Chuck Klosterman X

Chuck Klosterman X by Chuck Klosterman (2017) This book is titled Chuck Klosterman X, I guess, not just X, and is a pretty hefty collection of articles he wrote for magazines, with a good index—I got it out of the library to read one specific thing, but since we have not been able to return library books, I put it in the bathroom and it served as my on-the-toilet reading for a significant part of the quarantine. I hope that doesn't gross anyone out—I wash my hands as much as the next guy, if not more. Anyway, it was a great book for that, really fun and comforting and intellectually stimulating, and I read it from cover to cover. He writes about various popular culture, though about music and sports, primarily—two of my major interests—but the standouts for me were an article about nostalgia, and one about social media, both of them a bit mind-expanding. And also a few of the interviews, particularly ones with Stephen Malkmus and Jimmy Page, because I like those guys. But also, it was fun reading the interviews and profiles about people I knew nothing about. Oh, also, an article about the Cleveland Browns is pretty great. The longest and possibly most impressive piece in the book is an extensive examination of the band KISS—the extent of it! If Klosterman was ever forced to present himself to the “Master of Lunacy”—as in the movie The Ruling Class (1972)—he'd be wise to leave this bit of evidence out of his defense. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, however, because, for me, he does as much as anyone to provide a voice of sanity in this unhinged world none of us are going to escape from.