"Everybody is wrong about everything, just about all the time." (p. 14) And on the same page, "People just have no clue about their genuine nature." - which is why they are almost always wrong. I agree. Chuck Klosterman's baseline approach to living/being is a desire to understand one's true self, which he explores in this book of essays, as well as in his novels, Downtown Owl (2008) and The Visible Man (2011). Klosterman is a cultural critic and a very, very, original thinker. If I were to dog ear each page that there was a statement which resonated with me, made me think, or laugh out loud - almost every page would be bent over. Which is not the same as always agreeing with him. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I think he's wrong; but then I've been here (on the planet) longer and have different reference points and influences (experiences, movies, music, books, education, etc.) He is not kind to his own generation (Xers - born between 1965 - 1977.) I'm a boomer. (1944-63) But he's way more popular than I am. He keeps track and classifies his friends: "43 `close friends,' 196 `good friends,' and 2,200 `affable acquaintances.'" (As of the writing, which is way, way, way more than I have.) He writes about mostly people and people's influences: Celebrities and people in general. In the middle of the book there is a personality quiz of his own design (which I love); but there is no key, i.e. there is no scoring. Here's one question: "6. At long last, someone invents `the dream VCR.' This machine allows you to tape an entire evening's worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the invention of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device if you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don't agree to this, you can't use the dream VCR. Would you still do this?"You see what I'm getting at? You see what he's getting at? The other day I was with a "friend" (not saying which category) and he said to me that I was a very "unfiltered" person, and that that made some people (not saying) very uncomfortable. What a great question! And there are 22 others, again, with no key - which means you have to think about who you are and how you would answer without any consequences - other than prying into your own psyche, i.e. your true self. (smiley face.)Klosterman writes about: Love and relationships; The Self; Reality TV; Marilyn Monroe: Music; Movies; The Internet & Pornography; TV serials; Memory; Serial killers; News reporters(ing); Soccer & Basketball; and Left Behind(ers).I loved this book, love Klosterman's original thinking; but I don't know if I'd want to hang out with him. And if we did hang out if we'd become close, or even a good friends. But I am and will be, always interested in what he has to say about things.
