Comments on: How Chuck Klosterman and Rock & Roll Bookclub made me revise history

By: Tori

Tori — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:23:30 +0000

Fargo Rock City is such a good book! Only the “Killing Yourself to Live” essay (as originally published in Spin) even comes close to the promise he showed in Fargo Rock City.

Let me say this: In the first edition of the book, he published his home phone number in the introduction. I called him and left a message, asking for an interview for my zine. He did not return my call! I’m so jealous the Klost communicated with all of you!!!

Also, Jodi, the day I found your blog, I read some of your entries from 2000. I didn’t read all of them due to time, not banality.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:15:27 +0000

Maybe now, but back in 2002 it was just weird. hell, it’d probably still just be weird.

By: david

david — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:11:14 +0000

E-mail triangles involving Rex Sorgatz and Chuck Klosterman are the stuff dreams are made of.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:01:59 +0000

See, my allegiance to good writing is stronger than my allegiance to Chuck — and I too got a nice e-mail from him after blogging about my love of Fargo Rock City. And then became embroiled in a weird e-mail triangle with him and his friend Rex. Sometimes I miss the early days.

But anyway, I think sometime around Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs he started to believe own press and his writing went from genuinely earnest to trying to be earnest and that just sucks.

So, how long do you give a writer before you wash your hands of them? I’m seriously considering breaking up with John Irving who changed my life because his last two novels have been bad.

By: christa

christa — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:38:31 +0000

i can’t wait to read that novel, either, because i believe his fiction is the stuff of doodled daydreams by high school girls. [as a former high school girl.] ie: the one where he wanders around having inner monologues with his exes? “thanks for paying for me to journal, spin!”

unfortunately, i have a pretty serious commitment to reading chuck k.’s words based on my romantic feelings for fargo rock city, and a lenthy email i received from him upon his receiving my fan letter.

so i don’t think i’ll ever be strong enough to just walk away, even if his novel is a steaming mound of hubris. i was barely strong enough to let my subscription to spin expire before his time there did.