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A review by amber_lea84
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
3.0
Man, it has been a real struggle lately to figure out how I want to rate books.
This book is a time capsule. It's such a perfect piece of Gen X writing from the early 2000s. People don't think or talk like this anymore because it's no longer cool and I think that's what makes it so interesting.
To give you an idea of what you'll encounter in this book, here's a short list of things he mentions: The Real World, Big Brother, the Man Show, MASH, My So-Called Life, Saved by the Bell, the Lakers-Celtics Rivalry, Magic Johnson, the Dixie Chicks, Jewel, Lisa Loeb, Billy Joel, Elton John, Jenny McCarthy, Pamela Anderson, Ralph Nader, and The Sims.
I alternated between loving this book and being mildly annoyed by it. The essay about how there's a 50-50 chance of anything happening was my least favorite, followed by an essay on how to sound smart, and my favorites were the essays about being addicted to the Sims, what it means to know a serial killer, and how it might be kinda nice to be a born-again Christian. I also really appreciated his essays on Star Wars and Saved by the Bell. So it was probably more good than bad.
Overall, I was somewhat frustrated he spent so much time talking about sports, but at the same time, those essays were still good and I could understand them without knowing much about sports. And there were definitely times he sounded like a pretentious asshole, but again, being smart and a little hateable was the epitome of cool back then and he really nails it. 10/10 period piece.
This book is a time capsule. It's such a perfect piece of Gen X writing from the early 2000s. People don't think or talk like this anymore because it's no longer cool and I think that's what makes it so interesting.
To give you an idea of what you'll encounter in this book, here's a short list of things he mentions: The Real World, Big Brother, the Man Show, MASH, My So-Called Life, Saved by the Bell, the Lakers-Celtics Rivalry, Magic Johnson, the Dixie Chicks, Jewel, Lisa Loeb, Billy Joel, Elton John, Jenny McCarthy, Pamela Anderson, Ralph Nader, and The Sims.
I alternated between loving this book and being mildly annoyed by it. The essay about how there's a 50-50 chance of anything happening was my least favorite, followed by an essay on how to sound smart, and my favorites were the essays about being addicted to the Sims, what it means to know a serial killer, and how it might be kinda nice to be a born-again Christian. I also really appreciated his essays on Star Wars and Saved by the Bell. So it was probably more good than bad.
Overall, I was somewhat frustrated he spent so much time talking about sports, but at the same time, those essays were still good and I could understand them without knowing much about sports. And there were definitely times he sounded like a pretentious asshole, but again, being smart and a little hateable was the epitome of cool back then and he really nails it. 10/10 period piece.