this month's books
"Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto"
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is the manifesto for a youth gone wild with hatred and love for that which they are bombarded with, i.e. pop culture and media. Using the same memoir/deconstructive style he employed with Fargo Rock City, Chuck explores all of the things that most of us dismiss (intellectually, at least). John Cusack is to blame for Chuck’s lack of romantic satisfaction. Internet porn totally baffles him. Reality television peeves him off to no end, which is why he can’t stop watching it. The Dixie Chicks are the new Van Halen because teenage girls are the new teenage boys. And, under no circumstances, would Chuck make for a benevolent God. Each topic is connected by small passages that pull together a massive cultural quilt, one that Chuck has stitched to “playfully help people understand what they know through who they are.” Well, whatever he’s trying to do, it makes for a non-stop good time.
"Killing Yourself to Live."
For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought as much as possible about death and dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock n’ roll all the way. Over the span of 21 days, Chuck had three relationships end (one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion). He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half mile through the bean field. A waitress in Dickinson, ND, explained to him why he would never be happy. He listened to KISS solo albums and realized its band members represent every woman he ever cared about. At one point, poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard.
From the Chelsea Hotel to the swamp where Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down to the spot where Kurt Cobain blew his head off, Chuck explores every brand of rock star demise. He wants to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing…and what this means for the rest of us. With Fargo Rock City, Chuck examined the way we grow up on popular culture. With Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puff, Chuck took a look at the way we form our adult lives around popular culture. With Killing Yourself to Live, he takes on nothing less than the rest of it - living, loving, and dying - all through the ever-present lens of that which entertains us.
Which book would you read?
Both are written by Chuck Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine and columnist for Esquire.
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is the manifesto for a youth gone wild with hatred and love for that which they are bombarded with, i.e. pop culture and media. Using the same memoir/deconstructive style he employed with Fargo Rock City, Chuck explores all of the things that most of us dismiss (intellectually, at least). John Cusack is to blame for Chuck’s lack of romantic satisfaction. Internet porn totally baffles him. Reality television peeves him off to no end, which is why he can’t stop watching it. The Dixie Chicks are the new Van Halen because teenage girls are the new teenage boys. And, under no circumstances, would Chuck make for a benevolent God. Each topic is connected by small passages that pull together a massive cultural quilt, one that Chuck has stitched to “playfully help people understand what they know through who they are.” Well, whatever he’s trying to do, it makes for a non-stop good time.
"Killing Yourself to Live."
For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought as much as possible about death and dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock n’ roll all the way. Over the span of 21 days, Chuck had three relationships end (one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion). He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half mile through the bean field. A waitress in Dickinson, ND, explained to him why he would never be happy. He listened to KISS solo albums and realized its band members represent every woman he ever cared about. At one point, poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard.
From the Chelsea Hotel to the swamp where Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down to the spot where Kurt Cobain blew his head off, Chuck explores every brand of rock star demise. He wants to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing…and what this means for the rest of us. With Fargo Rock City, Chuck examined the way we grow up on popular culture. With Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puff, Chuck took a look at the way we form our adult lives around popular culture. With Killing Yourself to Live, he takes on nothing less than the rest of it - living, loving, and dying - all through the ever-present lens of that which entertains us.
Which book would you read?
Both are written by Chuck Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine and columnist for Esquire.