Chuck Klosterman wants to get the word out — contrary to what you might think from reading his books Fargo Rock City, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Killing Yourself To Live and the newly released Chuck Klosterman IV — America’s most readable pop culture critic doesn’t spend all his time getting stoned.
“There are people who loved [the heavy metal growing up story] Fargo who honestly believe that all I do every night is sit in my apartment, get drunk by myself and listen to Tesla. Or that the only thing that I’d ever want to talk about is heavy metal.”
It is 11:13 a.m. Klosterman has been on the phone for a full hour and at no point has he appeared intoxicated.
He also talks about far more than heavy metal, roaming from topic to topic with a free associating ease that suggests an affable nature and another undeniable fact–this guy knows a lot of stuff. If you played Trivial Pursuit with Chuck Klosterman, you would need bandages before it was over.
IV is a collection of essays, profiles and interviews previously published in magazines like Spin and Esquire plus a new novella and copious amounts of self-effacing footnotes. Among the many pieces are Klosterman’s takes on Billy Joel, Radiohead, psychics and all-female classic rock tribute bands.
A look at the index hints at Klosterman’s range–one column contains entries for “socialism,” “Some Girls (Rolling Stones),” “Spears, Britney” and “stem-cell research.”
But being a pop culture Jedi knight doesn’t necessarily make someone compelling (ahem, Dennis Miller). Klosterman’s strength is that he gives the same consideration to the merits of Motley Crüe as others do to Mozart. Moreover, he avoids value judgments. Well, most of the time.
As he writes in IV: “The only people who believe in some kind of ‘universal taste’ — in other words, a consensual demarcation between what’s artistically good and what’s artistically bad — are insecure, uncreative elitists who need to use somebody else’s art to validate their own limited worldview.”
Consider that this observation comes from an essay about Patrick Swayze’s Road House and you can see what makes Klosterman so special — he finds timeless truth where others see only garbage.
He also has insights.
On celebrity: “When does somebody become famous? It’s when they’re interesting to people who don’t f–ing care.”
On the theory that it’s better for rock stars to die young: “Yeah, it’s better in one way. However, it’s worse in every other way. It’s worse if you like going to zoos or eating dumplings or reading US Weekly. You won’t be able to do any of those things.
“You look at somebody like Lou Reed,” he continues. “And you don’t think of Lou Reed as being alive; you think of him as this sort of musical entity. So you think to yourself, ‘God if Lou Reed had died in 1974, his career would be untouchable.’ But I bet Lou Reed’s life is pretty good. I bet his daily existence is pretty awesome. So why would it have been to his advantage to die so that we could like his records more?”
On the accuracy of comparisons to Hunter S. Thompson: “If I commit suicide, maybe. But then they’ll say I’m like Hemingway.”
At 1:00 p.m. on Sept. 25, Klosterman will be at the Kenmore Square Barnes ‘ Noble to read and sign Chuck Klosterman IV. The event also includes a Q’A, which Klosterman admits is his favorite part. But be careful — he’s cagey.
“Some questions I always get asked,” he confesses. “And I do this thing and I’m embarrassed about it — I pretend that it’s the first time I’ve ever heard the question. But I know exactly what I’m going to say. And I act like I’m making it up. But it’s completely a fraud … I’m like [KISS member] Paul Stanley. It’s like ‘St. Louis is the best crowd I’ve ever seen.'”
Unfailingly polite and misleadingly witty. God, this guy is good.