The Sounds of Douchebag America is a compilation of oral histories meant to capture the essence of America’s Douchey Heartland.
Patrick Almsley Cowlfield of North Haverbrook, Iowa, after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Pittsburgh, discovered news that troubled him: Studs Terkel, the man behind the Putlizer-Prize winning The Good War, died at ninety-six years old. Hoping to carry on Studs’ legacy, Cowlfield recorded the voices of the new American generation. Unfortunately, those voices were less charismatic, and quite unappealing.
Cowlfield decided to take oral history to the next echelon. The obnoxious, self-absorbed, raucous, and oftentimes pretentious voices that fill the offices, universities, and places of leisure around the country comprised the real America. Attempting to chronicle what Cowlfield coined the ‘Douchey Heartland,’ he travelled from Ogdenville to Brockway to compile guerrilla recordings, one-on-one interviews, or to simply let people talk. What results is a compendium of voices that amass to a generational chorus of unprecedented douchebaggery. Enjoy.
Note: Cowlfield acknowledges that many of the voices present were recorded and/or photographed without permission. He asks, in these tough economic times, that people refrain from suing.
