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Eating The Dinosaur (2009)

by Chuck Klosterman(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1416544208 (ISBN13: 9781416544203)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Scribner Book Company

review 1: a fast read with klosterman's usual interconnected observations of (mostly) american pop culture. i didn't find his observations as astute or compelling as in sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs, but some of the essays were enjoyable nonetheless. a lot of it reads like the media criticism material i had in my undergrad communication classes (i.e. laugh track dictating what people should find funny/assuming people need to be told what to find funny, etc.) which may be why i found this not as good as sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs. i particularly liked the essay comparing American football as being "socially conservative" yet embodying "progressive ideals". i've always noticed how technology has changed the way American football is played - for example instant replay in ref decisions -... more and it was nice to actually read someone who has actual knowledge of football expound on this. all in all an easy and enjoyable read, though i would recommend someone new to klosterman's work to read sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs instead.
review 2: SUMMARY:A Book of All-New Pop Culture Pieces by Chuck KlostermanChuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. He's covered extreme metal, extreme nostalgia, disposable art, disposable heroes, life on the road, life through the television, urban uncertainty and small-town weirdness. Through a variety of mediums and with a multitude of motives, he's written about everything he can think of (and a lot that he's forgotten). The world keeps accelerating, but the pop ideas keep coming. In Eating the Dinosaur, Klosterman is more entertaining and incisive than ever. Whether he's dissecting the boredom of voyeurism, the reason why music fan's inevitably hate their favorite band's latest album, or why we love watching can't-miss superstars fail spectacularly, Klosterman remains obsessed with the relationship between expectation, reality, and living history. It's amateur anthropology for the present tense, and sometimes it's incredibly funny.Q: What is this book about?A: Well, that's difficult to say. I haven't read it yet - I've just clicked on it and casually glanced at this webpage. There clearly isn't a plot. I've heard there's a lot of stuff about time travel in this book, and quite a bit about violence and Garth Brooks and why Germans don't laugh when they're inside grocery stores. Ralph Nader and Ralph Sampson play significant roles. I think there are several pages about Rear Window and football and Mad Men and why Rivers Cuomo prefers having sex with Asian women. Supposedly there's a chapter outlining all the things the Unabomber was right about, but perhaps I'm misinformed.Q: Is there a larger theme?A: Oh, something about reality. "What is reality," maybe? No, that's not it. Not exactly. I get the sense that most of the core questions dwell on the way media perception constructs a fake reality that ends up becoming more meaningful than whatever actually happened.Q: Should I read this book?A: Probably. Do you see a clear relationship between the Branch Davidian disaster and the recording of Nirvana's In Utero? Does Barack Obama make you want to drink Pepsi? Does ABBA remind you of AC/DC? If so, you probably don't need to read this book. You probably wrote this book. But I suspect everybody else will totally love it, except for the ones who absolutely hate it. less

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Reviews (see all)

Bepavi

Klosterman is at his best when he is discussing music, although I cannot verify or argue against his Weezer essay. The music essays are probably the best as a subject, but his football obsession is well-expressed and appealing to an NFL addict like myself. Some essays are hit or miss, but the perspective is usually insightful enough to keep you engaged. I probably found his laugh track essay that turned into a larger commentary on sitcoms problematic. It's just a real low-hanging fruit topic that has no traction that really does not extrapolate into anything larger like he was trying to do.

Gene

I really liked this. He has an analytical mind the way I do but uses it for less scientific pursuits, like football, ABBA, lurking your neighbors, Chris Gaines/Garth Brooks and the societal impact of laugh tracks. Most of the time I agree with him and appreciate the way he presents his arguments. I feel like we'd be pals in real life if we could meet. And even when he didn't convince me (advertising/Mad Men/selling an idea rather than a product), I still understood and appreciated what he was saying. Recommended for any Millenial who has a feeling about pop culture.

laures

Entertaining, sometimes funny collection of essays.

snack

Fantastic, thoughtful, inspiring.

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