the night, flaunting thrift store duds, piercings, and tribal tattoos, are the perfect labor force for these new industries. They are very creative, yet willing to work odd hours on a freelance basis. NEO-BOHEMIA is essential reading for anyone trying to get a handle not just on the growing prominence of alternative and hipster culture in America, but on how cities are retooling to become players in the information age economy.