Chuck Klosterman IV (2006) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

• Morrissey: Add a description of this character.
• Bono
• Billy Joel
• Jack White
• Val Kilmer
• Barry Bonds
• Steve Nash
• Thom Yorke
• Ricky Rumble
• Johnny Carson
• Bob Dylan
• Jimmy Page
• Jeff Tweedy
• Britney Spears
• John Bonham
• George W. Bush
• Lou Reed

Quotes edit see section history

• “Britney Spears is the most famous person I've ever interviewed”

• “U2 is the most self-aware rock band in history”

• “don't get pissed off over the fact that the way you feel about culture isn't some kind of universal consensus”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• The problematic rub is that — over time — choice isolates us. We have fewer shared experiences, and that makes us feel alone. The proliferation of choice makes us feel vaguely alienated, and that makes us depressed. But this relationship is not something we’re conscious of, because it seems crazy to attribute loneliness to freedom. We just think we’re inexplicably less happy than we should be.

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• The things that matter to normal people are not supposed to matter to smart people.

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• Machines allow humans the privilege of existential anxiety. Machines provide us with the extra time to worry about the status of our careers, and/or the context of our sexual relationships, and/or what it means to be alive. Unconsciously, we hate technology. We hate the way it replaces visceral experience with self-absorption. And the only way we can reconcile that hatred is by pretending machines hate us, too.

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• All the world’s stupidest people are either zealots or atheists. If you want to truly deduce how intelligent someone is, just ask this person how they feel about any issue that doesn’t have an answer; the more certainty they express, the less sense they have. This is because certainty only comes from dogma.

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• American culture is nothing more than a pastiche of fixations. We are obsessed with health. We are obsessed with pleasure. We are obsessed with speed. We are obsessed with efficiency. In simplest terms, we are obsessed by the desire to accelerate every element of our existence in a futile attempt to experience as much life as we can in the shortest possible time. We have all entered a race to devour the largest volume of gratification before it kills us.

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• Basically, don’t get pissed off over the fact that the way you feel about culture isn’t some kind of universal consensus. Because if you do, you will end up feeling betrayed. And it will be your own fault. You will feel bad, and you will deserve it.

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• Corporate responsibility begins when corporations start breaking the law, and personal responsibility never stops.

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• This is not the purpose of art and culture, but it’s probably the biggest social benefit; these shared experiences are how we connect with other people, and it’s how we understand our own identity.

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• The biggest problem with America is not faceless corporate forces; the biggest problem with America is people who blame faceless corporate forces instead of accepting accountability for their own lives.

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• If something is good today, it will be good tomorrow. Variety is overrated; variety is for philanderers.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• America
• Akron, Ohio
• Fargo, North Dakota
• London
• North Dakota
• England
• Los Angeles
• New York
• California
• Detroit
• Disneyland
• Chicago
• Manhattan
• Dublin
• Iraq
• Ohio
• Georgia
• Hollywood

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Chuck Klosterman (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 814.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States › Collections & Readers
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Sociology › Culture
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Arts & Literature › Authors
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Popular Culture
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Essays