November 25, 2007
Reading is FUNdamental!
I noticed that many people have posted things they are thankful for, because well, it's thanksgiving. I won't do this. It's really none ya'lls business what I'm thankful for.
OK, my family.
Also, music. And books--more specifically, I am thankful for Chuck Klosterman. If I ever end up writing anything but technical manuals, I want to do what Klosterman does. He writes for magazines about music. And about dead musicians, 90's TV shows, the significance of cover bands, and sports. He has interviewed Thom Yorke, Jeff Tweedy, Robert Plant, and just about any other musician I would give my left testicle to meet. I just got "IV" which is another collection his essays and articles, and it is uniformly excellent.
I also have "Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs: A low Culture Manifesto" which finally answers the eternal question of the cultural significance of Zach Morris and the rest of the gang at Bayside high. Basically, he obsessively over-analyzes anything he is interested in (including terrible metal albums), defends his unpopular opinions (he hates the Olympics games) and gets paid to write (sometimes) mean things about impossibly cool people.
While I'm naming books I've read or am reading, "McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales" is just about the coolest collection of short stories I've come across. It consists of well known writers (Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Stephen King) writing "genre" pieces. It's great because at some point in the last 30 years, all literary short stories have lost any semblance of a normal plot, instead relying on an epiphanic moment that is supposed open up the reader's consciousness to some greater truth buried in our essentially unknowable human nature. Whatever. These stories are about killer circus elephants and time travel (to name a few), but they are not written by the usual genre hacks that would normally gravitate to this type of story. I highly recommend it.
OK, my family.
Also, music. And books--more specifically, I am thankful for Chuck Klosterman. If I ever end up writing anything but technical manuals, I want to do what Klosterman does. He writes for magazines about music. And about dead musicians, 90's TV shows, the significance of cover bands, and sports. He has interviewed Thom Yorke, Jeff Tweedy, Robert Plant, and just about any other musician I would give my left testicle to meet. I just got "IV" which is another collection his essays and articles, and it is uniformly excellent.
I also have "Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs: A low Culture Manifesto" which finally answers the eternal question of the cultural significance of Zach Morris and the rest of the gang at Bayside high. Basically, he obsessively over-analyzes anything he is interested in (including terrible metal albums), defends his unpopular opinions (he hates the Olympics games) and gets paid to write (sometimes) mean things about impossibly cool people.
While I'm naming books I've read or am reading, "McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales" is just about the coolest collection of short stories I've come across. It consists of well known writers (Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Stephen King) writing "genre" pieces. It's great because at some point in the last 30 years, all literary short stories have lost any semblance of a normal plot, instead relying on an epiphanic moment that is supposed open up the reader's consciousness to some greater truth buried in our essentially unknowable human nature. Whatever. These stories are about killer circus elephants and time travel (to name a few), but they are not written by the usual genre hacks that would normally gravitate to this type of story. I highly recommend it.
Labels: books
# posted by McDirty @ Sunday, November 25, 2007 
Comments:
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I thought of you during one of my late night trips to Barnes and Noble when I saw that book. (The Klosterman one)
It was fun seeing you and Scott last week. Let's do it again sometime!
It was fun seeing you and Scott last week. Let's do it again sometime!
Chase - I miss the days of undergraduate english when I could read whatever I wanted . . . cherish it - cherish it as long as you possibly can!
You should put something you've written on here so we can read it!
You should put something you've written on here so we can read it!
# posted by 
: November 27, 2007 at 4:59 PM
: November 27, 2007 at 4:59 PM
P.S. I was thinking maybe something other than an album review or old comic maybe (any short stories?)
# posted by : November 27, 2007 at 5:08 PM
: November 27, 2007 at 5:08 PM
I am reading a Klosterman right now. The one with the Gibson Flying V stuck neck-first in the ground a la crucifix. its good. That guy is a pop culture jedi.
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