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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 306
EAN: 9780743284899
ISBN: 0743284895
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: July 03, 2007
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SEX, DRUGS, AND COCOA PUFFS
CHUCK KLOSTERMAN IV
CONSISTS OF THREE PARTS:
THINGS THAT ARE TRUE
Profiles and trend stories: Britney Spears, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Metallica, Val Kilmer, Bono, Wilco, the White Stripes, Steve Nash, Morrissey, Robert Plant -- all with new introductions and footnotes.
THINGS THAT MIGHT BE TRUE
Opinions and theories on everything from monogamy to pirates to robots to super people to guilt, and (of course) Advancement -- all with new hypothetical questions and footnotes.
SOMETHING THAT ISN'T TRUE AT ALL
This is old fiction. There's a new introduction, but no footnotes. Well, there's a footnote in the introduction, but none in the story.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
This is the first Chuck Klosterman book I have read and I loved it. I've since read Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs and Killing Yourself to Live and am just letting my eyes rest before getting my next fix. It's hilarious, thought-provoking and just a really great read.
Rating:  -
This is the first book I've read by CK and I found it, for the most part, to be pretty funny. When I picked it up and thumbed through it I happened (apparently) among the more funny stories. After reading it, I will say that I enjoyed the book although the intellectualism gets a little heavy towards the middle. I remember thinking, "wasn't this book cracking me up the other day? Because right now, not so much." It was still interesting but more in a (begin finger quotes) lecture-y/think-y (end finger quotes) sort of way.
I would recommend this book to most people. I think there are a few stories in here that most people will find pretty amusing. It's a nice book to read while you're waiting for stuff because each essay/article is reasonably short.
I will admit, though, that I did not read the fiction piece at the end. I chose this book because I didn't want to read fiction! It wasn't bad but just not what I was up for plus I had read the previous 100 pages while I was stuck in the desert so I think maybe I overdid it.
Rating: -
This book collects about three dozen Chuck Klosterman essays, mostly reprints from SPIN and other US magazines, with new introductions from the author. The first and strongest half of the book "Things That Are True" centers on music and includes profiles of modern greats Radiohead and Jeff Tweedy as well as classic legends like Robert Plant and Billy Joel. He documents a week of eating nothing but McDonalds' McNuggets (eight years before the film "Supersize Me") and watching 24 hours of VH1 Classic (and learning it repeats every eight hours). The next 100 pages are "Things That Might Be True" and feature more subjective content. The final section is a 35 page novella. I enjoyed the majority of these segments but liked Klosterman's other books better than this collection.
Rating: -
It felt a little like my birthday when I found Klosterman's latest book on CD, read by him, in the Border's bargain bin. I picked it up with two lesser known Hemmingway's to justify my consumption of what has come to be known as intellectual guilty pleasure ( a topic he incidentally takes up with his usual skill and misdirection in one of the essays). It is better than Killing Yourself to Live and not as good as Cocoa Puffs.
Audio is the medium for Klosterman for several reasons including: his irony voice, it is not exactly the kind of literature that requires you to take notes, and the strangely melodical way he pronounces the word f*!#ing. After listening to IV I acquired Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs on CD despite having read it, based solely on the notion that it would be more poignant and entertaining when performed by the author. It was a good bet.
CK IV opens with a very good reflection on dread and high school basket ball. It includes several fascinating interviews with popular figures. Note: You could not intice me to read a story on Brittney Spears by another author, but CK had me transfixed. Finlly he ends with a bit of fiction that is not without merit, but is not his best work. On the whole, however, If you liked CDaCP, CK IV is worth the time...especially in the audio version.
Rating: -
I picked up a copy of Mr. Klosterman's latest book on CD to listen to in my car as a commuter pick-me-up. I hadn't heard of him before and bought the CDs blindly. I needed some driving company and his work seemed as good as any in the store.
Let me say that this is probably the single best uninformed consumer purchase I have made. Maybe not ever, but at least this year. I laughed out loud - multiple times - and even found myself "rewinding" parts to hear them again. The sometimes caustic and always insightful tidbits about our culture and the icons in it were fascinating, hillarious, and at moments, surreal. I thoroughly enjoyed the CDs and found myself recommending them to friends. In a 500-mile trip, I essentially became a Chuck Klosterman groupie. I even bought the printed version of this to read the essays that were not included on the CD version (it is abridged).
If you like a dry, witty, intelligent (at times biting) sense of humor, you will likely love this book.
If you are conservative,nice, and decidedly uninterested in pop culture, you will likely find it offensive.
Either way, you'll laugh out loud at something. I guarantee it.
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