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essemmarr 's review for:
I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains (Real and Imagined)
by Chuck Klosterman
Chuck's a lil' too far up his own asshole with this one. I've greatly enjoyed his previous non-fiction works, mostly because he hasn't tried to imbue his criticism of _pop_ ephemera with much in the way of greater meaning. It's pop culture, his books should be tasty little snacks that recall the specific period they are writing about, and that's it.
THIS collection of pop culture essays, though, has a theme. A rather muddled one about the nature of villainy and how our culture views its villains, with a healthy dash of self-chest-thumping "I always root for the bad guy, so I must be a bad guy" weirdness sprinkled throughout.
It just doesn't click on that level for me. Taken as a series of essays about various bad dudes from the last fifty years ago, it approaches a fun read. But the constant, tortured analysis of how each particular person fits into the grander theme of modern villainy ruins what little flow the book ever builds up.
Particularly annoying is the end. There is no grand wrap-up of the damned theme he's shoehorned in throughout the rest of the book, just a summary of the last person's particular villainy. And the last sentence is just the absolute worst.
Chuck's had a very solid track record on his career so far so a misstep was inevitable and I believe this is it. I hope he recovers and realizes that there's nothing wrong with being "just" a really outstanding pop culture essayist and decent novelist.
THIS collection of pop culture essays, though, has a theme. A rather muddled one about the nature of villainy and how our culture views its villains, with a healthy dash of self-chest-thumping "I always root for the bad guy, so I must be a bad guy" weirdness sprinkled throughout.
It just doesn't click on that level for me. Taken as a series of essays about various bad dudes from the last fifty years ago, it approaches a fun read. But the constant, tortured analysis of how each particular person fits into the grander theme of modern villainy ruins what little flow the book ever builds up.
Particularly annoying is the end. There is no grand wrap-up of the damned theme he's shoehorned in throughout the rest of the book, just a summary of the last person's particular villainy. And the last sentence is just the absolute worst.
Chuck's had a very solid track record on his career so far so a misstep was inevitable and I believe this is it. I hope he recovers and realizes that there's nothing wrong with being "just" a really outstanding pop culture essayist and decent novelist.