Chuck Klosterman -- Killing Yourself to Live -- classic or dud?

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My copy is coming in the mail.

Has anybody read this one yet?

If so, pontificate...

― Steven Ward, Thursday, 14 July 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

Read an advance copy of it weeks ago. Enjoyed it, but lots of it is just reprinted articles from his SPIN column. Some interesting musings on life, music and death, but Nick Hornby (whom he clearly aspires to be) won't lose any sleep. Interesting bit about his theory on how the song sequence of Kid A is sychrnonized with the events of September 11, 2001.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 14 July 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

The bit about how each girlfriend in his life relates to a member of KISS (including the short-lived ancillary ones) is pretty funny, and the bit where he visits the Station fire site (reprinted from SPIN) is still excellent. But about halfway through he realizes (and says so) that the original premise of the book isn't working, and then there's too much of the "I been runnin' down the road tryin' to loosen my load I got seven women on my mind" kind of stuff.

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Thursday, 14 July 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

Apparently this guy's my second cousin, I read Fargo Rock City, and it was funny on a personal level just because I can relate to the north dakota references having visited my uncle's farm there several times (which makes Chuck my uncle's cousin...or something like that). Haven't checked out this one yet, probably is OK.

― Eric K, Thursday, 14 July 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

i read 3/4ths of the book in barnes & noble last week, it was pretty entertaining. a lot of the stuff is straight from that spin article.

― latebloomer: occasionally OTM (latebloomer), Thursday, 14 July 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

I find his writing OK, but he's really a funny guy to listen to. The story of how he went about shopping is first book is great.....as is the story of how David Byrne loves the book.

But hasn't the whole "I'm going to go on a roadtrip to discover a deeper truth by seeing America" has been done by, I dunno, Twain? Steinbeck? Keruoac? Tocqueville?

― PB, Thursday, 14 July 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)

David Lee Roth?

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 14 July 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

J0hn Darn1elle?

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 14 July 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

What's so amusing about KYTL is that Chuck makes no effort whatsoever to hide the fact that he's a nebbish metalhead with zero romantic skills. Maybe this is a defense mechanism intended to elicit some sort of pathos from the reader, but it works nonetheless.

― souldesqueeze, Monday, 26 March 2007 21:20 (eighteen years ago)

dude stop

― gff, Monday, 26 March 2007 21:27 (eighteen years ago)

I'm all right, thanks.

― souldesqueeze, Monday, 26 March 2007 21:30 (eighteen years ago)

― pretzel walrus, Monday, 26 March 2007 22:31 (eighteen years ago)

as if the nebbish metalhead thing hasn't already been done to death by j0hn darn1elle, strongohulkington, geir hongro, stephen holden, pauline kael, ned raggett, MIMS and mark twain.

― fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:55 (eighteen years ago)

I love the book. It's my personal favorite among his works. What's great about it is that it offers a direct window into his psyche, as each chapter serves as both an itinerary of his trip and a journal of his frequently bizarre musings on romantic love and pop culture. The episode involving a bookworm waitress he encounters at Cracker Barrel is priceless. At times, it's almost so intimate as to be squirm-inducing, as when he conducts an internal discourse between himself and all of his current romantic prospects, an exercise which he fully admits is both self-propagating and unfair. But his Gen-X variety of gonzo journalism is both completely of its time and extremely entertaining. I'd definitely recommend it.

― souldesqueeze, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:58 (eighteen years ago)

Too true.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

x-post, that is.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

Right.

― souldesqueeze, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

Because the day I recommend Klosterman or you recommending Klosterman is the day in which my heart has been bloodily ripped from its cavity and fed to Yog-Sothoth.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:00 (eighteen years ago)

Ia, ia, ia.

― souldesqueeze, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:00 (eighteen years ago)

Anyway, hope you enjoy whatever message board you find next.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

"But his Gen-X variety of gonzo journalism is both completely of its time and extremely entertaining."

http://www.calvin.edu/news/photos/faculty/roels.jpg

― scott seward, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:02 (eighteen years ago)

Scott and his pictures are beginning to scare me.

― novaheat, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 02:27 (eighteen years ago)

The Arcade Fire roasts the 10-minute set, but it’s a shame the band has to stop in the middle of the first song. Afterward, David Bowie takes over, everyone files out, and I set up shop next to the free keg. Yuck: Coors. Then it’s back to the hotel for a short nap. I wake up at midnight, when Klosterman texts. Man, it is time to ditch his ass. I’m beginning to fear I may play some role in his next memoir, which he tells me is a wacky, Gen X take about sleeping with a bunch of different journalists at South by Southwest.

― The Macallan 18 Year, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

Where the fuck is THAT from?

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:19 (eighteen years ago)

srsly though, "crazy from the heat" by david lee roth (w/help from hank rollins) is a million times better than klosterman! everyone should read that book.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:20 (eighteen years ago)

[Removed Illegal Link]

― The Macallan 18 Year, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:20 (eighteen years ago)

oh, nu-ilm paws

It's from Sarah Hepola's piece on SXSW for themorningnews.org

― The Macallan 18 Year, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:22 (eighteen years ago)

"crazy from the heat" by david lee roth (w/help from hank rollins)

I have missed something here.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:25 (eighteen years ago)

But his Gen-X variety of gonzo journalism is both completely of its time and extremely entertaining.

Corrected:

But his Gen-X variety of gonzo journalism is both completely of its time--1992--and extremely entertaining (for 1992).

― MC, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:26 (eighteen years ago)

This is horrendously horrible.

― mcddcm, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:26 (eighteen years ago)

Killing Yourself To Live - dud in that the thesis is both uninteresting and unexplored, and I get that that's the point, but living inside Klosterman's head isn't much of a reward.

re: the notion of Klosterman sleeping with anyone, DO NOT WANT.

― rogermexico., Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:27 (eighteen years ago)

living inside Klosterman's head isn't much of a reward.

Being Chuck Klosterman

"Klosterman Klosterman? Klosterman."

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:29 (eighteen years ago)

"crazy from the heat" by david lee roth (w/help from hank rollins)

I have missed something here.

Ned Raggett on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 2:25 PM (3 minutes ago)

yeah ned i didn't know it either until i read Henry's 20 Questions w/Metal Sludge....he's not credited on the book jacket but apparently he helped out as a ghostwriter...anyway this book is AMAZING!

here's the pertinent question, clipped out of the metal sludge interview:

2. Let’s get right to the point. How did you come to befriend David Lee Roth and even take most of the responsibility for his autobiography Crazy From the Heat?

David Lee Roth, I will wager is more intelligent than you are and probably most of all of your friends. He's well traveled, well read and multi-lingual. His grip on history is intense. He has done all that rockstar stuff because he invented a good deal of it. I've known Dave since 1983. At one point, he came to me and asked for help with what became Crazy from the Heat. I said sure. I did what I could, he took it from there. He's a very interesting man.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:29 (eighteen years ago)

I am truly amazed.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:30 (eighteen years ago)

"Klosterman Klosterman? Klosterman."

Ned Raggett on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 2:29 PM

dying

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 19:59 (eighteen years ago)

srsly klosterman in a dress w/lipstick in my head AHHH

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 20:00 (eighteen years ago)

Amy Winehouse is a singer who knows how to light a stage on fire. I mean, she actually knows how to light a stage on fire. Just some vodka and a Zippo lighter, turns out. Before the fire marshal arrives, she also pukes on the audience, shits on the drummer, performs a highly technical surgical procedure on herself (a triple bypass? I lost count), and votes Republican. But still: No encore? WTF?

― Tantrum The Cat, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 20:16 (eighteen years ago)

...Courtney Love handing out free handjobs at Town Lake.

omg

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 20:26 (eighteen years ago)

respect 2 tantrum's linking skills

i love sarah hepola. period.

― The Macallan 18 Year, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 21:56 (eighteen years ago)

i love sarah hepola. period.

See, I could go the rest of my life without reading this sentence: "And I get balled by Chuck Klosterman."

― rogermexico., Tuesday, 27 March 2007 22:45 (eighteen years ago)

no shit, i regret having that tattooed on my forearm.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 22:46 (eighteen years ago)

i want her to come back to dallas and mariage me

― wanko ergo sum, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 22:58 (eighteen years ago)

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