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Seeking meaning in Cocoa Puffs

Pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman examines the engine that drives celebrity and finds himself on the bestseller list.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 5, 2006

NEW YORK - Chuck Klosterman is flabbergasted that some consider him - like many of his subjects - a celebrity.

"I haven't sold that many books! I'm living in a very normal apartment! I don't own a helicopter!" the writer said during an interview at his apartment. The Manhattan space, highlighted by a large-screen TV tuned to ESPN Classic and a large, framed poster of Radiohead's Kid A, did indeed meet the standards of "normal."

But by delving into The Real World and Britney Spears with as much intellectual gusto as a professor examining Wittgenstein, Klosterman has emerged as one of the country's most distinctive pop critics.

Though he has his detractors (like Gawker.com, which has made him a target), Klosterman has inspired over-the-top praise that often includes "voice of a generation" superlatives.

"I'm always interested in the question of why does something become big," he says.

So, why has Klosterman (in a relative sense) become big? What generational vein has he tapped? "That's the thing!" he responds. "Everyone knows that - no one knows what it is!"

Now releasing his fourth book, a collection titled Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas, the author of Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs is still more accustomed to being on the other side of a reporter's tape recorder.

Klosterman, 34, grew up in Wyndmere, N.D., and cut his teeth for eight years as a journalist in Fargo and in Akron, Ohio, before moving to New York in 2002 after the success of his first book, Fargo Rock City.

Subtitled "A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota," the memoir chronicled what it was like growing up in the Midwest with a love for Guns N' Roses.

In New York, Klosterman soon became ubiquitous in magazines. Until earlier this year, he was a senior writer at Spin, he maintains a column at Esquire, and he regularly contributes to the New York Times Magazine and ESPN.com.

It was his second book, though, that multiplied his audience considerably. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, a collection of essays and a self-described "low-culture manifesto" has spent seven weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, including this past week, two years after the book's release.

Among his pop culture musings: how John Cusack has ruined the romantic perspective of a generation of women, why Billy Joel rocks and the reality of Saved by the Bell.

He took to the road for his next book, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story, in which he chronicled his trip to the places many rock stars died. His goal: to figure out "why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing."

Chuck Klosterman IV is a collection of mostly magazine profiles and opinionated columns.

"My view has always been there are lots of people in America that want to think critically about the art that engages their life," he says. "Now, there are places that definitely do that, like the New Yorker, NPR, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's.

"The problem is that a lot of the subjects those publications cover, a lot of society has no relationship to. They've never listened to Yo La Tengo records. They haven't seen the films that are supposed to be important."

[Last modified September 5, 2006, 05:35:28]