chrstnareads's review against another edition
4.0
Yet another compilation of essays and observations. This book is divided into three parts: interviews, essays and fiction. Some of the interviews were pretty cool and taught me a lot. Who knew Bono was such a nice guy? Or was he simply playing it up for the journalist? It taught me that Val Kilmer is strange and that Britney Spears is either completely aware of her raw sexuality or completely oblivious. The essays section is very similar to what you would find in Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. And the fiction part is Klosterman's attempt as non-non-fiction. It's pretty entertaining, and I supposed good enough to prompt him to try a full-length novel, which I have not yet read. IV presents Klosterman's trademark wit, charm, sarcasm and use of footnotes.
seshutts's review against another edition
4.0
I think I may be in love with Chuck Klosterman. Updates as they occur.
tcoale's review against another edition
3.0
Not nearly as good as CoCo Puffs, this collection still has something to offer. Klosterman's essay focusing on Val Kilmer is worth the price of admission if you want some insight into the world of method actors (very weird). If you were only going to read one Klosterman book, obviously get CoCo Puffs, but if you like that you should give IV a look.
emmauppelschoten's review against another edition
funny
informative
slow-paced
3.0
there were parts i really liked and parts that i just could not force myself to be interested by. the good bits were really good, and i learned a lot about people i didn’t know much about before. the not so good bits were draining to read. lots of footnotes.
andrewschreck's review against another edition
4.0
Nothing earth shattering, or even particularly new in this book, which is predominately a collection of articles that Klosterman wrote for Esquire, SPIN and others. The fiction piece at the end may be new, I cant recall. That said, I enjoyed reading this as a retrospective of the late 90s and early 00's. Klosterman has been able to be in the center of the culture and trends of that era, and has done a good job over the years of capturing that and relaying it to his readers. This book serves as a nice way to see that in totality by a guy who is a really good writer.
The book is a collection of essays grouped by "Things that are true" "Things that Might be True" and "Something that isn't true at all". I liked some of the essays more than others, and some of the sections more than others. I would rate Things that Might Be True as my favorite. 5 stars. The first section was probably 4 stars and the last 3 stars (not that it was bad, but I liked the other pieces better).
I have always enjoyed Klosterman's pieces in Esquire and elsewhere when I see them, so it wasn't a surprise that I enjoyed this book as well.
The book is a collection of essays grouped by "Things that are true" "Things that Might be True" and "Something that isn't true at all". I liked some of the essays more than others, and some of the sections more than others. I would rate Things that Might Be True as my favorite. 5 stars. The first section was probably 4 stars and the last 3 stars (not that it was bad, but I liked the other pieces better).
I have always enjoyed Klosterman's pieces in Esquire and elsewhere when I see them, so it wasn't a surprise that I enjoyed this book as well.
shelby1994's review
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Klosterman reads as an idealized, goofy, slightly more progressive version of your bff’s older brother that thought modern music couldn’t compete with The Ramones, minus the anarchist angst.
Most of these essays were written in the 8 year span between the approaching panic of Y2K and the height of the Iraq War. More than anything else Klosterman has written time capsules of the very panicked “CULTURE IS DYING” attitude that pervaded this time period.
The rise of reality TV (which we are likely to encounter a second tsunami of due to the ongoing WGA/SGA strikes), the death (or evolution, depending on who you talk to) of rock and rock idols, and the naivety that George W. Bush was the worst thing that could ever happen to the country resulted in SO MANY hot takes. And Klosterman was more than up to the task.
The first half of this collection focuses on pop culture, specifically the rock, punk, and garage scenes of the late 90s. It’s the strongest part of the book. The second half goes on tangents about what the next decade might hold and is less interesting mostly because the reality is more fantastically depressing than any of Klosterman’s predictions. Although he did think we might face the death of product advertising which would be a welcome development.
There’s some retrograde language and opinions in here. Women are pretty consistently underrepresented, as are minorities.
He does have a new-ish book out (‘The Nineties’) which is a retrospective on 90s pop culture, and I’m super interested to if his political/cultural lenses have shifted with the times.
Read If:
- You never forgave U2 for downloading their album onto your iphone
- You have very strong feelings on the Punk scene
- You’ve cried to Piano Man at 2am in a bar
sharppointysticks's review against another edition
3.0
I accidentally bought the abridged version of this book from Audible. I cannot describe how angry this makes me. I do not read abridged versions of books EVER. I'm a little OCD about stuff like that. It's the same thing that makes me watch the tv shows on my DVR in alphabetical order and makes me incapable of watching a series of movies, or read a series of books, without starting at the beginning.
Anyway... I am a bit of a pop-culture junkie, so I like Klosterman. I liked the book, but didn't have super strong feelings about it good or bad.
Anyway... I am a bit of a pop-culture junkie, so I like Klosterman. I liked the book, but didn't have super strong feelings about it good or bad.
manadabomb's review against another edition
3.0
Fargo Rock City was my first intro to Klosterman. It was pretty well written and funny. For the most part, the rest of his work is the same.
This particular book is broken up into 3 sections. The first section is a series of his interviews with famous folks that he wrote for Spin, Esquire, etc. He interviewed Britney, Bono, Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, Thom Yorke from Radiohead, etc. All of the interviews were entertaining. Mostly because, as in the Billy Joel interview, even if he really likes the person he's interviewing, he'll still be honest in the article.
The 2nd part of the book articles that are just his opinions about certain subjects. As in, which bands are rated right (not overrated or underrated), his very odd stance on stem-cell research (there needs to be more Super People), the upcoming war against robots, and so on. All pretty funny stuff.
The last part is fiction and frankly, I just skimmed it. His non-fiction work was more entertaining.
This particular book is broken up into 3 sections. The first section is a series of his interviews with famous folks that he wrote for Spin, Esquire, etc. He interviewed Britney, Bono, Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, Thom Yorke from Radiohead, etc. All of the interviews were entertaining. Mostly because, as in the Billy Joel interview, even if he really likes the person he's interviewing, he'll still be honest in the article.
The 2nd part of the book articles that are just his opinions about certain subjects. As in, which bands are rated right (not overrated or underrated), his very odd stance on stem-cell research (there needs to be more Super People), the upcoming war against robots, and so on. All pretty funny stuff.
The last part is fiction and frankly, I just skimmed it. His non-fiction work was more entertaining.
rmsugarcandy's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
4.25
Mostly engaging but I completely checked out by the end of the last chapter. Just didn't care how the fiction chunk ended at all.