Wednesday, November 26, 2008

My Good Friend, Joe . . .

. . . sent me a book in the mail this week. Chuck Klosterman's IV.

Klosterman is a writer who I've seen on kiosks and end caps, but never actually read and I don't know why. For those who don't know, the man is something of a pop-culture guru, whose talent is being able to write concise, accurate, and humorous essays on a myriad of topics. His expertise ranges from late 70's brit-pop to North Dakota high school athletics. I think I linked him to the same readership as Vice (a periodical I downright loathe), and that made me keep him at bay. Which was an unfortuante calculation, as his stuff reads quite well.

One essay Viva Morrisey! jumped out at me. For years, I've been stressing Morrisey's importance in Mexican youth-culture. Be it California or Kansas, mis caranles love the former Smiths front man. In this essay, Klosterman attends a Morrisey convention in Los Angeles in an effort to find out why he has such a fanbase. He doesn't really get anywhere, and instead offers a few hypothesis he had already going into it. The highlight comes when he asks Cruz Rubio, a frightening ese in a sleeveless flannel what the attraction is. Rubio answers, "Some nights I lay in my bedroom and I listen to 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out,' and I cry," he tells [Klosterman]. "I cry and cry and cry. I cry like a little bitch, man."

The book was awesome, Joe. I plowed through all four-hundred pages in a single night. The rest of you readers should take a cue. I like getting things in the mail. Sending things to me gets your name in the blog.

And you want your name in the blog.

2 comments:

Lee said...

Chuck Klosterman is actually one of my alltime favorite authors. However.. IV was the least gripping of his 4 books. My absolute favorite is Killing Yourself to Live, next being Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, then IV, and then Fargo Rock City. READ THEM ALL!!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm happy to hear you received it okay. I am so glad you dug it, I knew you would.