picked up at local meetup!

From Publishers Weekly
There's a lot more cold cereal than sex or drugs in Klosterman's nostalgic, patchy collection of pop cultural essays, which, despite sparks of brilliance, fails to cohere. Having graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1994, Klosterman (Fargo Rock City) seems never to have left that time or place behind. He is an ironically self-aware, trivia-theorizing, unreconstructed slacker: "I'm a `Gen Xer,' okay? And I buy shit marketed to `Gen Xers.' And I use air quotes when I talk.... Get over it." The essay topics speak for themselves: the Sims, The Real World, Say Anything, Pamela Anderson, Billy Joel, the Lakers/Celtics rivalry, etc. The closest Klosterman gets to the 21st century is Internet porn and the Dixie Chicks. This is a shame, because he's is a skilled prose stylist with a witty, twisted brain, a photo-perfect memory for entertainment trivia and has real chops as a memoirist. The book's best moments arrive when he eschews argumentation for personal history. In "George Will vs. Nick Hornby," a tired screed against soccer suddenly comes to life when Klosterman tells the story of how he was fired from his high school summer job as a Little League baseball coach. The mothers wanted their sons to have equal playing time; Klosterman wanted "a run-manufacturing offensive philosophy modeled after Whitey Herzog's St. Louis Cardinals." In a chapter on relationships, Klosterman semi-jokes that he only has "three and a half dates worth of material." Remove all the dated pop culture analyses, and Klosterman's book has enough material for about half a really great memoir.

I enjoyed the sarcastic humor of this book, it's topics are very much geared at the Gen X generation. Covers music, movies & tv shows that people in this era would be familar with. Fun read all in all.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

going out in my shrinking bookbox

"A book is a mysterious object, I said, and once it floats out into the world, anything can happen. All kinds of mischief can be caused, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. For better or worse, it's completely out of your control."
Paul Auster

Taking out of Princess-Peapod's Shrinking Bookbox. I love books with weird titles! This one looks interesting!

I had never read anything by this author, (I picked it solely for the title) so I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy this book! Some of the entries about sports didn't appeal to me, so I just skimmed them, but I like the way he looks at movies, music, serial killers, celebrity, etc. There were definately some laugh-out-loud moments. If you like David Sedaris then you will probably like this book.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

What happens when people stop being polite: When people tell you that you should be on a reality program, they're basically saying you're crazy enough to amuse total strangers. I was always flattered by this suggestion, and I used to fantasize about being cast on The Real World, imagining that it would make me famous.

Ten Seconds to Love: I love Christmas, I thought to myself when I arrived home from Duffy's Tavern, just drunk enough to wrap myself in a terry-cloth robe and watch Pamela Anderson perform oral sex on Tommy Lee. Every holiday season, I rewatch my illegally dubbed Pamela-Tommy sex tape. It's sort of my version of It's a Wonderful Life. There is no thrill in seeing it anymore, and certainly no prurient rush: It is probably the least arousing videotape I own.

The Awe-Inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise's Shattered, Troll-like face: Today a film is a producer's medum (the only director with complete control over his product is George Lucas, and he elects to make kids movies). Producers want to develop movies they can refer to as "high concept," which--somewhat ironically--is industry slang for "no concept."

This is Zodiac Speaking: The fact that Richard Ramirez (the infamous California "Night Stalker") and I had the same favorite AC/DC song ("Night Prowler") didn't freak me out, but it certainly made me wonder if I was somehow predisposed to freakish impulses. My all-time favorite serial killer was the never-captured Zodiac, the San Francisco-based mastermind who bragged to newspapers about his murders through a byzantine code and may have actually killed people because of his interest in math. Somehow that sounded like something I would come up with. I didn't relate to these guys, per se, but I always wondered if I was a "serial person"--a Midwestern Zodiac who simply had no desire to kill.

Change of plans: I am sending this to dvg then she will send to Firegirl for her OBCZ!

Thank you JennyC1230 for sharing this with me! I really need some things to make me smile right now. I am putting aside my current read so I can send this to Firegirl quickly.

The title alone made me chuckle and the JEs, have me very interested. Excuse me, tea is ready and I've got my bookmark all set...

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES: Sending as a RABCK to firegirl.

My comments: I really enjoyed this book. There was a couple of essays that I skipped over with regard to sports (not a big fan) and others that make me chuckle out loud like the Billy Joel portion. I am so glad you shared this with me. I really like reading these types of books. Some have similar insights and thoughts as my own and others make me see a different view point, all the wile making me smile. =)

Thanks so much! I really enjoy Klosterman and love having copies to share. I think this will be the perfect release for the OBCZ I help stock near University of New Mexico -- though I may have to re-read some of my favourite essays first.

So.... I was thinking of sending this to a non-BC friend of mine back in the greater Phoenix area. I've always tried to keep him stocked with good reading material and I just know he'd like this. It may or may not make it back to me when he's done, however. I know this was sent to me for an OBCZ here in Albuquerque, so anyone who objects to me posting it on to my friend, please speak up! If I don't hear in a week or so, I'll assume it's okay and post it on.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES: Change of plans -- this is going out to a friend of mine in the Navy. Not sure where it will catch up with him, but I'm sure it will be enjoyed by many.