Chuck Klosterman IV

A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

By: Chuck Klosterman

Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and Killing Yourself to Live...

Chuck Klosterman IV consists of three parts:

THINGS THAT ARE TRUE
Profiles and trend stories: Britney Spears, Val Kilmer, McDonalds, '70s rock band nostalgia cruises. With new introductions and asides.

THINGS THAT MIGHT BE TRUE
Opinions and theories on everything from monogamy to guilt, and (of course) Advancement, with new hypothetical questions and asides.

SOMETHING THAT ISN'T TRUE AT ALL
This is new fiction. There's an introduction, but no asides. Well, there's an aside in the introduction, but none in the story.

©2003, 2004 Chuck Klosterman. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"One of America's top cultural critics." (Entertainment Weekly)
"Mr. Klosterman makes good, smart company." (The New York Times)
"He's perfect junk food for the soul." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"The reigning Kasparov of pop culture wits-matching." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Klosterman is like the new Hunter S. Thompson." (People)

This Guy Gets It..

If you're GenX, Kosterman is your guy. If not, you may not get it.

What's up with Chuck?

I enjoy this guy. He is charming is an acerbic kind of way. He keeps me engaged and often entertained, like a literary Howard Stern or a drunken David Sedaris. The fact that he read this himself makes this work (and also contributes to his own self-obsession). The ending story, though, really takes an odd turn, and not because of the one in a billion event that fictionally happens to him. Usually he reports on a fringe lifestyle or waxes on the virtues of some brainless celebrity, but here he shows us this life that I took to be basically his own-- and it is ugly and dispiriting. It was much like being forced to watch the sex tape of Dustin Diamond, better known as "Screech" from Saved by the Bell (a favorite of his).

Still, he is fun. Just perhaps start with "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" to fully understand his charrm first before you try to injest some of the discussion here.

9.6 out of 10

Any additional comments?

Chuck Klosterman has quickly become one of my new favorite authors still currently doing work today. He ranks among the best. I especially recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of David Sedaris. Similar in many ways but Klosterman has a special charm to his writing that you can't find anywhere else.

Brilliant--

Chuck's insights and observations are genius (probably an overused descriptor of Chuck's questions and stories) and I found myself LOL without just texting the letters and pondering my own self -actualization -

I have never read another author quite like him and this having been the 4th of Chuck's books I have read I need to read the rest of his collection--adding to my bucket list is meeting Chuck for beers and various libations in Brooklyn to discuss contemporary issues that may or may not be important to people born after 1967-- and his description of Van Halen was spot-on having grown up through their tenure as Rock royalty I will now forever measure future songs against the the mediocre and middle-of-the-road "And the cradle will Rock" yet I consider Fair Warning their Opus (although Little Guitars is my favorite song) in the same vein as Outlandos d'Amour by The Police and Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin--bands measured by their best album create those bar arguments that have not been eliminated by Smartphones and Google--I can't choose a Beatles album that is the best so don't fucking comment on this post with that arguement--yes the Beatles are the best of all time--However-- I am not in the position now to choose from Sergeant Pepper or Abby Road--

This may be the worst paragraph ever written--but I stand behind it

Ok... Not Chuck at his best

The common thread between excerpts is not as clear as his other titles which I very much enjoyed. The last short story which lasted for about 20% of the book was completely out of left field and could have been left off. I recommend going with his later texts if you are a fan of the former BS report guest (RIP BS Report)

worth the time/ price; not his best work

Not his best work; disappointing middle 1/3 is made up for with great finish.. less insight/intellect more superficial restatements of passing & peripheral gulity pleasures of recent pop culture

Chuck is the man!

The first story is a bit boring but hang in there. It is well worth it. Chuck Klosterman is hilarious.

Chuck is the Best...

But that Chris Ryan, what a Val Kilmer he is!

Great read and once again, a truly insightful look into snapshots of American pop culture.

If you’re not reading the greatest cultural essayist of Gen X and beyond.

Thanks Chuck for making us all better writers, observers, and cultural stewards.

Great content; odd decision to use actors

The use of actors to voice the celebrities in the interview section mostly doesn't work, but it's not a big deal. It's also a small percentage of the total audio, and maybe it wouldn't have worked to have Chuck reading the quotes either. Great listen. I was skeptical about the fiction part at the end, but I ended up enjoying it.

Chuck's magazine pieces are very much a time capsule of an era, and in the vein quite similar to Jon Ronson. I enjoy them both.

Not all

This is an abridged version; not everything’s in here. Still very good though. Read along with it.