A range of articles by popular journalist and critic Chuck Klosterman (Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs) make an entertaining whole in Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century.
A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Esquire and others, Klosterman represents a type of creative journalism that mixes literary personality with cultural critique. The cheeky nod to "history" really revolves around Klosterman's two greatest interests: music and sports. He wittily unravels these interests to find moments of cultural and historical significance, which he does in interviews with rock legends like Jimmy Page and sports figures like Kobe Bryant. But his commentary is never limited to music and sports; it extends to film, television, literature and psychology, and to the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary life.
While Klosterman at times exhibits the smugness of a rock critic, he does so with an endearing self-awareness. His wit, combined with his fascination with paradox and contradiction, distinguishes him as a major talent. He knows intuitively how to capture the fullness of his subjects--whether Taylor Swift or Jonathan Franzen--rendering indelible portraits of individuals colored by the contingencies of fame. At his zany best, Klosterman unmasks the pretensions of high culture and finds genuine insight in unlikely places. It's how he uses Tim Tebow to explore the nature of faith. It's how he connects the popularity of zombie movies to the overwhelming demands of 21st-century modernity.
Brainy and funny, and always vibrant, Chuck Klosterman X provides quintessential writings of a great commentator. --Scott Neuffer, freelance journalist, poet and fiction author