Donna Gaines (born March 21, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York) is a sociologist, journalist, and social worker in the United States. She is best known for her work on youth suicide, and popular culture.
A music writer for Rolling Stone, MS, the Village Voice, Spin, Newsday and Salon, Gaines is also acknowledged as an international expert on youth suicide and culture. According to a profile in Current Biography, Gaines taught sociology at Barnard College of Columbia University and also at the Graduate Faculty of New School University, in New York City.
Her first book, Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End Kids (1991) is widely considered a classic in sociology, described by Newsday's Emily White as a "landmark empathetic look at adolescent anomie." Gaines' second book, A Misfit’s Manifesto: The Sociological Memoir of a Rock & Roll Heart, published by Rutgers University Press in 2007 has been described as "an exploration of relationships between identity formation, popular culture, addiction, and spirituality", hailed by Princeton sociologist Paul DiMaggio as "a new way to do sociology.”
"Rebel with a Theory" by Joanna Ebner, Footnotes, April 2004, publication of American Sociological Association.
Rocky Mountain News, review of A Misfit's Manifesto: The Spiritual Journey of a Rock & Roll Heart, Gil Asakawa, March 14, 2003, Denver, Colorado.
"Sacred Profanities: Youth Alienation, Popular Culture, and Spirituality. Interview With Donna Gaines, by Benjamin Frymer, in InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies (Volume 2, Issue 1, 2006)
Booklist, February 1, 2003, Mike Tribby, review of A Misfit's Manifesto: The Spiritual Journey of a Rock & Roll Heart, p. 963.
Bookwatch, August, 1992, review of Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End Kids, p. 3.
Book World, May 31, 1992, review of Teenage Wasteland, p. 12.
Contemporary Sociology, March, 1992, Richard Lachmann, review of Teenage Wasteland, pp. 261—262.
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, October, 1992, Allen Shelton, review of Teenage Wasteland, pp. 399—402.
Journal of Reading, April, 1994, review of Teenage Wasteland, p. 596.
Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, spring, 1994, review of Teenage Wasteland, p. 310.
Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide, September, 1992, review of Teenage Wasteland, p. 40.
Library Journal, February 1, 2003, Carol J. Binkowski, review of A Misfit's Manifesto, pp. 90—91.
New York Times Book Review, June 16, 1991, p. 20.
Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), July 12, 1992, review of Teenage Wasteland, p. 8.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 1992, review of Teenage Wasteland, p. 404.
Wilson Library Bulletin, February, 1992, Cathi Dunn Mac Rae, review of Teenage Wasteland, pp. 86—87.
"Saved? CBGB's Landmark Fight" by Tricia Romano, Village Voice, May 10, 2005