May 13, 2007
Killing Yourself To Live
Current mood: pensive
So, I just finished reading Chuck Klosterman's book "Killing Yourself To Live" as well as the excerpt from his next book "IV" which is contained at the end of the book.So, overall, after reading the book I am trying to decide whether I think Klosterman is a narcissitic asshole who tries to trick his readers into thinking he's going to write about rock and roll deaths and then switching the narrative into mostly one about his relationships with women, or if he is indeed an intelligent sociology-minded author who is trying to show how music relates to his personal life. In the end I think both are sort of true. I think that he is striving for the second option, but in that process, he really does go off on long tangents that, quite honestly, are a bit more depressing than I wanted to hear, about his experiences with women. I also must add that after a while his discussion of his active drug use gets REALLY old. I also think he tries really hard to make it seem like its perfectly acceptable to use hard drugs on a constant basis. Ultimately, I think he's a good writer who is unfortunately very self-centered. However, I will say that I think the excerpt at the end of the book from his next book "IV" seemed intelligent and incredibly insightful. His dicussion of Britney Spears and her image/non-image is incredibly intriguing and would have been great for our discussion on music and the media in Dr. Gay's soundscapes class this semester.At the end of the day I don't know whether I would reccomend "Killing Yourself To Live" however, I would certainly say that Klosterman is a good writer who certainly has a lot of value in the realm of music's role in society.
Currently Listening :
Live from Albertane
By Hanson
Release date: By 06 April, 2006
Current mood: pensive
So, I just finished reading Chuck Klosterman's book "Killing Yourself To Live" as well as the excerpt from his next book "IV" which is contained at the end of the book.So, overall, after reading the book I am trying to decide whether I think Klosterman is a narcissitic asshole who tries to trick his readers into thinking he's going to write about rock and roll deaths and then switching the narrative into mostly one about his relationships with women, or if he is indeed an intelligent sociology-minded author who is trying to show how music relates to his personal life. In the end I think both are sort of true. I think that he is striving for the second option, but in that process, he really does go off on long tangents that, quite honestly, are a bit more depressing than I wanted to hear, about his experiences with women. I also must add that after a while his discussion of his active drug use gets REALLY old. I also think he tries really hard to make it seem like its perfectly acceptable to use hard drugs on a constant basis. Ultimately, I think he's a good writer who is unfortunately very self-centered. However, I will say that I think the excerpt at the end of the book from his next book "IV" seemed intelligent and incredibly insightful. His dicussion of Britney Spears and her image/non-image is incredibly intriguing and would have been great for our discussion on music and the media in Dr. Gay's soundscapes class this semester.At the end of the day I don't know whether I would reccomend "Killing Yourself To Live" however, I would certainly say that Klosterman is a good writer who certainly has a lot of value in the realm of music's role in society.
Currently Listening :
Live from Albertane
By Hanson
Release date: By 06 April, 2006