2 posts tagged “pop music reference”
Author: Chuck Klosterman
Genre: Pop Music Reference
Format: Quality Paperback
Publishing Info: Scribner; Reprint edition (June 6, 2006)
List Price: $14.00
ISBN: 0743264460
BINC:
Page Count: 245
Summary: Klosterman follows up on 2003's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by expanding on an article he wrote for Spin about driving cross-country to visit several of America's most famous rock and roll death sites, from the Rhode Island club where more than 90 Great White fans died in a fire, to the Iowa field where Buddy Holly's plane crashed. Along the way, Klosterman opines on rock music, never afraid to offend—as when he interprets a Radiohead album as a 9/11 prophecy or reminds readers that before Kurt Cobain's suicide, many preferred Pearl Jam to Nirvana. The quest to uncover these deaths' social significance is quickly overwhelmed by Klosterman's personal obsessions, especially his agonizing over sexual relationships. He applies semifictional techniques to these concerns, inventing an imaginary conversation in the car with three girlfriends that becomes the book's centerpiece. (amazon.com)
Best Bit: Klosterman's tales about drug use always fascinate me and sort of horrify me at the same time. Also, his dedication to picking CDs for the massive amount of time he will spend in a car makes me feel better about myself.
Quick Review: Well, it's hard to live up to the genius of Fargo Rock City and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. While the idea is a great one, the book fails to form a cohesive whole. That doesn't mean, however, that it stops being entertaining.
Final Grade: B