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_reading_with_kate_'s review
2.0
My favorite part was the bit at the end where the lady discouraged the author from writing the book.
angus_mckeogh's review
4.0
Great book. Really funny stuff. And well written as most of Klosterman's stuff is. Perhaps if the topic wasn't so vapid or nonsensical I'd give it 5 stars. But since he's riding around looking at the locations where rock stars died, I can't say this was one of the greatest books I've ever read.
spectracommunist's review
5.0
I'm really glad that I went through this in this particular phase of my life. It mainly revolves around punk rock and death but it also has several intertwined romance plots too, which constitute equal interests. I also enjoyed it as a travel memoir, meeting people and contemplating death and music as we've always strived to understand it with our own romantic frustrations and yet so romantic. I don't agree about everything Chuck says, but I believe that he has a fascinating and erudite perspective of whatever he talks about. And this work consists of a plethora of criticism about labels and quite interesting films too. Overall, I believe Chuck to be a fine rock critic, although I don't always agree with his ratings.
Well, I was in a heavy metal phase but now I feel like diverting to Audioslave and Alice in Chains.
Well, I was in a heavy metal phase but now I feel like diverting to Audioslave and Alice in Chains.
samvanstokkom's review against another edition
2.0
holy shit this chuck guy is so fucking unlikeable. i hated his writing style, he never had anything positive to say about anything, he’s constantly saying how uncool he is which sometimes people who are actually pretty cool say but this guy is SO uncool he’s an actual loser, he’s always complaining about something and always making up weird metaphors that don’t make sense and just doing way too much. i would hate to have a guy like this in my life, his behaviour towards and thoughts about women are incomprehensibly weird, he’s a drug addict which he continuously tries to cover up, SO many outdated views and comments that just did not age well at all, and he’s constantly making self deprecating jokes while actually giving the impression that he thinks he’s better than everyone else. the contents of his research were sometimes interesting but overall i’m like what did i actually just read like what did i gain from this… there’s this one review on the back of the book which says ‘i can’t think of a more likeable writer than klosterman. big hearted and direct, bright and unironic, optimistic and amiable’ and jesus christ this person must have been held at gunpoint because absolutely none of that is accurate in my opinion. yeah no this was not fun at all, the only thing i enjoyed was just reading about familiar artists and sometimes learning something new about them. but aside from that, ‘ultimately, the author should have listened to his friend Lucy Chance’‼️‼️
casspro's review
1.0
I wanted to hear about dead celebrities and rock and roll, not a sad love triangle between Klosterman and his ex-ex-ex girlfriends. The road trip and music critiques are really the only saving grace here.
behinana's review against another edition
2.0
if I had read it in English I would've dropped it or rated 1-star
erikbergstrom's review
3.0
Often the success of any good book, nonfiction or fiction, is in how the writer keeps his or her promise with the reader based on the premise and the thesis stated in the beginning. I'm not sure Klosterman does that with this book. It's basically a rambling exercise of his thoughts, most of them personal and uninteresting related to his love life. I wanna hear about the music, man!
Chuck started his humble writing career at the same cold, upper Midwestern college as me and got big on how he crafted his essays and articles with humor and wit and charm. Basically, he's the one who got out! But here, he seems to meander a bit from his promise of delivering us an interesting road trip tale featuring dead musicians littering the landscape. The most he gives any story is one of his first, the Station night club fire. Here, he's at his best—showing off his roots as a farmboy from North Dakota by relating more to the kind of people who'd attend a Great White show in the 2000s and not making them a punchline like most others.
Other best parts include his thoughts on Led Zeppelin, KISS, and the state of Montana. The first time I chuckled out loud was past the halfway point, though, which may not be what he was going for.
ANYWAY, I'll maybe check out some of Chuck's earlier stuff, or even some of his more recent stuff to see how far he's strayed from his potential, but skip this one if you're looking for some peak Chuck.
Chuck started his humble writing career at the same cold, upper Midwestern college as me and got big on how he crafted his essays and articles with humor and wit and charm. Basically, he's the one who got out! But here, he seems to meander a bit from his promise of delivering us an interesting road trip tale featuring dead musicians littering the landscape. The most he gives any story is one of his first, the Station night club fire. Here, he's at his best—showing off his roots as a farmboy from North Dakota by relating more to the kind of people who'd attend a Great White show in the 2000s and not making them a punchline like most others.
Other best parts include his thoughts on Led Zeppelin, KISS, and the state of Montana. The first time I chuckled out loud was past the halfway point, though, which may not be what he was going for.
ANYWAY, I'll maybe check out some of Chuck's earlier stuff, or even some of his more recent stuff to see how far he's strayed from his potential, but skip this one if you're looking for some peak Chuck.
rienthril's review
3.0
I feel like I just read nothing for two weeks. It was fun, I guess, but vapid.