This is actually Klosterman's first book, but the fourth one that I've read. As previously noted, I'm dangerously fond of his writing, so when I saw copies of a new printing of Fargo Rock City on a display in Borders, well, I had to pick it up.
To be perfectly honest, though, I was slightly apprehensive about this. It's packaged in a way that makes it sound like it will be a standard autobiography about his childhood in rural North Dakota, but while there are plenty of autobiographical elements, it's mostly a book of his usual slightly skewed pop-culture criticism, applied to 1980's vintage heavy metal:
Humorless Jesus freaks always accused Mötley Crüe of satanism, and mostly because of [Shout at the Devil]. But-- if taken literally (a practice that only seems to happen to rock music when it shouldn't)-- the lyrics actually suggest an anti-Satan sentiment, which means Mötley Crüe released the most popular Christian rock record of the 1980s. They're not shouting with the devil: They're shouting at the devil. Exactly what they're shouting remains open to interpretation; a cynic might spectulate that Tommy Lee was shouting, "In exchange for letting me sleep with some of the sexiest women in television history, I will act like a goddamn moron in every social situation for the rest of my life." However, I suspect [Nikki] Sixx had more high-minded ideas. In fact, as I reconsider the mood and message of these songs, I'm starting to think he really did intend this to be a concept album, and I'm merely the first person insane enough to notice.
Really, there isn't a whole lot more to say about this book. Klosterman looks at 80's era metal through the eyes of somebody who was a fan, and is now a sort of loose-cannon hipster culture writer, and it's pretty funny. If you like that bit, you'll like the book. If not, well, read something else.
Me, I liked it quite a bit. I wasn't a big fan of hair metal back in the day (my sister was for a while), but as Klosterman notes, it was inescapable. And reading this book did lead to a whole bunch of Van Halen and Guns n' Roses turning up in my iTunes shopping cart a few nights ago, so it's not without some nostalgia value. But really, it's about Klosterman, and either you like his stuff or you don't.
Though it really won't add much to the review, I can't resist one more quote, this one from afootnote regarding Courtney Love:
Love's ability to fool intelligent people continues to baffle me. In 1991, she made Pretty on the Inside, and it was about as remarkable as a bucket of vomit warming in the afternoon sun. By 1994, she had married Kurt Cobain and-- surprise!-- proceeded to "write" a record that's pretty amazing (and seemingly unconnected to her debut in almost every possible way). Tragically, Kurt died the week before it was released. Courtney subsequently stopped making music... until she renewed her friendship with Billy Corgan and --surprise!-- released Celebrity Skin, another exceptional record with virtually no sonic relationship to Live Through This. Funny how this keeps happening. I hope Courtney starts sleeping with Trey Anastasio of Phish, because I'd love to see Hole become a jam band.
As I said, either this brand of snark appeals to you, or it doesn't. I absolutely love it, and I apologize in advance if bad imitation Klosterman starts popping up here in the near future...
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I love Klosterman too, although his most recent "book" - a mish-mash compilation of magazine articles - was kind of a half-assed effort.
I thought a lot of the individual pieces were pretty good, but yeah, overall, it was kind of scattershot. That's kind of obliagtory for someone who does what he does, though-- he writes lots of magazine pieces, and it's inevitable that they will get collected into books. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs was a collection as well, after all-- it just drew from a longer period of time.