Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
by Chuck Klosterman
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 3182)
recommends it for:
music lovers, ex girlfriends.
"let me begin with a confession: i'm lying. not to you or to the world, but to my striking blond editor at spin; she thinks i'm driving straight from new york to west warwick, rhode island to "investigate" the great white club tragedy. i am actually driving tho ithaca, new york, with a woman, solely because this woman asked me to take her there and i immediately said yes.
traveling to ithaca might seem harmless, but it's actually a metaphor. in fact, there may be a day in the...more
traveling to ithaca might seem harmless, but it's actually a metaphor. in fact, there may be a day in the...more
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Read in April, 2005
As a longtime admirer of Chuck Klosterman’s writing on pop music and culture, it pains me to report that his latest book, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story, is a dismal, shoddy piece of work. The premise is promising: Klosterman sets out on a cross-country road trip to visit all of the sites of rock ’n’ roll’s long, rich history of death. It seems a brilliant idea — Klosterman’s combination of irreverence and curiosity make him the perfect candidate to unseat the holy-pil...more
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Read in May, 2008
or: How I I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Like Chuck Kolsterman.
Remember that bit in High Fidelity where the guys in the record shop hear the album made the skater punks, the ones Jack Black's character really wants to hate? He then proceeds to say, "It's...really...fucking...good." That's the type of moment I had with this book. Well, the first and the last word in JB's quote, not the middle two. All I ever knew of Klosterman, admitedly, was what I pi...more
Remember that bit in High Fidelity where the guys in the record shop hear the album made the skater punks, the ones Jack Black's character really wants to hate? He then proceeds to say, "It's...really...fucking...good." That's the type of moment I had with this book. Well, the first and the last word in JB's quote, not the middle two. All I ever knew of Klosterman, admitedly, was what I pi...more
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Read in September, 2007
I got a comment on an article once that said "Fuck Chuck Klostermand and his bullshit intellectualism, Cook is the new crown prince of music journalism" and who am I to disagree with SeductiveBarry's astute assessment? Ever since then, though, I've had a weird rivalry with Chuck Klosterman that, much like the romances exacted and protracted in this book, is completely one sided with myself as the hopeless loser, so outclassed that my opponent is likely unaware there is even a contest g...more
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Read in June, 2008
I wanted this book to be a Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation"-style account of the US history of rock n roll deaths as narrated by the typically witty Chuck Klosterman. That seemed like that's what this book was going to be. BUT IT WAS NOT.
RNR history occupies maybe 2% of this book. 3% = talking about how great he thinks Radiohead is, 3% = talking about how great he thinks KISS is, 10% = talking about writing about music for a living and how much he hates the idea of this r...more
RNR history occupies maybe 2% of this book. 3% = talking about how great he thinks Radiohead is, 3% = talking about how great he thinks KISS is, 10% = talking about writing about music for a living and how much he hates the idea of this r...more
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Read in August, 2006
A few months ago I read a book called "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman, which I totally bought because of the title. How can you not be intrigued by that title? So, I read it, dug it and wrote a blog reviewing it that's posted somewhere on here. It's a bunch of essays about pop culture. Good stuff, pick it up.
I happened across his latest book, "Killing Yourself To Live" totally by accident. I stumbled across in the bookstore and figured, "what the heck?...more
I happened across his latest book, "Killing Yourself To Live" totally by accident. I stumbled across in the bookstore and figured, "what the heck?...more
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Read in January, 2008
Chuck is certainly a good writer. He is, I suppose, a 90's-00's descendant of the Gonzo school of journalism, where the adventures of the writer tend to loom over the alleged subject matter at hand, and I like me a good Gonzo journalist. This book is ostensibly about famous rock musicians who killed themselves or died tragic deaths in flaming plane wrecks. But really it's a memoir of the lovelife of Chuck Klosterman imagined as a travelogue. And, even as such, it's pretty moving at times. U...more
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Read in November, 2006
I just finished reading Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman. It’s a funny thing to read that book. Not only is he a music obsessive to a degree that comforts my own addiction (thousands of cds and the most important part of packing is selecting the music he’s going to bring with him) but his writing is very conversational and pretty funny. He’s a bit irritating and I don’t really buy into the sincerity of his supposed mainstream appreciations, but that’s okay.
Also to read ab...more
Also to read ab...more
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Read in February, 2008
Chuck Klosterman's day job is as a rock critic for Spin Magazine, and that's quite apparent in <i>Killing Yourself to Live<i>. The book, an extension of a project he did for Spin involving a cross-country trip to sites where rock stars died, is engaging so long as Chuck sticks to music. The problem is, somewhere along the line he decided music wouldn't be enough. He makes several attempts at broad, philosophical generalizations about death, but none are particularly insightful and mo...more
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Read in July, 2005
Why do we care about Chuck Klosterman? There is nothing truly remarkable about his life. I disagree with 97 percent of what he has to say about music. The way he holds his political cards close to his chest makes me suspicious. And yet, once I start one of his books, I can’t put it down. Killing Yourself to Live is no exception. It takes us on a drug-fueled odyssey across the United States with stops at famous rock and roll death sites (the seedy hotel where Sid Vicious did himself in; t...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
self-consciously styled rock fans
I've read most of Chuck Klosterman's books and always find them halfway totally hilarious/awesome/insightful and halfway annoying/frustrating. He has the profoundly masculine tendency to make grand, sweeping, universal statements. It's part of his schtick, I get that, but it bugs me. I think, though, that this is his best book. It's a good conceptual hole, and most of the tangents he goes off on I thought were really funny/interesting. The conversation with an LA waiter was hilarious, and the dr...more
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Read in December, 2007
This is the third Chuck Klosterman book I have read, and I would say it's my favorite. Now, I'm glad I didn't read it first, I think Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (SDCP) is a good introduction to his style so I wasn't just jumping in blind.
But Killing Yourself to Live is actually relevant. I think Klosterman is obsessed with things and people being either 'ironic,' or 'unironic' in various forms. And while someone being 'unironic' isn't high on my compliment list, someone being authentic is. ...more
But Killing Yourself to Live is actually relevant. I think Klosterman is obsessed with things and people being either 'ironic,' or 'unironic' in various forms. And while someone being 'unironic' isn't high on my compliment list, someone being authentic is. ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
Kiss fans, maybe.
The rather macabre premise of this book is a road trip of locations made famous—or infamous—as the place of various rock stars’ early demise. This was perhaps an okay idea for a magazine article (or a blog entry), but the material here feels stretched a tad too thin. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading pop culture nostalgia, especially for crappy musical eras, but Klosterman’s melodramatic musings on his love life and its soundtrack don’t add much to his gravesite seeing. Or perhaps ...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone
Often, when I am reading a Chuck Klosterman book, I get caught in a mental argument with myself that sounds like this: "I get all of these references. I am smart and cool! Look at all those people who are not even aware that Kiss released 4 solo albums in the late 70's, They DON'T know what cool is!".....
Then I realize that I am no cooler or smarter than anyone else and this elitist attitude of mine only means that I am someone who, frequently, has way too much time on her hands...more
Then I realize that I am no cooler or smarter than anyone else and this elitist attitude of mine only means that I am someone who, frequently, has way too much time on her hands...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Jreimer by:
Nick Reimerrecommends it for: music fans
well this is the first time I've read Mr Klosterman and I wish i was less on the fence about it. I actually really liked the book in general even though there are passages I vehemently disagree with. Actually for some reason I think that's what I like about it. For any music fan of discernible taste you find yourself in constant arguments about music all the time (usually late at night) and it's a lot like that. For example, he dismisses all punk music except for the clash, all blues music acro...more
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Read in January, 2008
I enjoyed this book a lot when I started it, and less and less as it went on. It is not surprising that Klosterman rambled, but I was surprised how infrequently I was interested in his ramblings. It is not a surprise to say he’s self-obsessed, egotistical, and insecure about being both. What is surprising to me is how little I was interested in his post-modern, self conscious narrative. I think Rob Sheffield wrote a better book by bei...more
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Read in May, 2008
I read this book in its entirety on a plane flight yesterday and it was the perfect book for such an occasion, minus the fact that plane crashes were discussed at length in the book. Chuck Klosterman is a reporter for Spin magazine and I was a huge fan of his previous book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. In that book he took a look at pop culture. Incredibly entertaining. In this book he takes an assignment from Spin to make a road-trip across the states stopping at a lot of the locales where numer...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Music critics from Minneapolis
This book was entertaining for the most part. There were 2 flaws to this tale though:
Flaw 1: He talked about his girlfriends (or possible girlfriends) way too much. WAY too much. There was actually a hypothetical conversation with him and his 3 possible love interests that went on for 5 pages that simply talked about all of his flaws. I skipped the last 3 pages of that.
Flaw 2: A friends and I were talking about Klosterman and how his strength and his weakness in writing is how he c...more
Flaw 1: He talked about his girlfriends (or possible girlfriends) way too much. WAY too much. There was actually a hypothetical conversation with him and his 3 possible love interests that went on for 5 pages that simply talked about all of his flaws. I skipped the last 3 pages of that.
Flaw 2: A friends and I were talking about Klosterman and how his strength and his weakness in writing is how he c...more
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The music industry has more than its fair share of interesting stories to tell. And some of the most intriguing might be those involving the deaths of iconic musicians. Spin reporter/editor Chuck Klosterman details his quest to uncover these stories in this book. However, the book does not necessarily contain all his discoveries… those were reserved for his articles in Spin. Killing Yourself to Live focuses more on the time he spends examining his own life and relationships in terms of the mus...more
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Read in February, 2008
Chuck, I'm disappointed in you. Maybe it's my fault - I read this after Sex,Drugs and IV, and that could be where I went wrong as your writing has steadily improved. Regardless, I feel it's deceptive to title and describe your book as being about Rock Star deaths, and have the main content be your lament over women whose affection you don't really want or deserve. And it's even worse to pepper it with great observation and clever, engaging style, only to keep reverting back to the lover's lament...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.76 (2558 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.77 (2451 ratings) number of reviews: 338popular shelves
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quote
"We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It's easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name was Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven't even met yet, probably. They all count