Anything that calls itself a "low culture manifesto" is really one of two things; 1) an emotional teenager trying to write his/her first novel 2) a middle age man trying to remember the carefree days of his youth.

The chapters are organized like a "cd mix tape" complete with arbitrary lengths of time. They even included a picture of a cd and jewel case to ingrain it in your brain.

I read chapter one, "This is Emo 0:01" and that was too much already.

Sometimes reading this was like being cornered at a bar by a guy who is too smart and too talkative by half, as well as completely enamored with his own intelligence. But I can't deny that it was often quite funny and pretty much thoroughly enjoyable. I did skip some of the parts where he goes on about sports too much. Also, I think he tends to end the essays in fairly corny ways. But I'd definitely read more of his stuff (this was my first). I think "The Ethicist" is not a place where he can make the most of his talents. He obviously should be writing about music and pop culture.

I love a good ramble, and this book delivers on that. I really enjoy Chuck Klosterman’s writing style, and he has a unique way of looking at culture, entertainment, and history and the way these interact and weave together. I often couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or tongue-in-cheek with some of his quips, but that was half the fun of reading this book.

This is something I've been meaning to read for a long time (since the guy wrote it in 2003). It took me a loooong time to get through the rather light hearted collection of pop culture reflections, and that's mainly because I kinda hated it.

I tried, I really did. At first I figured I HAD to like the seemingly random collection of Malcolm Gladwell-lite musings on various topics like MTV's The Real World (hmm), Internet porn (HMMMMMM), Saved By The Bell (one of my favourite shows in the 90's) and The Sims (NEED I SAY MORE??? LOVE). Turns out I didn't.

Klosterman has stuff to say, sure. However, I found that he didn't really have anything RELEVANT to contribute. I skipped a bunch of stuff (this says a lot, I do NOT do this) - most notably a big long drag of a piece about whether or not Billy Joel should be considered cool. Or something. I found Klosterman to be arrogant and long-winded and generally annoying.

Furthermore, I could not get over how DATED this book was. Go figure since it was written in the past decade, though really...when one is writing non-fiction opinion pieces about pop-culture before things like Facebook and Jersey Shore (shudder) even existed, it's going to seem a littel archaic. I think the author even addressed this at the beginning of the book. Still, my reaction to all of it is: I don't care.

p.s. his incessant and unnecessary use of expletives is just annoying.

From high school through my young adulthood, I was constantly recommended this provocatively titled book. In the year of our lord twenty nineteen, I am able to say I have completed this paperback and it's utter rubbish. Chuck Klosterman writes from a self-important perspective where his tastes are impeccable and women's tastes - particularly those of the teenage and partying variety - are considered pitiable and uninteresting. He has no respect for women. Just to give you a snift, here's a fun-sized sample from chapter 14 where he recalls a review he wrote about a Chicks concert: "...I clearly remember getting several angry phone calls from readers who read my review the next morning and thought I was cruel for suggesting that Chicks singer Natalie Maines has an 'oddly shaped body, fleshy cheekbones, and weird fashion sense.' It turns out Natalie Maines was pregnant. I am nothing if not underinformed" (174). He has no remorse for including his thoughts on Natalie Maines' body (especially in a review of the bands' concert, no less!!!!) and he acts like he's at no fault whatsoever. Why is he commenting on her body in the first place? Because he's a ~cool and ~credible writer, and if you don't like his honesty that you should just deal with it as he fastens his fedora to his thick skull? His pomp is foul. The ~quirky subtitle of "A Low Culture Manifesto" is a billowy and bright red flag that puts the intent of the book in plain sight. Ye be warned...

So, here’s the deal. I was going to try and write a cogent, well-thought out review of exactly why I disliked this book so much, but it’s not working out that way. The more I sit here trying to think of things to say, the more my blood pressure skyrockets and I get more and more retroactively angry at the book.

At first, I wanted to give this book two stars, because there are a couple of essays in here that felt valid to me, one in particular about how Klosterman thinks we’re all doomed to never really love another human being because the love we’re conditioned to want from watching movies and reading books doesn’t actually exist. If taken tongue-in-cheek, this essay is pretty funny and a little insightful. But. Then I read the rest of the book, and no matter how well-constructed it was on a technical level, and no matter how many witticisms Klosterman dispenses and how many individual sentences met my approval, the overall affect is still one of rottenness. Even that first essay read in the light of the rest of the book just shows how, and forgive me for this one, how up his own ass Chuck Klosterman is. If it’s true that Chuck Klosterman will really never love a woman the way that he wants to, it’s his own goddamn fault.

There’s a moment near the beginning of the book, in one of the interludes that separate each chapter, where he states, “I never have any idea how other people feel.” That couldn’t be more obvious. Chuck Klosterman lives in a world of Chuck Klosterman’s own making. It’s like he’s stuck permanently in his own head, and every bit of pop culture analysis he performs in the book has almost no actual insight into the human condition as most people experience it, because Klosterman is incapable of that sort of thinking. I have a feeling he’s the kind of person who, if I ever met him, I’d want to punch him in the throat within about five minutes of conversation. He’s very smart, well-spoken, funny even. But he’s also an inconsiderate, selfish, and out of touch writer. He’s the kind of guy who knocks anything he doesn’t like as unworthy.

I will admit that several of these things are personal favorites of mine, so these instances probably hit harder than they would another person, but that sort of behavior is indicative of his mindset. He not only doesn’t know what people are thinking or feeling, he doesn’t seem to care. Or, at least, he cares that they think he’s smart and funny, and he writes with a tone that elevates smart and funny at the expense of kindness and generosity and, honestly, true pop culture analysis, which isn’t just analysis filtered through the mind of an intelligent narcissist, but filtered through the mind of someone who has their own opinions, but also the ability to understand the opinions of others. I disagreed with almost every opinion in this book, and some of it was so wrong I kept wondering, has Klosterman every actually met another human being? It’s not that I mind when writers are mean and skewer other people. I have read that type of writing and found it successful in the past. The difference between those writers and Klosterman is that those writers seemed to actually be writing about a world that I recognized. Klosterman is writing about a world that only exists in his own mind.

After letting my feelings about this book sit for a couple of days, I’ve realized that I’m incapable of being unbiased in my opinions about it. Even if this book did deserve an extra star for, I don’t know, whatever. I’m not giving it. I hated this book. One star.

What a hack. Do you really need 243 pages to deconstruct the "Real World" and Pamela Anderson? Klosterman is the pretentious "indie" guy at the party who is so insecure all he can talk about are his Spin articles that he wrote in 1989. If I met him on the street; I would punch him.

This is the first Chuck Klosterman book I have ever read. I saw Seth Cohen reading it on "The O.C." and decided to check it out. I was not disappointed.

It a series of ridiculous, highly pretentious, yet, very well-written essays on pop-culture. There really is no other way to describe it. If you want to laugh about inconsequential subject matter, such as "Saved by the Bell," then please read this book.

Here is a complete list of chapters (essays) that Klosterman tackles:

1) This is Emo: This essay discusses fake love, the appeal of John Cusack, and why Coldplay is arguably the worst band ever.

2) Billy Sim: Essay on Chuck playing the mega popular, The Sims.

3) What Happens When People Stop Being Polite: Essay on MTV's The Real World and its influence.

4) Every Dog Must Have His Every Day, Every Drunk Must Have His Drink: This is a lengthy essay on Billy Joel and how is so uncool that it makes him cool.

5) Appetite for Replication: This essay follows around a Guns N' Roses tribute band.

6) Ten Seconds to Love: Essay covering the Pam Anderson/Tommy Lee sex tape and what it says about the United States.

7) George Will vs. Nick Hornby: Essay on how much he hates soccer, especially youth soccer. This segue ways into his experience as a little league baseball coach.

8) 33: This essay discusses the Lakers and Celtics '80s era rivalry.

9) Porn: This particular essay covers porn, the Internet, and what it says about us as people.

10) The Lady or the Tiger: An essay about cereal and what it says about us as people.

11) Being Zach Morris: A lengthy essay on the TV show, Saved by the Bell.

12)Sulking with Lisa Loeb and the Ice Planet Hoth: An essay on Star Wars.

13) The Awe Inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise's Shattered, Troll-like Face: This essay covers the film Vanilla Sky (and occasionally the film Memento).

14) Toby over Moby: Country music and its importance in the US.

15) This is the Zodiac Speaking: A lengthy essay dealing with serial killers.

16) All I Know is What I Read in Papers: This essay details the media and how it works (written from the point of a view of a journalist).

17) I Rock, Chump: This essay reviews Chuck's time at the Experience Music Project (EMP). This where people sit around and discuss music as if it's a scholarly subject.

18) How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found: This essay covers religion, clearly saving one of the best topics for last.

Just bring it in to a "scenester" coffee shop. I am sure it will spark some sort of conversation.

Do ethics and morality cross over at some point? Are these two concepts isolated? or diametrically opposed? parallel? perhaps mutually supportive? Why do ethics and morality bear separate nomenclature and yet share certain aspirations? Perhaps these terms are isolated solely by semantics, but why then the discrete (as in the mathmatical) distinction between an ethical problem and a moral one? Couldn't we just call the whole thing "morthics" or "ethorals" in spite of the aesthetic aversion these neologisms foment in the gallbladder? After all, the gallbladder is easily removed with little or no complications.

Mr. Chuck Klosterman's battle cry in his low culture manifesto seems to be inspired by this craving for an etho-moral buffet line of reasoning. Nevertheless he utilizes his unique wit to examine such potentially boring dilemmas on the Styrofoam combo plate of American trash culture and celebrity worship, and if you've read this far into my piddling review you need not worry: Mr. Klosterman is funny. Much of what in the hands of another writer might come off as splenetic ruminations Klosterman dishes out with a kind one-two punch of off-the-cuff bravado and geeked-out, know-it-all-ism snark as to being ass-laughing-offly hilarious.

Further, whether you agree with Klosterman's wild extrapolations of low cultural relevance or not, you're bound to have more interesting conversations while reading his work. Klosterman also benefits some from being read aloud. The first few times I came into contact with his unique brand of obsessive-compulsive kitsch-reverence was through my friend Adrian, who read several of Mr. Klosterman's essays aloud (and I kind of balk at calling them essays (essays are supposed to be overly-relatable); they're more rants or even premeditated stand-up performances). This current encounter was one better: I found a recording of Mr. Klosterman reading his own work... he sounds a lot like the comic book dude from the Simpsons, which gives all the more credence to his argument that every modern personality type has been indirectly impacted by the combined influence of the zeitgeist of MTV's Real World and the magical realism of Saved by the Bell. I can honestly say having read Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs I feel like I know more about myself as an American at this crazy juncture in history, and I've gained a new appreciation for the insanity of cold breakfast.

Painfully obvious that this was written in 2004. Men are not as funny as they think they are

I'd heard a lot of good things about Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, so I was eager to get my hands on it. However, just several essays deep, I came to the realization that the thoughts and messages in his essays weren't anything that I hadn't heard before from my buddies who would begin pontificating about similar topics after a few too many drinks.

Desperately awaiting a laugh out loud moment, I was only disappointed as each long and drawn out essay led into the next in a series of name drops, pointless ramblings, and hypocritical slams on the hipsters of the world.

I made nearly all the way through the book, however by the time I reached the third to last story, I realized that it had become a chore to read the book. I had spent so much time wanting to like it, but less than 30 pages from the end, I realized that I didn't like it and questioned why I was forcing myself to finish it.

While I enjoyed some of his tales, I wasn't able to find this collection funny, and I could only take so much of one many looking for deeper meaning in mediums like Saved By the Bell and Star Wars.

If you used to do a lot of drugs in college, and are looking to recapture the same feeling that you had back then of thinking that things are truly deeper and more important than they actually are, then this will probably become your bible, however, if you're looking for smart comedy (as this book was advertised to me), I'd consider looking elsewhere.

Though I don't think that Klosterman is as funny as he probably thinks he is, in his defense, he was the only guy smart enough to take all of the mundane and pointless conversations that we have with our friends at the bar, write them all down, and make a couple of bucks in the process.

Ok, now I don't know why I really forced myself into reading this book, but it was one the most terrible books I've read. I will say it was all about blah-blah-blah. I didn't get what this guy wanted to tell us. He uses this kind of languages that shows us "look, I am so cool, I try to talk smart, I will say smart things to you". Ok, talking about The Sims, The Real World, Pam Anderson etc. in this kind of language?! I smiled, I was confused.
Every second of reading I've waited that finally it will come to the point that everything makes sense and comes to one complete picture, but no, I was wrong. What was this book all about? A lot of author's thoughts? Yay, I am bored to death.
I came to the conclusion that this guy is turned on watching TV, especially some stupid TV shows. And he tells me about the genious world hidden inside these TV shows and famous people. Yeah, it's so easy to talk about famous subjects, but he cannot even turn this into an interesting picture.
This book was a pile of words nicely combined together but not having any sense.
What have I found in this book? How to play the Sims, description of The Real Word's crew, Marylin Monro lover's names, a shit load of stupid questions etc. C'mmon, give me a break. I know everybody has his own picture of the world, but you don't have to act that snobby and all smart to tell me obvious things on stupid themes. Our life is already full of this shit. I expect something else from a book, some deepness or a nice place for imagination or I dunno.
This blah-blah thing I can find on TV any time I want.