Eating The Dinosaur is
Chuck Klosterman’s latest book of essays on pop culture. There’s a lot to enjoy
in the book, but I don’t think it’s as entertaining as some of his earlier books.
It seems that (unlike the majority of his fans) I tend to find his sports essays
among the most entertaining and thought provoking. In this book he takes on the
disappointing untapped potential of Ralph Samson’s NBA career in “What We Talk
About When We Talk About Ralph Sampson: Society's Reactions to Public Failures.”
I also enjoyed his discussion of innovation in football in the essay, “Football:
Liberal or Conservative?” I found his essay, “Something Instead of Nothing: Why
do people answer questions? For who's sake? What does that say about us?” on
the difficulties of interviewing and being interviewed interesting. This is
mainly because I think he writes terrific profiles-like the classic one he did
on Brittany Spears. He himself is also usually an engaging subject. “It Will
Shock You How Much It Never Happened” is also pretty interesting in his discussion
of advertising and Mad Men, my current favorite TV series. Some of his other
musings on irony, canned laughter, and ABBA have their moments. But overall, it is not as strong as some
of the earlier efforts, but a worthwhile read nonetheless. I’d say wait for the
paperback edition.
Comments