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Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
Chuck Klosterman immediately became my favorite author after reading this book. He has a very good grasp of pop culture and deconstructs them in a hillarious way. You can read sections at a time before going to bed. But in my case, the chapters ended up being too good. It kept me up reading late into the night. Also, the stuff he wrote are good fodder for interesting discussions with friends. I especially liked the section on "questions I have to ask to know if I can fall in love with this person".
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
If you love Rock n' Roll and you like to laugh and be entertained this is a great book for you
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
Great short segments analyzing different aspects of modern pop culture, from Saved by the Bell, to the NBA, from reality tv, to serial killers.
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
This was my first Chuck K book, and I have to say I enjoyed it. I discovered CK through listening/reading Bill Simmons, and have enjoyed his take on the random topics they discussed. Needless to say, I had somewhat high hopes for his books and was not disappointed. I was born one year after where CK set his Gen-X cutoff, but I would have to include myself in his targeted demo. Obviously this book is now 8 years old, but I think it holds up well if you consider yourself a Gen-Xer.The book is a collection of essays, some more interesting than others, but overall thought provoking and funny and as random as I expected. I especially enjoyed his SBTB thoughts, the Pam Anderson-as-modern-woman comparison, The Empire Strikes Back as a metaphor for Gen-X, and his description of playing The Sims for the first time. I think SD&CP; was a good starting point, and I look forward to reading all of the other random pop culture/philosophy books CK has churned out over the years.
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
I don't think I technically belong to Generation X (honestly, I'm not quite sure which generation I belong to, but it's definitely not the Greatest one), so I don't have that in common with Chuck Klosterman, but he and I definitely share a sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud, a lot, while reading this book.Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is really a series of short essays. Each essay looks at some piece of pop culture, particularly from Klosterman's youth/college years, and examines its deeper meaning and how it is reflective of real life. Nothing is really off limits and Klosterman finds deeper meaning in things you would never think had anything more than a superficial value. He looks at the Real World and how we now look at the real people in our lives and determine which Real World stereotype they fit instead of the other way around. He explains the two reasons why soccer will never catch in America the way it has in other countries. Klosterman digs into Saved by the Bell and the "Tori Paradox" only to conclude that the "Tori Paradox" is no paradox at all. He dissects why Pamela Anderson is the new Marilyn Monroe.Klosterman hits topics from all over the map and he can get down right esoteric in his efforts to peel back the layers of pop culture. In one essay he looks at movies like Memento, The Matrix, and Vanilla Sky and how they're valuable because they try to define or identify reality. Deep stuff, man.Not all of the essays are great - the one about Memento almost read like philosophy and got a little boring. This probably makes the book sound more serious than it is - it's really funny. I was laughing out loud in a number of public places while reading this. The more I read, the more I laughed, and the more I liked it. I ended up tearing through the whole book in just a couple days and I'm planning to read some of his other books as soon as I can.In a nutshell: This is a really funny book - I definitely recommend it. Three and a half stars.
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
this point of view is so great and i can relate to most of it. a little rambling at times seems like filler but i will definitely be looking for more books from this guy.