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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
This is the second of Klosterman's books I've read (the other being Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas). I'm a fairly slow, methodical reader, but I blaze through his books. They're truly entertaining--pretty much the the perfect airline read--and you don't have to agree with all of Klosterman's many opinions to enjoy his work. He's nerdy, erudite, and able to draw comparisons from a wide variety of sources, high and low. He weaves his themes through music, film, TV, sports, celebrity culture, and personal memoir. Like any good essayist, he's able to make you care, at least for the duration of an essay, about things that you never previously considered worth your time. His work is light, witty, and a bit overly confessional. But he keeps me turning the pages. And I can't really think of another writer who creates the same vibe.
Definitivamente, Klosterman no es para mí. Sus libros se leen como un tiro, pero no puedo evitar una leve sensación de que... me cae mal.
Chuck goes a little too far down the rabbit hole in some of the essays, but some others are brilliant (the Seinfeld and Bernhard Goetz/Batman vigilantism ones in particular). This was a definite departure from some of his other stuff, but I actually liked essays all pulling into the central theme that villainy is defined knowing the most and caring the least.
Klosterman is a weird author for me. I pick up one of his books and I'm like "Hey I like this guy, why don't I read more of him?"
Then I get into it and I'm like, "oh right, he's really into sports and sometimes it feels like he's only interested in talking to other men."
But we're both about the same age and he talks about bands I liked when I was in high school so there's enough overlap there to keep me coming back for more.
I saw other people on here complain about the theme, but I kind of liked it. (I also enjoy the asides more than others did, but I think you and I both know why that is.)
It's also weird reading a book at the beginning of 2020 that's only like 6 years old yet seems to come from a different world. Through no fault of Klosterman, many of his references have become a little jarring. Louis CK has since fallen from grace, the world has lost Bowie and Kobe, and he talks about the presidency like the office still has some dignity while I'm sitting here in year four of Trump.
All in all, it's a good read, but the last sentence is a little rough. No spoilers, just brace yourself for it.
Then I get into it and I'm like, "oh right, he's really into sports and sometimes it feels like he's only interested in talking to other men."
But we're both about the same age and he talks about bands I liked when I was in high school so there's enough overlap there to keep me coming back for more.
I saw other people on here complain about the theme, but I kind of liked it. (I also enjoy the asides more than others did, but I think you and I both know why that is.)
It's also weird reading a book at the beginning of 2020 that's only like 6 years old yet seems to come from a different world. Through no fault of Klosterman, many of his references have become a little jarring. Louis CK has since fallen from grace, the world has lost Bowie and Kobe, and he talks about the presidency like the office still has some dignity while I'm sitting here in year four of Trump.
All in all, it's a good read, but the last sentence is a little rough. No spoilers, just brace yourself for it.
dark
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
This is a shallow navel-gazing exploration of villains in pop culture (whether they are real or imaginary, or not really villains at all). This book reminds me of Seinfeld - a book about nothing that's a little too impressed with itself (Klosterman has a bad habit of pronouncing that this or that is how everybody thinks, based on nothing but his own opinion) that is nonetheless amusing and entertaining. I enjoyed listening to it, and would pick up another Klosterman book to kill some time.
funny
medium-paced
Thoughts about evil and morality in a secular world viewed through a popculture frame. It was an interesting, easy read, if not particularly new or surprising. And you mostly had me until the Hitler chapter, Chuck. I mean, it's Klosterman so he's very much IN his writing, there's no separation of his arguments and his voice, but seriously, that last chapter was just one indulgent step too far.
"I Wear the Black Hat" was a selection for book club. When I heard we'd be reading this, I was pretty excited. I'd never read Klosterman before, but I'd seen copies of "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" in airport bookstores for seemingly years after it's initial publication, so I was excited at the opportunity to finally see what all the fuss is about.
Knowing only the title, I assumed this would be a book examining hacker culture, hopefully with some brief forays into interesting, tangential worlds like that of Anonymous and 4Chan. A book like that would be a great read, I thought.
That is not this book.
What you have instead is 225 pages of Klosterman's stream-of-consciousness on the makings of a "villian," assuming your standard for villainy is set as low as Kanye West. It's a quick, painless read, so like most Millennials, it earns the extra star merely for showing up. But if you're expecting something on a level beyond pages filled with words that make a coherent, well-thought argument that leads the reader to some sort of conclusion, then this is most definitely not this book.
Knowing only the title, I assumed this would be a book examining hacker culture, hopefully with some brief forays into interesting, tangential worlds like that of Anonymous and 4Chan. A book like that would be a great read, I thought.
That is not this book.
What you have instead is 225 pages of Klosterman's stream-of-consciousness on the makings of a "villian," assuming your standard for villainy is set as low as Kanye West. It's a quick, painless read, so like most Millennials, it earns the extra star merely for showing up. But if you're expecting something on a level beyond pages filled with words that make a coherent, well-thought argument that leads the reader to some sort of conclusion, then this is most definitely not this book.
This book started out very strong, but then it just kind of moved into a rambling mess of contradictions and vagueness.