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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.0973
EAN: 9780743236010
ISBN: 0743236017
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner
Features:- ISBN13: 9780743236010
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
There's quite a bit of intelligent analysis and thought-provoking insight packed into the pages of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, which is a little surprising considering how darn stupid most of Klosterman's subject matter actually is. Klosterman, one of the few members of the so-called "Generation X" to proudly embrace that label and the stereotypical image of disaffected slackers that often accompanies it, takes the reader on a witty and highly entertaining tour through portions of pop culture not usually subjected to analysis and presents his thoughts on Saved by the Bell, Billy Joel, amateur porn, MTV's The Real World, and much more. It would be easy in dealing with such subject matter to simply pile on some undergraduate level deconstruction, make a few jokes, and have yourself a clever little book. But Klosterman goes deeper than that, often employing his own life spent as a member of the lowbrow target demographic to measure the cultural impact of his subjects. While the book never quite lives up to the use of the word "manifesto" in the title (it's really more of a survey mixed with elements of memoir), there is much here to entertain and illuminate, particularly passages on the psychoses and motivations of breakfast cereal mascots, the difference between Celtic fans and Laker fans, and The Empire Strikes Back. Sections on a Guns n' Roses tribute band, The Sims, and soccer feel more like magazine pieces included to fill space than part of a cohesive whole. But when you're talking about a book based on a section of cultural history so reliant on a lack of attention span, even the incongruities feel somehow appropriate. --John Moe
Product Description:
Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman. With an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and an almost effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter, Klosterman attacks the entire spectrum of postmodern America: reality TV, Internet porn, Pamela Anderson, literary Jesus freaks, and the real difference between apples and oranges (of which there is none). And don't even get him started on his love life and the whole Harry-Met-Sally situation.
Whether deconstructing Saved by the Bell episodes or the artistic legacy of Billy Joel, the symbolic importance of The Empire Strikes Back or the Celtics/Lakers rivalry, Chuck will make you think, he'll make you laugh, and he'll drive you insane -- usually all at once. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is ostensibly about art, entertainment, infotainment, sports, politics, and kittens, but -- really -- it's about us. All of us. As Klosterman realizes late at night, in the moment before he falls asleep, "In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever 'in and of itself.'" Read to believe.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Very good and funny at times, very slow and boring at other times.
This book is a tribute to older days and in it's own perfect way it
is the bipolar teenager it tries to capture. Still enjoyable though.
Rating: -
I really did judge this book but it's cover and boy, am I glad that I did. I'm only halfway through this book, but I am really enjoying it thus far. I agree with a lot of the same things that he says. I'ts funny, entertaining and makes me smile and chuckle a lot. I like the fact that the book is geared toward readers in my age group - 25+. I can't wait to ready his previous books.
Rating:  -
I heard rave reviews about this book from a large number of people and my roommate had it sitting on his desk so I picked it up and read it. Upon finishing I put it down and thought, "wow, that was the most abysmal piece of literature I have ever read." Klosterman is like a 40 year old kid who, quite obviously has no semblence of a life, because not only has seen every episode of every "Real World" ever not once, but 3 times, and then decided it was worth his time to write an essay on how it has skewed the views of our society. WHAT??!?!!?!? In short Klosterman wastes 253 pages of good trees to tell us his revalatory findings after trying to get laid in the SIMS after sitting in his basement for over a weeks worth of hours playing it and other completely-irrelevent-to-life topics. And then he wonders why he can't get a girlfriend...Go figure.
Rating: -
I'm not much of a book junkie, so when I came across this book I figured I'd give it a try. I was really into it for the first couple chapters (essays, whatever they were), but after Being Zack Morris, it was pretty much downhill. Caught my attention again during the Zodiac period, but lost me soon after. It sure grabbed my attention at first and made me laugh out loud a bit but it didn't hold my attention through to the end. I liked it, but it just wasn't the book for me.
Rating: -
This book is a complete waste of time. I can't imagine how anyone could get an ounce of entertainment or enlightenment from this book.
The one part that sticks out is the short essay on probabilities. The author says that there's only one probability in life: 50/50, everything is either going to happen or not. So the odds of winning the lottery: 50/50. I assume that if you are capable of reading this review that you understand this is blatantly false.
Maybe I should start writing books. Here's my first essay: we don't need weathermen. The weather tomorrow is either going to be hotter or colder than it was today. Three days from now it will either rain or not. I'm sure if I stretched that theory out, added some flowery language, and gave it a catchy title the new yorker would tell all their readers that they need to like my book.
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