Chuck Klosterman

A collection by the pop culture commentator includes some of his most noteworthy profiles and trend stories, a selection of favorite opinion pieces, and a semi-autobiographical short story, in a volume complemented by twenty "hypothetical questions."

A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

Chuck Klosterman IV

New York Times-bestselling author and cultural critic Chuck Klosterman sorts through the past decade and how we got to now. Chuck Klosterman has created an incomparable body of work in books, magazines, newspapers, and on the Web. His writing spans the realms of culture and sports, while also addressing interpersonal issues, social quandaries, and ethical boundaries. Klosterman has written nine previous books, helped found and establish Grantland, served as the New York Times Magazine Ethicist, worked on film and television productions, and contributed profiles and essays to outlets such as GQ, Esquire, Billboard, The A.V. Club, and The Guardian. Chuck Klosterman's tenth book (aka Chuck Klosterman X) collects his most intriguing of those pieces, accompanied by fresh introductions and new footnotes throughout. Klosterman presents many of the articles in their original form, featuring previously unpublished passages and digressions. Subjects include Breaking Bad, Lou Reed, zombies, KISS, Jimmy Page, Stephen Malkmus, steroids, Mountain Dew, Chinese Democracy, The Beatles, Jonathan Franzen, Taylor Swift, Tim Tebow, Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt, Eddie Van Halen, Charlie Brown, the Cleveland Browns, and many more cultural figures and pop phenomena. This is a tour of the past decade from one of the sharpest and most prolific observers of our unusual times.

A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century

Chuck Klosterman X

Jayme Cochrane

The entire concept and execution of Rock VORP is incredible.

Mary Rose Luksha

I really like Chuck Klosterman. I don't always like what he has to say, but I love the way he says it. He's one of the only authors I can say that about.

I recommend this book, but not as anyone's first Klosterman experience. Try reading something with a more cohesive thread, because this is just a collection of interviews, essays, and some short fiction. Whereas his other books are essays but with a common theme. But I do recommend this book for anyone who already like Chuck Klosterman.

Audrey Kalman

not Klosterman's best but I still enjoyed it

"Chuck Klosterman's tenth book (aka 'Chuck Klosterman X') collects [previously published work] accompanied by fresh introductions and new footnotes throughout. Klosterman presents many of the articles in their original form, featuring previously unpublished passages and digressions. Subjects include Breaking Bad, Lou Reed, zombies, KISS, Jimmy Page, Stephen Malkmus, steroids, Mountain Dew, Chinese Democracy, The Beatles, Jonathan Franzen, Taylor Swift, Tim Tebow, Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt, Eddie Van Halen, Charlie Brown, the Cleveland Browns, and many more cultural figures and pop phenomena"--

Zoe Smolen

I love and will always love Chuck Klosterman, and particularly his essay collections. While I love this fiction, and his larger philosophical writings, his essays are what he does best. 

I did however, find this book very sports heavy. Now, I know that is nothing new for Klosterman, and I know that he has spent many of the last few years working for sports publications, but as a non-sports fan, I had no clue what he was talking about some of the time. 

Either way, the book was enjoyable, and there were some great essays in it. Can't wait to see what he does next. 

Thanks to Penguin for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Michael Ernst

Anita Irsevic

Crystal L

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alina s

Tasha Dykstra

Amanda Gilson

Emily K McCullar

Erin Noel

Kubilay Kahveci

Jason Long

Catherine Hickman

Ketevan Marr

Coming off the breakthrough success of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and Killing Yourself to Live, bestselling pop culture guru Chuck Klosterman assembles his best work previously unavailable in book form—including the ground-breaking 1996 piece about his chicken McNuggets experiment, his uncensored profile of Britney Spears, and a previously unpublished short story—all recontextualized in Chuck’s unique voice with new intros, outros, segues, and masterful footnotes. 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.

Chuck Klosterman IV A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

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