Chuck Klosterman

Chuck Klosterman. My first impression: Oh. My. God. I am in way over my head. I have, on a good day, only a mediocre library of pop culture knowledge in my head. I am intrigued, but not as well informed as I wish to be. But, like listening to Dr. Kobre talk, I am thoroughly impressed by his infinite knowledge of all things, both important and trivial.
My next thought: Wow, he likes to hear himself talk way too much. Perhaps this is because it Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is a collection of essays, and I would do better to read them in smaller doses, but I felt like this man loved his own opinions. Okay, I know, as a writer, we all like our own opinions; otherwise we wouldn’t want to share them so fervently. But I feel as if his peacock display of his knowledge is just tiring after a while.
My final major thought: He does a fantastic job of taking the most mundane thing and using it to create a much bigger point. And he does it in a very amusing way. I had to laugh.
So, overall, Chuck Klosterman has my respect as pop culture guru and go-to man on the art of talking a lot of nothing-ness into something-much-bigger-ness.