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

Chuck Klosterman looks like my boyfriend. His latest book, Chuck Klosterman IV, features the author's picture on the back cover, and with the beard, shaggy blonde hair and plastic framed glasses, the resemblance is there. Klosterman probably resembles a lot of music-loving Midwestern guys, and it's fitting, as Klosterman is the epitome of the music geek done good.

Hailing from Fargo, ND, Klosterman has delivered three books (Fargo Rock City, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Killing Yourself to Live) and has written for the likes of SPIN, Esquire and the New York Times Magazine. Chuck Klosterman IV is an ode to the name Klosterman has made for himself, and consists of three sections: profiles, essays and a novella.

The profiles, all previously published, have been annotated and introduced by Klosterman. They go through the gamut of publications and subjects, from a Times Magazine profile of Billy Joel ("Drunk people will sing 'Piano Man' forever, so he shall live forever") to a sampling of the Akron, OH fortune-telling community that he wrote for the Akron Beacon Journal. The earlier stuff is a bit rough, but Klosterman revels in its roughness, footnoting endlessly about how green he was. The essays are pure Klosterman musings on life, from monogamy to robots to American society's obsession with pirates. Finally, the novella is equal parts Kerouac and Palahniuk, dreamlike ramblings from a self-absorbed, PCP-addicted movie critic who likes drinking So-Co with Mountain Dew. It's not especially good or bad, and is short enough that Klosterman can be forgiven for having included it.

In the essay section, Klosterman repeatedly makes the refreshing point that there is no bad taste, or good taste, just taste: "Culture - as a whole - cannot be wrong. Culture is just there." His own writing benefits from this viewpoint, as in this light his pieces are cultural observations. Incredibly astute cultural observations. Reading Klosterman is sometimes like getting into an argument with the friend you have who knows everything about something you know barely anything about, and has no qualms about schooling you in it. And Chuck Klosterman IV is that very cultural know-it-allness, wrapped up in a lively, self-deprecating prose style. Anyone older than forty will probably find it frivolous, and anyone not yet in college probably won't get the references; but for those of us in between, Chuck Klosterman IV reads as an accurate and intelligent snapshot of the world around us.

-Abby Stotz

Official Site (Simon & Schuster)
Unofficial Site (Who is Chuck Klosterman??)
Buy It from Amazon
See Also: Southern Dew