Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century

If you devoured a lot of pop culture over the last decade, you might wonder what Chuck Klosterman's latest volume, Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century, has to offer. My answer to this: perspective. In this collection of 38 essays culled from his work in publications like Esquire and Grantland, Klosterman analyzes various facets of pop culture ranging from zombies to Miley Cyrus, from Mountain Dew to Lou Reed. He explains, "Consumed in aggregate, this omnibus equates to a short book about music, a short book about sports, and a short book about everything else that could possibly exist." Disconnected as these subjects may seem, they are all filtered through Klosterman's unique voice. He's the anti-critic. He's the guy who goes to both Creed and Nickelback concerts on the same night just to find out why the bands are hated so much.One of the best essays, titled "Three Man Weave," traces the bizarre story of a "...pair of low-profile junior college basketball teams [who] played a forgotten game on a neutral floor in southeast North Dakota" in 1988. Due to a series of random events, the unfavored team won with only 3 players on the floor. The topic sounds boring--so boring, in fact, that many of the subjects interviewed had forgotten details of the event. But then the same thing happens to the exact same teams in 2016! That is one of Klosterman's gifts as a writer: turning a boring tale into something eyebrow-raising. Perspective.His other gift: writing 10,000-word essays about KISS and making you like it.Aside from a few articles on nostalgia and Charlie Brown, the majority of the book is filled with Klosterman's musings on sports or music. His interviews with Jimmy Page, Noel Gallagher, Stephen Malkmus, and Eddie Van Halen are just as excellent as his pieces on Tim Tebow, Kobe Bryant, and Tom Brady.He takes a turn into "grumpy aging cultural writer" territory in his reflection on Harry Potter as a cultural phenomenon:"...I find it astounding that the unifying cultural currency for modern teenagers is five-hundred-page literary works about a wizard...Because I don't understand Harry Potter, am I doomed to misunderstand everything else?"My response to Klosterman: Probably not. Your world view has been shaped by Walter White, Jonathan Franzen, and a love of hair metal, and that is no more or less significant than books about wizards. But if I ever meet you in a bar, I'll get you drunk and we'll figure out your house (I'm guessing Hufflepuff).What does one do after reading the entirety of a Chuck Klosterman book in one sitting? (Ok, two sittings). Somehow, starting a Noel Gallagher cover band seems equally as appealing as joining a fantasy sports league. I can't help but think this is what Klosterman wants: for the voyeurs of pop culture to realize what they are missing by observing but not truly living it; and for those swimming in the thick of it to see pop culture as the voyeurs do.I recommend Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century to fans of music, sports, and everything else that could possibly exist. Most importantly, if you did not know that in 2006, Danger Mouse released an illegal Beatles/Jay-Z mashup called The Grey Album (and it's excellent), then you should read this book strictly for educational purposes.

I found Mr. Klosterman via his last two books, I Wear the Black Hat and But What if We’re Wrong?, two books I enjoyed immensely. I certainly wasn’t going to pass up his latest outing, X, though I had concerns. In particular, I don’t have a huge interest in current music or sports. I was afraid I might be left out of his target audience here. Turns out, I needn’t have worried. He is so honest and engaging that I was able to read just about everything here with pleasure.First of all, not everything Mr. Klosterman writes about in X concerns music and sports. There are a few essays on other topics. My favorites are probably his thoughts on The McLaughlin Group and his interview with Jonathan Franzen. His identification of John McLaughlin as the key to the success of that kind of argumentative TV that has often been copied but never successfully replicated is right on target. And, as a fan of Franzen’s work, I can still understand how difficult it must have been to conduct that interview and not write it up as something that shows him as a complete ass.But, in all honesty, it is his writing on music and sports that convinced me of his excellence because these are things about which I care very little and yet I was consistently engaged. I absolutely loved the first story in the book about a junior college basketball game that finished as a three-on-five contest where United Tribes Technical College, the team left with only three players, managed to hang on and win. The Tim Tebow article was interesting and not too dated as he now tries to rise through the ranks of professional baseball. Then there were his interviews with Jimmy Page and Eddie van Halen which could do little to mitigate the madness in their type of genius. My favorite, however,--well, the one that impressed me the most—was the essay on the work of KISS. I was never a KISS fan but my cousin was a huge fan. I feel now that I have a sense of why some people were so passionate about them.There’s more I could mention in this eclectic collection of items, some of which I know I read previously elsewhere in other publications. Let me just conclude with the fact that it is possible for good writers to make uninteresting subjects engaging. In my book, Mr. Klosterman is a good writer.

“X” is more of what you’ve come to expect from Klosterman - a cultural critic with a strong grounding in 70’s/80’s/90’s pop culture and a stronger than average eye for the strands that bind the disparate elements of our pop culture landscape together. Like his other collections of essays this one ranges over a variety of topics (heavy on the music criticism) with the perspective of a now more seasoned (read: now has kids) critic. I enjoyed reading this collection and I liked that I could put it away for extended periods of time and come back to it refreshed and ready to tackle another topic, never feeling as though I had to refresh my memory of the previous essay.

It's pretty rare for a book to combine serious insights and total bingeability the way X does. Klosterman’s pieces are educational candy. The guy is relentlessly interesting and versatile. Here’s an interview Taylor Swift, there’s an essay on Breaking Bad. Here’s a piece on a strange JUCO basketball game he watched thirty years ago, there’s one on Tim Tebow—and one on zombies, on Kobe Bryant, Mountain Dew. Another essay describes a night in which Klosterman saw a Creed concert and then dashed across town to see Nickelback--because Klosterman is the kind of guy who sees the two most hated bands of the last twenty years in one night.Not every essay in this 400+ page collection works. I could have done without most of the comprehensive survey of KISS’s career. But when Klosterman gets going, he is something special. The guy models how to be interested--how to look at phenomena and ask what they say about us.

A Highly Specific Defiantly Incomplete History of the 21st century by Chuck Klosterman: A high time read for the highly picky choosy reader-- I read this book last year and today while going through my shelf I attuned to write about this well researched, brain whoop of a book! Bye bye boredom, bring it on #coronarender #coronascare2020 O helloo #quarantine / #Lockdown / #whatever. .Short review: Difficult. Distinct. Groovy. Nothing which can hold you down but your brain is in for a prozac attack. Entertaining if you like to read American Psyche. Another one of a longish read. . .A collective collapse of the history surrounding inflating figures through history who once graced the author in some way or the other. There are excerpts, interviews, proses which border on funny to hysterical (sic Historical). Every page is a blast of information. So clear your head, schedule and dive into this. For some, there might be too much going on. Like really. So, discretion is advised and if you still are reading Enid Blyton and Dan Browns, which you think cracks your skull up because it's the most difficult read for you, then please don't read this. This is only for the ones who have EVOLVED as a reader. . .VERDICT: Borrow (so that you can return if the first few pages make your head hobble) . .FOR: The information muncher, the fans of historics. Music lovers. Fans of journalism. Fans of Klosterman. The hungry vicious reader. The unafraid and unapologetic.

Sophisticated insight and observations from one of our generations greatest social commentators. If you can't get down with Chuck you have bigger issues to worry about.

Received as described/expected. Packaged well and no damage.

A highly entertaining collection of Chuck's greatest hits from the 2000s. Recommended.

GREAT BOOK