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Eating the Dinosaur

by Chuck Klosterman

3.66 · rating details · 4,385 ratings · 575 reviews

Chuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. He's covered extreme metal, extreme nostalgia, disposable art, disposable heroes, life on the road, life through the television, urban uncertainty and small-town weirdness. Through a variety of mediums and with a multitude of motives, he's written about everything he can think of (and a ...more

Hardcover, 245 pages

Published October 20th 2009 by Scribner (first published September 28th 2009)

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Dec 21, 2009

RandomAnthony rated it

Ok, I’ve read every book Klosterman has written and I’m going to outline what I think was running through his mind when he wrote the excellent Eating The Dinosaur:

1. You know, if one more person asks me if I still watch The Real World or know that Screech was in a porno, I’m going to scream. No, I probably won’t scream. I’m from North Dakota, a courteous locale, so I will not scream. I will feel embarrassed for the questioner and remove myself from the interaction as quickly as pos...moreOk, I’ve read every book Klosterman has written and I’m going to outline what I think was running through his mind when he wrote the excellent Eating The Dinosaur:

1. You know, if one more person asks me if I still watch The Real World or know that Screech was in a porno, I’m going to scream. No, I probably won’t scream. I’m from North Dakota, a courteous locale, so I will not scream. I will feel embarrassed for the questioner and remove myself from the interaction as quickly as possible.
2. I’m glad I don’t have a real job. Some of my former basketball teammates back near Grand Forks are stuck in factories or the family farms, and we know how those industries are doing (although North Dakota has weathered the economic hard times better than people might expect). Still, it’s not like I sit around on my ass and watch syndicated television until inspiration hits. I need drugs, too. No, no, kidding. If everybody thinks writing like me is so easy, why doesn’t everyone write like me and get famous? I’m not afraid of any of the bloggers or goodreads reviewers. I did my time and honed my craft. But I write a lot, under deadline, interviewing people about whom I don’t care much, anything to get another article in Spin or Esquire.
3. Ok, that’s not true anymore. I used to whore myself out to magazines indiscriminately but after Downtown Owl and all the speaker fees I’m doing ok financially and don’t have to write another profile of the semiotics of old television shows if I don’t want to do so. Still, I probably should. This gravy train might not run forever.
4. I know I shouldn’t care that people think my job is easy but sometimes those people bug me. However, once I’m bugged, I can own the fact I’m bugged, shrug off the jealousy, go for a run, and stay humble. I know I’m crazy lucky to do what I do. I mean, I work hard but I know I’m lucky.
5. I’m married now. I should start acting like a grown-up. The hipster kids have already disowned me and re-owned me about seventeen times. I’m too old for this shit.
6. I write better than people expect, mostly from practice, and I’ve got good editors.
7. In turn, I’m going to write an excellent book (according to at least one GR reviewer) with thoughtful, top-notch essays about subjects like how Pepsi and Obama are linked and the similarities between Kurt Cobain and David Koresh. I will also write about football and Abba. These essays will be better researched than some of my previous work but retain the dizzying logic and “you thought X was this but we know it’s really Y and if we’re honest with ourselves we’ll acknowledge X is Y and we probably do acknowledge X is Y covertly so everyone knows but we pretend X is Y but says X is X” rhetoric. I’m not stupid. I know what works. But I don’t want to sound like I’m arguing in a bar at 4 in the morning anymore. I’m, like, your cousin’s husband at your sister’s graduation now. I’m kind of interesting, I guess, and I’m a decent listener, but the kids don’t take me seriously.
8. The final essay, on the Unabomber, will be the best essay I’ve ever written.

Maybe Klosterman didn’t think any of that. I don’t know. Maybe he plays the stock market and smokes cigars between donations to the NRA. Maybe he campaigned for Al Franken and has a secret crush on Rachel Maddow. I don’t care. Eating the Dinosaur is the work of a smart, perceptive man with an loyal audience, a generally optimistic disposition, and years of experience at the keyboard. I know he makes it look easy but I doubt writing like Klosterman is as easy as one might think. If you’re a Klosterman fan you’ll love Eating the Dinosaur. If you don’t like Klosterman you still might at least, upon reading these essays, fail to hate them. I’m glad Klosterman exists and I’m uncool enough to dig his work. And that makes me cool. X equals Y. Everybody knows it.
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Oct 28, 2010

ReaderM rated it

So I've never read a book by Chuck Klosterman and after reading Eating The Dinosaur, I'm honestly started to wonder what I've done with my life. Eating the Dinosaur is a simple collection of essays that will slightly twist your mind but present a pleasant read.

In reading the 'Easting the Dinosaur' you could say this is just a cheap collection of essays by a guy whose editors told him; "hey it's been a while since you released a book" throw something together quick. I honest...more

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Aug 04, 2011

Kevin added it

Klosterman is kind of a hipster's Malcolm Gladwell - funny, smart, obsessively focused on pop culture and rock and roll and sports, but in a personal way. His first chapter here chronicles how he spent years interviewing celebrities (and others), but, since he has become the subject of interviews, he could not understanding why people feel the need to answer honestly. So he interviewed Ira Glass and Errol Morris about... interviewing. It's a weird post-modern conceit, but it works really well...more

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Jan 29, 2012

Connor rated it

Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman is not your prototypical book. There is no plot or main character Eating The Dinosaur is a book compiled of short essay on various topics. Klosterman brings various topics to the table in his book. Topics include football, sitcom shows, bands and many more. Three of my personal favorite essays are time traveling, football, and laugh tracks. Klosterman writes essay to understand essays that are entertaining as they come. Klosterman is a great write...more Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman is not your prototypical book. There is no plot or main character Eating The Dinosaur is a book compiled of short essay on various topics. Klosterman brings various topics to the table in his book. Topics include football, sitcom shows, bands and many more. Three of my personal favorite essays are time traveling, football, and laugh tracks. Klosterman writes essay to understand essays that are entertaining as they come. Klosterman is a great writer and has written one of my favorite books.

Klosterman writes his essays so the reader even if one does not have any prior knowledge of the subject they can read the chapter with ease. One of my favorite chapters in the book is the time traveling chapter. Klosterman discusses the age old question of is it possible to time travel. Klosterman raises points that would hinder ones thought of time traveling. He proclaims if time traveling was possible than you would not need to travel back in time if you were successful. What he means by this is, if you went back in time to change your decision on a topic and were successful in this than you would not need to go back in time. Klosterman talks about relevant topics that everyone has always thought about. One topic that everyone has thought about at least once is the laugh track in TV shows. Klosterman tells of his view on having the show tells us when we should laugh. He finds the laugh tracks to be the worst because they are telling the viewer how they should feel. Klosterman brings his opinions to the reader which gets the reader thinking.

One other reason why I enjoy this book too is after each chapter Klosterman has an interview section. I found this part very entertaining because you could see what Klosterman truly believes in and you can have another view at the author. Also, this part was entertaining because majority of his answers were very funny and truthful.

If I was asked if I would recommend this book to someone I would without a doubt say yes. This books is amazing in the sense you enjoy picking it up. I usually feel as if reading is a drag but with this book I did not mind reading this book. I also like this book because it was short essays that allowed you to get into each chapter. Also you can jump around in the book from chapter to chapter. I would 100% recommend this book to a friend.

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Dec 24, 2011

David rated it

first book of his I've read, though the name sounds familiar -- I think I've read some of his articles on grantland, the Bill ("Sports Guy") Simmons site. Anyway, it's a collection of long-ish essays mostly about sports or music or technology. Hard to summarize a theme or point -- just generally smart, funny, verbally fluent guy earnestly taking on some of his pet topics, including the music of ABBA, the rise and fall of Garth Brooks ("he already seems only half as famous as Bra...more

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Dec 02, 2011

Ed Wagemann added it

I disagree with about 90% of everything Chuck Klosterman utters, yet I enjoy reading him (although I only end up reading about 50% of any book he publishes and skip or skim the other 50%). I've always liked reading/hearing thoughts and opinions that differ from my own, especially if those thoughts/opinions are presented in an interesting and entertaining way--which is the same reason that I listen to Rush Limbaugh at times.

Sometimes I will agree with Klosterman in spirit, but disagr...moreI disagree with about 90% of everything Chuck Klosterman utters, yet I enjoy reading him (although I only end up reading about 50% of any book he publishes and skip or skim the other 50%). I've always liked reading/hearing thoughts and opinions that differ from my own, especially if those thoughts/opinions are presented in an interesting and entertaining way--which is the same reason that I listen to Rush Limbaugh at times.

Sometimes I will agree with Klosterman in spirit, but disagree with him on the detail. A good example of this is the 20 page riff Klosterman goes off on about NFL football that starts on page 125 of his 2009 book Eating The Dinosaur. Like Rush Limbaugh often does, Klosterman seems to be passionately saying a whole lot about absolutley nothing, using small nuggets of wisdom or verifiable facts and stretching them beyond any sort of comprehension or meaning what so ever. With a voice as bold and confident as Olympus he spews completely contradictory ideas and arguments within sentences--or even words--of each other. And after doing such he goes on, as though what he is saying makes absolute sense, which makes it all very comical to me.

During his 20 page tirade on NFL footballl for instance he states that what makes the NFL so great is that it is not trying to be anything that it is not. But then sentences later he says: "He [Brett Favre] was the human incarnation of how the NFL hopes to portray itself..." Contradictory. Then he goes on to argue that the NFL is liberalism cloaked in conservatism, going as far as conjuring up a story about how Teddy Roosevelt legalized the forward pass and how former comissioner Roselle was a Marxist.

Klosterman has not been the first to suggest that the NFL has socialistic tendencies. Afterall the league does have a salary cap and a salary minimum. It has a weighted college draft and ofcourse the teams all share the massive tv reveune that the league brings in. The idea being that you are only as strong as your weakest link, so if you empower those on the bottom, you make the entire league stronger. So the case that the NFL is liberalism cloaked in conservatism has real merit and is one of the few things that Klosterman points ot that actually makes some sense. Some of Klosterman's jibber-jabber is very entertaining, but most of it seems to be babbling on for the sake of babbling on, possibly just to entertain himself. Which is fine. Because even though alot (probablly even most) of this babbling bores the socks off of me and I end up skipping over it (like his riff about laugh tracks or his riff about Garth Brooks), there are sections of his book that I find moderately entertaining and which are no worse than watching reruns of The Office, for example.

For this reason and more I give Eating the Dinosaur 1.5 out of 5 WagemannHeads(less)

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Sep 22, 2011

Patrick McCoy rated it

Shelves: essays

Eating The Dinosaur is Chuck Klosterman’s latest book of essays on pop culture. There’s a lot to enjoy in the book, but I don’t think it’s as entertaining as some of his earlier books. It seems that (unlike the majority of his fans) I tend to find his sports essays among the most entertaining and thought provoking. In this book he takes on the disappointing untapped potential of Ralph Samson’s NBA career in “What We Talk About When We Talk About Ralph Sampson: Society's Reactions to Public Failu...more

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Sep 16, 2011

Jeremy Garber rated it

Shelves: cultural-criticism, good-writing

Chuck Klosterman is a genius. He makes me want to write. Seriously, I restarted my PhD dissertation with full energy after reading this book. Reading Klosterman is like having a half-drunken conversation with a really interesting friend who is fascinated by everything. In this book, Klosterman reflects on the process of interviewing and why people go through it, much less tell the truth; the similarities between Nirvana and David Koresh; how time travel is basically for lazy people who want to e...more

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Aug 04, 2011

Benjamin Siess rated it

Chuck Klosterman is a changed man. Evolved. But is that a good thing?

In “Eating the Dinosaur”, Chuck is a different writer than he was when most of his current fan base stumbled upon him with “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs”, his second publication. In SDaCPs, Klosterman was a low culture guru, who molded philosophy around constant references to pop culture. “Eating the Dinosaur” isn’t so lighthearted, and I don’t think it was meant to be, so that’s not an indictment. It’s just not what I’ve come ...moreChuck Klosterman is a changed man. Evolved. But is that a good thing?

In “Eating the Dinosaur”, Chuck is a different writer than he was when most of his current fan base stumbled upon him with “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs”, his second publication. In SDaCPs, Klosterman was a low culture guru, who molded philosophy around constant references to pop culture. “Eating the Dinosaur” isn’t so lighthearted, and I don’t think it was meant to be, so that’s not an indictment. It’s just not what I’ve come to expect from him.

“Eating the Dinosaur” definitely still has a healthy share of pop culture infused into it, but not nearly to the extent of any of Klosterman’s other books. It reminded me of a hyper philosophical Malcolm Gladwell in a lot of parts (which I’m sure most agree, isn’t a bad thing). Long passages are crafted purely on ideas with less involvement from the pop culture back bone of the story. More of the examples he gave to illustrate his ideas were less low culture, and more scholastic or, ahem, adult. Technically, his writing is getting more proficient, but for me, not necessarily more enjoyable. Perhaps he thinks the things that he’s trying to get across are more important than the need to entertain. His chosen subject matter is definitely more complex. Perhaps he felt that the more intricate themes demanded a more high-minded approach.

I also noticed a lack of the “I’m smarter than you and I’ll prove it” tone that he has made use of in the past, and I…...missed it? I always got the impression that his writing was an exercise, and he didn’t always necessarily believe what he was saying, but that he was trying to convince you anyways and entertain at the same time. This book seemed much more personal, like it was important to him that he discover what he thought about the nature of reality and writing the book was like opening the little black box in his head that he talks about in the first essay about interviews.

Another minor thing I noticed was his lack of introspection about his romantic relationships. Recently married, I wonder if we’ve heard the last about Klosterman’s love life, an aspect that I always enjoyed in his writing (let’s try to ignore how odd it is that I enjoyed reading about the romance of a self-professed geeky, odd-looking 40 something, native North Dakotan).

All that being said, the essence of his signature writing style is still the same and I really love watching the man think. If you’ve liked his other books, there is a good chance you’ll like this one. Just be prepared for the differences. Less laughy-laughy, more thinky-thinky.

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Jul 24, 2011

NJMetal rated it

Eating The Dinosaur is a return to the form of Sex, Drugs and Chuck Klosterman IV. Full of essays of irreverant views of pop-culture of all varieties: Music, movies and sports most notably. If there can be a unifiing theme to it all perhaps it is best described as essays on preception and time.
This is certainly not Klostermans best work. But it is undeniably Klosterman. ABBA vs. the World, how are Curt Cobain and David Koresh the same person. Did Ted Kazynski have a valid point. Klos...more

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Mar 14, 2011

Matt rated it

I'll pretty much read anything Klosterman writes, and this book is not going to change that opinion one bit. In fact, this one actually impressed me, even though I'm usually pretty into K's game.

Part of it is just the weirdness of these essays, this book, existing at all. I think the previous books were collections of pieces that he'd written for other jobs-- Spin, Esquire, whatever. But this one, at least as far as I can tell, eshews that to go for new content. And who has time for ...more

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Mar 01, 2011

James Mcgann rated it

I picked up this book because I've heard Klosterman on Bill Simmons' (aka The Sports Guy on ESPN.com) podcast, and he had a unique way of approaching sports, in that he enjoyed them, but never rooted for a team. He just didn't care who won - which was almost completely unfathomable to me! Even in games where I don't really have any rooting interest, I find myself pulling for one team instead of the other. Anyway, this book is full of similarly unique (some might say bizarre) opinions on a var...more

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Nov 29, 2010

Derek Wolfgram rated it

Meh. I hoped that Eating the Dinosaur would be a return to form for Klosterman, after the unreadable novel Downtown Owl. In retrospect, it occurs to me that Klosterman's books have gotten steadily less entertaining with each one that is published. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs had me laughing out loud, and I found Killing Yourself to Live pretty insightful and entertaining, but since then the returns have been diminishing. I'll pay Klosterman a sort of compliment here: Eating the Dinosaur reminds m...more

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Sep 15, 2010

James rated it

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I have had a longstanding love/like relationship with Chuck Klosterman. Most of the time I like what he writes, and occasionally I love certain pieces, or even parts of pieces.

But Eating the Dinosaur has, somehow, taken large parts of my brain--and by this I mean not only or simply objects and topics that inhabit my brain, but THE WAYS I THINK ABOUT THEM--and made them plain, in language that not only replicates my own cadences and ramblings, but refines them to the point where I som...more

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Jul 08, 2010

Brynn rated it

"Most people are not articulate about everything in their life, but they are articulate about the things they're still figuring out." (8)

"So the deeper question is, what's more important, narrative consistency or truth? I think we're always trying to create a consistent narrative for ourselves. I think truth always takes a backseat to narrative. Truth has to sit at the back of the bus." (13)

"People answer questions because it feels stranger to do ...more

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May 04, 2010

Shelah rated it

Eddie and I bought this audiobook to listen to when we were driving around Hawaii. Even though I've read basically all of Klosterman's nonfiction books, they're not the kinds of books I'd normally imagine myself enjoying. For one thing, he writes almost exclusively about rock music, about which I know very little (my most hated question when I was dating was "what kind of music do you listen to?" because I never felt like I knew enough about music to answer that in an intelligent way) ...more

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Apr 25, 2010

Book Calendar rated it

Shelves: essays, humor

Chuck Klosterman Eating The Dinosaur

Chuck Klosterman writes novels and journalism. This book is a collection of essays focused on popular culture. It has a slight edge to it, a kind of independent feeling you might associate with independent rock or independent bookstores. I had heard comparisons between Chuck Klosterman and Hunter S. Thompson, but it really does not feel that way. There is no sense of outlaw violence or danger in reading Chuck Klosterman's writing...more

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Mar 29, 2010

Blog on Books rated it

As longtime readers of Blog on Books know, we love Chuck Klosterman. After all, who else could completely invert our views of Kiss, Britney Spears, sports heroes and cultural icons the way Klosterman deconstructs then reassembles them in a completely different, yet somehow still (if not more) sensible way?
Yet, in this, his fifth compendium (and sixth book overall) `Eating the Dinosaur' (Scribner), Klosterman has made a fatal mistake and it appears in the very first chapter, no less. Someh...moreAs longtime readers of Blog on Books know, we love Chuck Klosterman. After all, who else could completely invert our views of Kiss, Britney Spears, sports heroes and cultural icons the way Klosterman deconstructs then reassembles them in a completely different, yet somehow still (if not more) sensible way?
Yet, in this, his fifth compendium (and sixth book overall) `Eating the Dinosaur' (Scribner), Klosterman has made a fatal mistake and it appears in the very first chapter, no less. Somehow Klosterman has gone from merely self-aware, to somewhat self-obsessed. It's like he suddenly has realized that his prominence (success) has transformed him from the interviewer to the interviewee. This is not a circumstance that the Fargo-cum-New York rock'n'roll gonzoist seems quite able to handle. By questioning how an interview is actually different than a conversation, say, by two buds at a bar, Klosterman appears to have lost it when it comes to the realization that it's all about `product.' (I mean, what was the guy thinking when he conducted all the interviews he's done?) This same attitude was in full effect in his incredibly awkward recent interview with Carson Daly as well.
Once we get a few exits past this just plain weird, road-kill stink opening, Klosterman gets back on track with some reasonably great analyses of Kurt Cobain vs. Waco cult leader David Koresh (did he ever hear Koresh's demo tape, I wonder?), time travel, the NBA's Ralph Simpson, Hitchcock, ABBA, irony, canned laughter and numerous chapters loosely structured around the theme of personal perception (a re-examination of the message of the Unabomber as well as the final cultural dissection of Garth Brooks' Chris Gaines character, being the most memorable ones). Don't get me wrong, Klosterman's POVs are still some of the most mind opening and cutting edge interpretations of modern pop culture. It's just that it would be nice if he relaxed about his newfound position of popularity. In other words, get over your bad self, dude.
In the final analysis, The Chuck is dead, long live the Chuck!
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Dec 17, 2009

Nevena rated it

“But there’s one kind of writing that always easy: Picking out something obviously stupid and reiterating how stupid it obvious is. This is the lowest form of criticism, easily accomplished by anyone. And for most of my life, I have tried to avoid this. In fact, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time searching for the underrated value in ostensibly stupid things. I understand Turtle’s motivation and I would have watched Medellin in the theatre. I read Mary Worth every day for a decade. I’ve see...more

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Nov 18, 2009

Jan rated it

My expectations for Klosterman have grown since "Downtown Owl," his first novel that proved he was capable of sustaining a longer narrative and also of developing inner worlds of at least equal depth to the pre-fabricated culture on which he comments. This new collection of essays, while an enjoyable read, is nothing earthshaking and will hold few surprises for people who have read the other ones.

A few essays end up in relatively cheap territory; the comparison of Koresh...more

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Nov 09, 2009

Benjamin rated it

After the unexpected brilliance of "Downtown Owl," it seemed like Klosterman could do no wrong. With "Eating the Dinosaur," everything comes crashing down.

It opens with a borderline pointless discussion of why interviewees answer questions. Next is a discussion of Kurt Cobain and David Koresh that feels like an amateur trying to impersonate Klosterman. Dissections of the basketball of career of Ralph Sampson and Garth Brooks' tenure as Chris Gaines are th...more

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Oct 28, 2009

christa rated it

Here's a confession: I did not read Chuck Klosterman's entire book "Eating the Dinosaur." This slighting came with his permission, nay, his insistence. Klosterman busts through the fourth wall in his essay about football to suggest that if you aren't into football, you can jump this chapter. " ... I will understand if you skip to the next essay, which is about ABBA." And if a reader hangs around a bit longer, thinking, perhaps, "Meh. Who cares. He'll probably say somethi...moreHere's a confession: I did not read Chuck Klosterman's entire book "Eating the Dinosaur." This slighting came with his permission, nay, his insistence. Klosterman busts through the fourth wall in his essay about football to suggest that if you aren't into football, you can jump this chapter. " ... I will understand if you skip to the next essay, which is about ABBA." And if a reader hangs around a bit longer, thinking, perhaps, "Meh. Who cares. He'll probably say something about Britny Spears in here somewhere," he stops the bus and holds open the door once again:

"If you'd still rather get to the shit about ABBA, you should go there now."

Friends, I went to the ABBA.

Klosterman's most-recent compilation of essays includes comparisons between David Koresh and Kurt Cobain, the mislaid career of a once-great athlete, and why observing his longtime neighbor through her window was never really interesting. He talks about why Weezer fans never appreciate Weezer albums, Twitter, and the Unibomber.

It is all done with Klosterman's patented template. He seems to randomly draws two topics out of a hat, finds a way to weave them together, then throws in an opinion on why an intelligent, shape-shifting metal is more believable in "Terminator" than time travel.

This book is fine. There is not a lot that differs from any of his other books -- post "Fargo Rock City" -- including the ones that are fiction or first cousins of fiction. Sometimes this is fine. It's like always ordering the wild rice burger and beer battered fries from the Brewhouse. It tastes good, but it doesn't come with a hell of a lot of suprises. Sometimes it feels like Klosterman could be more something. "Funny" is one word that comes to mind. "Spontaneous" is another.

This is what it is like to read one of Chuck Klosterman's compilations of nonfiction essays: It is like being on vacation in a small town in a weird state and seeing some guy wearing a T'shirt with the name of your favorite dive bar printed on the front. It's like "Oh! You've been to Dick's Crab Shack! We go there all the time!" Except in this metaphor, the T'shirt is Klosterman's pop culture references. There you are in a mess of words that may or may not interest you and he mentions something you like or remember liking. "Saved by the Bell," or "WKRP in Cincinnati." So you nod and keep reading.

At one point while I was reading this book, Klosterman mentioned Matt Dillon and the band Was Not Was (although this has noting to do with the title) within a few pages of each other. Both of these topics had come up in a conversation I'd had with my boyfriend earlier in the day.

I can't tell if this means we are all psychically linked, or if it just means that Klosterman talks about everything in the world at least once.(less)

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Jan 11, 2012

Johnpatrick Marr rated it

Shelves: essays

In a scant 245 pages Chuck Klosterman will find a way to annoy you. As far as I can tell he's built an entire literary career around being willfully obtuse. He proudly puts forth his failures of the imagination and practiced ignorance as if they were the highest virtues a cultural critic could aspire to. This is a pretty vague criticism, let me highlight two examples:

In "Oh the Guilt," Klosterman puts forth the idea that Nirvana really doesn't have much to say, because in lyr...moreIn a scant 245 pages Chuck Klosterman will find a way to annoy you. As far as I can tell he's built an entire literary career around being willfully obtuse. He proudly puts forth his failures of the imagination and practiced ignorance as if they were the highest virtues a cultural critic could aspire to. This is a pretty vague criticism, let me highlight two examples:

In "Oh the Guilt," Klosterman puts forth the idea that Nirvana really doesn't have much to say, because in lyrics such as "I tried hard to have a father/but instead I had a dad." you could swap the predicates without changing the meaning of the sentence. He also cites the quote, "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing," as an example of this. As a scholar of language, I'm utterly confused as to how Klosterman came to the conclusion that symmetrical predicates were some kind of measure of a statements philosophical value. The meaning, at least in the Nirvana lyric, is derived from the fact that they are two different words, not two different ideas necessarily. We all immediately understand the idea of trying to have one thing, but getting something inarticulately different. We understand this intuitively unless we're approaching the thing in a purposeful attempt to get it wrong.

In "Tomorrow Rarely Knows," Klosterman states that Time Travel is impossible, acknowledges the existence of Einstein and his theory of special relativity and immediately dismisses it. I assure you, Mr. Klosterman, it's a whole big thing. At the same time, he'll take daredevil leaps of logic that make Einstein look intuitive. I find it hard to read past statements like "(paraphrasing) This scenario is purely fictional, therefore no one has a reason to lie when talking about it." As a professional interviewer I expect Klosterman to know that people will find reasons to lie in the most surprising of places. There are some truly faulty Q.E.D.'s that will leap up at you in this book which have the net effect of making you feel as though you're reading a series of blog entries that someone saw fit to bind.

It's maddening to take in his writing on topics he knows little about, because he takes such pride in flaunting this ignorance but when he's writing about things I know nothing about, it's a pretty pleasant ride. I found the second half of the book to be much more enjoyable, and he won me over enough that I'd consider reading his future efforts.(less)

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Nov 03, 2011

Krysta rated it

as always, I love Klosterman. as always, I enjoyed and identified with the majority of the points he made in the book, and I think that's a part of why I gravitate toward his writing- particularly with this book being laid out in a list/outline format, it's like reading a more eloquent version of the way I think. Chuck writes about pop culture, but mostly he writes about himself, and most of his target audience can identify with him easily. The hook, for me at least, is that he finds the most ra...more

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Oct 24, 2009

Jamie rated it

Shelves: the-lighter-side

This release was cause for great excitement, the start of what I like to call Jamie Reads a Whole Lot of Books Published Within 3 Weeks of Each Other Month. It's most exciting because I've heard so many podcasts between Klosterman and Bill Simmons where Klosterman seems like the type of guy who can think on his feet on cultural phenomena like no one I've ever heard before. Plus, I was just excited because I found "Downtown Owl" anathema to me; after the little novella at the end of "...moreThis release was cause for great excitement, the start of what I like to call Jamie Reads a Whole Lot of Books Published Within 3 Weeks of Each Other Month. It's most exciting because I've heard so many podcasts between Klosterman and Bill Simmons where Klosterman seems like the type of guy who can think on his feet on cultural phenomena like no one I've ever heard before. Plus, I was just excited because I found "Downtown Owl" anathema to me; after the little novella at the end of "Chuck Klosterman: IV," I decided that without question fiction by Klosterman is not my bag.

Like pretty much every person on the planet, I loved "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs," and this is the first book that Klosterman has written in ten years that follows the same basic idea: essays. Generally on culture. Specifically: pop.

What I find myself thinking now that I've finished it is that these essays are all so much smarter, more adult than the essays written in "S, D, & CP." There is definitely something to be said for someone writing in his late thirties rather than as a 27-year-old (says the 29-year-old who fancies herself a writer when the moment strikes). Yet somehow all of these essays felt much more rushed to me. They were clearly more cogent and thought-provoking than earlier work by him, but at the same time they all feel like Klosterman spat them out rapid-fire, without thinking of how they really work together. It was a strange paradoxical reading experience for me.

Loved: the essay on Nirvana and the Branch Davidians, the essay on Weezer/irony/DFW, etc. Did not love so much: the essay on Ralph Sampson. Sort of fall in between on: everything else. Completely baffled by: the "interview" interludes between essays. Who is interviewing? Who is answering? Are they connected to the essay that follows? Well, clearly sometimes they are, but: every time? Generally they are entertaining (especially the "Best Response to X Question" section) but so confusing. So very very confusing.

So in total: Solid. Smart. Fast read. And... that's all I've got, which is disappointing.(less)

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Jan 31, 2010

Brian Jones rated it

The essays on the Unabomber and football in here are by far the best, in part because they were least concerned with "pop culture" narrowly defined. In the case of these two essays, the slight step away from his past work seems to have coincided with (if not actually opened the way for) his intellectual progress. In both cases these essays eschew the fun, abrupt gotcha juxtapositions cultural studies readings allow, and instead explore and develop their themes in depth. In contrast,...more

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Nov 14, 2010

Sebastian Franks rated it

The essays collected in this book are like the literary equivalent of Lays chips: "I bet you can't read just one." I cracked the spine three days ago, couldn't help gorging myself, and now the figurative bag is empty.

As usual, Klosterman's essays in this book are David Foster Wallace Lite, complete with discursive footnotes and entertaining, abstract ruminations on contemporary culture. But whereas DFW is hyper-intellectual, impressively erudite, and usually has some sort o...more

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May 14, 2010

Brittany rated it

Recommends it for: Chuck Klosterman fans

Shelves: nonfiction, short-nonfiction-essays

How I Came To Read This Book: Chuck Klosterman has been pretty solid at releasing a new book every year or two. When I didn’t hear about one, I looked him up, and lo and behold my library had several copies of the book for me to take out.

The Plot: The book is essentially ten essays on ten very sweeping philosophical / societal issues (or not), that are often punctuated by references, comparisons, and direct links to pop culture. For example, there is one chapter on similarities betwe...moreHow I Came To Read This Book: Chuck Klosterman has been pretty solid at releasing a new book every year or two. When I didn’t hear about one, I looked him up, and lo and behold my library had several copies of the book for me to take out.

The Plot: The book is essentially ten essays on ten very sweeping philosophical / societal issues (or not), that are often punctuated by references, comparisons, and direct links to pop culture. For example, there is one chapter on similarities between Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Branch Davidian frontman David Koresh, and how watching adults destroy things is fun. Another chapter talks about how Weezer is a disappointing (on paper) emo band, while another breaks down why laugh tracks are so incredibly stupid. There are a couple of chapters on sports-related topics (the failure of a potential basketball great and the incredibly innovative sport of football), a couple more on Pepsi meets Don Draper meets Obama and Abba vs. the world. There’s also a couple of more though-provoking, less culture-related sections on voyeurism and time travel respectively. In between each chapter is a little snippet of an interview Klosterman has presumably conducted, and some of the best answers he’s ever seen (indeed, these make up some of the most humorous parts of the book).

The Good & The Bad: This book ultimately represents that darker, more adult side of Chuck Klosterman. Although his essays are still peppered with pop culture references and wry humour, the overall subject matter in which they are contained is somehow just more…serious. A decade ago Klosterman would have barely touched the Unabomber, David Koresh, or oblique references to 9/11 and Columbine. This book not only crosschecks all of these items, he goes into great detail in some cases. There’s just an overall more grim, thoughtful tone to the book.

It’s not an entirely bad thing, although I anticipate people who’ve just gotten into Klosterman will be disappointed by this sudden turn for the serious. Ultimately the book can’t be read you’ve read past books by Chuck. I strongly, strongly recommend reading each chapter in its own individual section. I really dreaded starting the next essay after I’d just finished one because Klosterman gave me SO much to chew on. I’d advise reading an essay, giving yourself half a day or a day, and then starting the next one. I liked that this book made me think and absorb things a lot more than Klosterman’s past books, but I also think sometimes his essays were a little too sprawling and ambitious. Although watching him unfold the whole yarn to such great heights and then wind it back together at the end was nifty, it also felt a little unnecessary sometimes…by the time you got back to his original point it sort of felt like ‘So what?”

Klosterman is still a hugely self-aware author. After the first page of the aptly titled ‘Football’ essay, he acknowledges that the majority of his target audience won’t want to read the chapter. He encourages you along, tells you to skip a section that will only be interested to a diehard few, and finally in a footnote admits “If you didn’t know what I was talking about and you’re still reading this, I’m impressed” (at which point I DID stop reading the chapter). That being said, this book represents his most insular work to date. There were so many little references that I got, and really, didn’t get, that I felt like “Who is your target audience really? Yourself?” As per the one that made me laugh the hardest, listing all the things that make people depressed (such as famine, death, disease) and capping it off with “The music of Bon Iver, et al.” Hilarity, but only if you LISTEN to Bon Iver, which not a whole lot of people do. Even people that read this book. Still, it was cool to read a book of his that was written on contemporary topics (his last collection of essays was largely a collection of interviews form the past half-decade) – Klosterman’s take on blogging, Obamamania, Mad Men, and others was a treat to read about.

The Bottom Line: The darker, more provoking side of Klosterman.

Anything Memorable?: Apparently we have identical tastes in television. Literally every show of the 21st century that he specifically said he watched, I watch. We should get together and watch some TV. Or if he’s still a voyeur, he can attempt to peer through my basement window to watch me watch TV.

50-Book Challenge?: Book #26 in 2010.
(less)

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Apr 11, 2010

deejah rated it

This was my first introduction to Chuck Klosterman and his exciting style of writing. A dear friend of mine, Eric, let me know that he was reading and enjoying this book and after struggling through my original book for this week (The Help) - I decided to give this book a try. It is hard to fully describe this book, but basically it is several essays comparing what seem to be disparate subjects.

Mr. Klosterman is essentially writing a philosophy book - there were times that my head w...more

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May 06, 2011

Dawn rated it

I picked this book up originally because I had read a short piece of Klosterman's on the internet somewhere and thought he was fairly amusing. I found him funny enough in this book to laugh a good bit, but I did have my issues. He's primarily a pop culture/music critic, and we differ greatly on some points. For instance, he doesn't seem to like The Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother very much, calling their "credibility" into question, but immediately after that he calls The S...more

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About Chuck Klosterman

Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman is an American pop-culture journalist, critic, humorist, and essayist. He was raised on a farm near Wyndmere, North Dakota and graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1994. After college he was a journalist in Fargo, North Dakota and later an arts critic for the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio, before moving to New York City in 2002.

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Books by Chuck Klosterman

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story

Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota

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“Every time I learn the truth about something, I’m disappointed” — 19 people liked it

“If you've spent any time trolling the blogosphere, you've probably noticed a peculiar literary trend: the pervasive habit of writers inexplicably placing exclamation points at the end of otherwise unremarkable sentences. Sort of like this! This is done to suggest an ironic detachment from the writing of an expository sentence! It's supposed to signify that the writer is self-aware! And this is idiotic. It's the saddest kind of failure. F. Scott Fitzgerald believed inserting exclamation points was the literary equivalent of an author laughing at his own jokes, but that's not the case in the modern age; now, the exclamation point signifies creative confusion. All it illustrates is that even the writer can't tell if what they're creating is supposed to be meaningful, frivolous, or cruel. It's an attempt to insert humor where none exists, on the off chance that a potential reader will only be pleased if they suspect they're being entertained. Of course, the reader isn't really sure, either. They just want to know when they're supposed to pretend to be amused. All those extraneous exclamation points are like little splatters of canned laughter: They represent the "form of funny," which is more easily understood (and more easily constructed) than authentic funniness. ” — 16 people liked it

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