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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 781.660973
EAN: 9780743264464
ISBN: 0743264460
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: June 06, 2006
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner
Features:- ISBN13: 9780743264464
- Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought about dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock 'n' roll all the way. Within the span of twenty-one days, Chuck had three relationships end -- one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field. A man in Dickinson, North Dakota, explained to him why we have fewer windmills than we used to. He listened to the KISS solo albums and the Rod Stewart box set. At one point, poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard. From the Chelsea Hotel to the swampland where Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane went down to the site where Kurt Cobain blew his head off, Chuck explored every brand of rock star demise. He wanted to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing...and what this means for the rest of us.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
This is the first book of Klosterman I have read. I read his articles when he used to write for Esquire and they were pretty good. This book is basically a about Chuck's road trip visiting different places all over the country where famous and not so famous muscians died. During the course of his trip he writes about his romantic issues, drugs life philosophy and pop culture. This book is a quick and easy read. Its not the most profound thing I ever read but it is fairly entertaining. Chuck has an interesting view of pop culture. If you are on the fence about this book I suggest finding some of his magazine articles then if you like those get the book. I look forward to reading Chuck's other books.
Rating:  -
Just not a very good book. It's supposed to be a lot about dead rock stars and what it all means to our hero-worshipping culture - especially when they're gone - but mostly it's a couple hundred pages of Chuck's drive across the country, some memories of old girlfriends, a weird meeting with one ex and a couple of dinners at places like Cracker Barrell. There's little about the dead rockers themselves, and this kind of "Chuck on Chuck" navel-gazing turned into a cliche for Chuck about, oh, six or seven years ago but he just can't give it up or come up with much new material.
Rating: -
Chuck Klosterman is only 6-years younger than me. He is a pretentious hipster, a stoner and a self-conscious kid playing at being a grown up. To a degree, he reminded me of me at his age. He's also very funny and kept me entertained with this book.
The book's premise is Klosterman touring the US visiting the sites where various and sundry rock stars died. That is the basic structure, but the book is really about Klosterman and his relationships with current and ex girlfriends. (well, that and quite a bit of stoned stream of consciousness for our entertainment) By the end of the book, the tour itself was really only mentioned in passing while the relationships and stream of consciousness is now the main point.
At first I didn't get his point. Somewhere along the way I realized he was really discussing that period in all our lives when we realize we really are adults and that its time to put our 20's behind us. He used His Nemesis, his girlfriends and his old friends as illustrations of that period in our lives when everyone we know is broke and still trying to figure out what to do with life. Unlike a typical coming of age story, he is not a boy on his way to adulthood. Instead he is an adult learning that it's time to be a grown-up.
This is a highly entertaining book and well worth the read - even if one doesn't agree with his opinions on the top 3 bands of all time.
Rating: -
Chuck Klosterman has the kind of literary journalism style that is usualy only found on self-indulgant blogs or pop-culture magazines that people forget about once they reach drinking age. While his writing style will keep the reader interested, it seems he doesn't have the ability to write about anything without writing about himself first.
Reading the back cover, one would think that this book was about death, drugs, and rock n roll, however Chuck only mentions those things in between rambling about all the women he's loved before and why he can't let go of any of them. Future ex-girlfriends: beware. Chuck needs to let go and grow a pair.
If you're looking for a good rock 'n roll experience, go elsewhere. If you're looking for another reason to hate rock journalism, check this book out. If you happen to run into Chuck Klosterman on the street, punch him in the face for me. I'm sure he'll write about it.
Rating:  -
I'm an audio production major, minoring in business, I'm not an extremely avid reader, but I LOVED this book. If you love music, and American culture as a whole, you will be entertained.
Enjoy!
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