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 enlarge | Author: Chuck Klosterman
Publisher: Scribner
Category: EBooks
List Price: $11.99
Buy New: $9.59
You Save: $2.40 (20%)
Rating:  92 reviews
Sales Rank: 1872
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Dewey Decimal Number: 70
ASIN: B000FCKB0C
Publication Date: July 21, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not the best of Klosterman's work, but can be a worthwhile read. August 25, 2008
One thing I've learned from this book is that despite the fact that individual Amazon reviews are often opinions I don't even remotely agree with, I certainly value the overall score. This Klosterman book probably has the lowest score of all of his books on Amazon, and after reading it, I certainly understand why.
It seems like he wrote this book to pass time by, or maybe to earn some extra cash on the side, as opposed to his other books, which aren't as forced. There are times when I read his essays and I burst out laughing to the extent that I have to read passages multiple times. This book just isn't really funny. It's not as sarcastic, it's not as cynical, and it's not as smart. His investigation, overall, is boring, and that means he did something wrong: writing a book about tragic deaths of rock icons is actually a really interesting topic. I don't mind that he spends so much time rambling about his ex girlfriends (and, well, current girlfriends) because it ends up making sense in the end, but he's too much in his own head and has little venom for the pop culture he is such an excellent critic of.
That said, while I'd read anything he wrote, this is the least interesting of all of them. This may have to do with age (I'm 12 years younger than he is, and sometimes he goes back further in rock history than I can identify with). He's also a better essay writer than an actual novelist: Klosterman is a columnist, a reporter, not really an author. His other books (particularly IV and Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs) are collections of essays/columns. So, all in all, worth the read, if you can find it for a few bucks on Amazon or [...], it's worth it, but overall this is the least interesting of his books.
 Narcissistic, yes, plus insulting! August 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This "journalist" is not qualified to comment on the multitude of musical artists he bashes; this fact is obvious by the evidence that the book wanders through his boyish experiences with women--which are, pathetic.
Aside from his boring, self-indulgent babble regarding first-time female experiences and pointless encounters with drugs and new-found friends, he blatantly insults some of the most legendary artists of all time, downplaying their careers and success (ie, relates the career of Waylon Jennings to the Dukes of Hazzard theme song). As the book progressed (if you want to call it that), the author continues to demonstrate his lack of research and/or knowledge about any of the individuals he speaks of, showing his lack of interest and his own immaturity in being able to draw any meaningful takeaways.
The author, for instance, goes to the Skynyrd plane wreck site, but does nothing once he gets there. Thanks for sharing. Profound. Do you have any first-hand experiences with members of this band? Then you just aren't qualified to say a word.
I couldn't endure the last few chapters. It went in the trashcan. Don't bother. It's the worst book I've ever encountered. And by the way, love how it is plastered with positive quotes from the press on the inside cover. I'd love to read the full reviews, because I am certain these blurbs are nothing but cherrypicking. A young, uninformed egomaniac who needs to go back to writing single newspaper paragraphs about local talent.
 Chuck Klosterman is the kind of man I would want a summer romance with July 16, 2008
JUST SHUT UP AND BUY IT. I've read this and a Decade of Dangerous and they are both highly entertaining and very addicting if you are into music, obsessive habits and cosmic ideas. If you do not have a sense of humor, do not buy this book. If laughing out loud in quiet public settings is not your forte, then maybe you should pass on this one. I've bought many copies for that special kind of friend and the ones I haven't met yet. -amen
Unfathomable, in a not so good way... July 14, 2008
Overall, I guess you could say I kind of enjoyed it...
However, I was really suprised to see how he wrote endlessly about himself. This book is completely lacking an insightful, charming, and inspiring voice - like I thought it would have. There were very few "laugh out loud" moments and I just found that I couldn't wait to finish reading it. This book didn't have any realism; any soul. I felt like he was just talking out of his butt, so I found him hard to fathom, hard to grasp, and hard to relate to. Whether this is 85% of a real story or not, he didn't give enough analysis or honesty for me to believe any of it.
 I should have given up earlier July 6, 2008
I flipped through the book in the bookstore and thought, "oh, this sounds kind of cool" when I got to the part about cocaine people and pot people, because it was funny and ironic and pathetic and he knew it. Some of the book was really interesting; specifically, I liked when he talked to strangers. His boring romances are boring. Why are you wasting my time? I finished the book hoping he'd say something worth reading. The only thing I'm going to remember--of any worth, anyway--was his description of intelligence as "knowing what to do without being told," which was actually quoting Nixon about Kissinger. Nice.
I just wish he were a little smarter. Then it could have been a good book. Until then, stick with Spin, Mr. Klosterman.
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