Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

Meh.

I thought this book would make me think differently about things and maybe laugh at pop culture, but it is just the ramblings of a man who was bullied in school. A former outcast made famous by being an annoying a**hole. I couldn't make myself finish it.

Only read this if you have nothing better to do.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Bored

I just read the chapter all about that horrible show, the real world. Agonizing. I was hoping it would get better, but i was wrong. This guy just rambles on about crap. I will finish this book, but only because i paid for it. I would not recommend this to anyone.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Terrible

Felt like a homework assignment to read this book. Non-stop pointless dribble. Some funny comments, but not enough to compensate for the rest. Waste of time and money.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

STUPID IDIOTIC AND BORING

Really just a collection of rambling thoughts. If you like to read an entire chapter of the Real World being disected...well spend your money. I DO recommend it if you cant sleep..This should have you snoring in 10 minutes

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Klosterman ROCKS!

So far this has been my favorite of all Klosterman's books. His views on life are comically wonderful. The only time I'm remotely bored by his stories are the in depth sports analysis. The short fillers between stories are hysterical. I'm giving this as a gift this Christmas to introduce his writing to a friend.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Sex, Drugs, Coco Puffs and Almost everything Else

Have you ever eaten Coco Puffs? I bet you didn't realize the sugary cereal you were ingesting was original conceived by the ideal to help prevent ailments or that there commercial maybe unintentionally teaching you how to be cool. If you did realize it is likely you are either: A. Chuck Klosterman B. Simultaneously a sociologist focusing on media and a breakfast historian or C. person that has already read the book Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs.

Chuck Klosterman Is a writer for Spin and Esquire magazine. He is most prominently known for his work about classic rock bands but also has an almost infinite amount of cultural knowledge that makes SD&CP a very enjoyable collection of essays. Because of the fact that it is essays and not s story SD&CP should be a very easy book to pick up and put down, but I actually found it was not. His insights make him seem genius and the different perspectives he offers are as addictive as Cinnamon Toast Crutch.

Despite my plethora of cereal related references SD&CP is about far more then breakfast with themes that cover everything including The Real World, The Sims, Say Anything, and Vanilla Sky and few others that it is unlikely you could think of in your wildest dreams.

Usually The stories lack focus on the thing itself and look at a broader theme represented by the item, and while these are all only Mr. Klosterman's opinions even if you disagree they are very entertaining. The most common criticism of his work is his writing style that at sometimes seems intentionally overly wordy. I had no problem with it at, but I could defiantly see the potential for it to become annoying.

On the whole I found the book to be a very entertain and thought provoking, but would not recommended it to someone who wants a story but rather for someone who is interested in both reading random facts and learning to think differently.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Funny and Enlightening

This book is a collection of short essays in which Klosterman amalyzes how sports, tv, music, and food influence the way we think and act . At the same time, he incorporates humor and makes you think.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Goof for some laughs and so easy to relate to

I've read this book multiple times and sometimes just reread my favorite parts.

Excellent!!

No text was provided for this review.

pure genius

probably one of the best book i've read which attempts to explain every aspect of human existence

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wide Array of Pop Culture Essays

jj

Pop Culture Manifesto

I need to preface my entire review by stating that Klosterman is one of the most thought-provoking authors I've ever read. He has written several books (Eating the Dinosaur, Killing Yourself to Live, Downtown Owl) showcasing his wide array of knowledge of all things pop culture related. He is quite simply an expert on pop culture.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is a book comprised of short essays about everything from Saved By The Bell and the Sims to the Celtics/Lakers rivalry and Star Wars. There is literally no subject that Chuck does not know/write about.

I always find it difficult to rate/review a book that is comprised of essays or short stories because there really is no narrative. Each story is its own entity and there may be some that are amazing and then some not so amazing. I enjoyed about half of the essays in this book because I was knowledgable enough to understand the pop culture referenced in them. His essay on the computer game The Sims was by far my favorite. He writes an entire essay comparing his real life, to that of his "SimChuck." It's hysterical. Reading the essay brought me back to the days when I would play the Sims, and his interesting allegory between the life of his "SimChuck" and his own was intriguing. He compared his own wants and needs with that of "SimChuck", and found that although "SimChuck" lived in a two-dimensional space which "real" Chuck controlled, they were actually not very different.

His essays on the Real World was also very poignant as he enters into a discussion on how reality television can never be truly reality after its first season. He uses the first season of the Real World as evidence, stating that the first season was so boring because people were actually just being themselves and not playing a character they thought they needed to play to get air time. It's a very interesting thought, one that I have had myself on occasion.

I found myself struggling to get through the essays on sports (most specifically the Lakers/Celtics rivalry). It's apparent in Klosterman's writing that he is a huge sports fan, which puts a damper on some essays for me as I'm the complete opposite. Discussing coaches and players and fan bases were just lost on me. I tried to slug my way though that essay, thinking that it would contain portions that would be amicable to non-fans like myself, but it was difficult. Although Klosterman made parallels linking the Lakers/Celtics rivalry to other great rivalries and events in history, his references sometimes became too specific or were referencing things of which I had no knowledge, like additional sports facts and events.

I give Klosterman a ton of credit for being able to discuss (in infinite detail) the effect of Madonna and Pamela Anderson in the same book as a detailed analysis of sports legends and a ton of historical facts. The man is clearly a sponge of information, yet I feel that it's sometimes too much information leaking out.
I'd like to end my review by asking that you not read this review and swear off Klosterman for life. His book Killing Yourself to Live is written in a more narrative style and is amazing! It chronicles his journey across the US to find out why musicians become legends when they die early. It's an incredibly interesting book, one that I highly recommend.

Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)

Thought provoking

I like Chuck Klosterman's writing. He takes pop culture and writes about it in such a way that it really makes you think and starts conversations with others. Often, I end up reading passages from the book to my family members and we have a discussion about the topics. I recommend this book for anyone that has an interest in pop culture and music.

Terrific writing, awesome pop-culture observations

There are two reasons to read this book and two reasons to not read this book. Firstly, the style of writing. The writing is wonderful. I enjoy the style. You really get the feeling that a highly intelligent Gen X journalist is sitting there in your living room in his jeans ant T-shirt and telling you his observations. If that style drives you crazy (in a bad way), you will know it from the sample and can save your money. If that styles drives you crazy (in a good way), you will know it from the sample and safely give B&N your money. Secondly, the wise observations of our modern world. His observations of the absurdity and ridiculousness of current culture is astute. Yes, he over-analyzes, but he does so in an entertaining way. If you think modern mainstream media and culture is awesome, then avoid this like a zombie plague. If you think modern mainstream media and culture are absurd, then this will be a very entertaining and enlightening read.

Good Read

Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto written by one of the more astute minds in pop culture Chuck Klosterman, now I won't bore you with my favorite quotes from the book, or a long winded description of who Chuck Klosterman is as a person, an author, or what his career has looked like. Rather I will point out the fact that I tremendously respect and almost envy (if that's an appropriate use of the word) his writing style. Klosterman has an uncanny ability to take seemingly obscure pop culture information, or phenomena and turn them into very thought provoking essays. Whether it was the discussion of how Pam Anderson is not our generation's Marilyn Monroe, Or how Saved by the Bell shaped and help to define popular culture for the generation that grew up watching it in syndication, or even how the MTV hit show The Real World destroyed the social norms of functioning relationships among twenty and thrity-somethings, Klosterman no doubt is far more brilliant in the way he writes about culture and art and tells stories.

Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't the BEST book ever written, that is obviously reserved for Perks of Being a Wallflower, that is not true, it's a lie. However, it does take a non traditional approach to looking at culture as a functioning system. How the stuff we consume as a culture regurgitates itself into shaping culture. This is akin to the idea of how a girl can read a magazine with an article about a supermodel (consumption) and then all of the sudden think she is fat, and worthless as a result (regurgitation).

not as good as the hype...killing yourself to live much better

i was expecting this to be awesome and had a lot of excitement about the release...but it was a letdown

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Chuck Klosterman writes a masterpiece in which he shows just what is going on in the world today.

This was the first Chuck Klosterman book that I have read and i can promise you that it will not be my last, and if you read this also then it will not be your last either. As you read this you discover that Chuck Klosterman has an amazing way of putting things that we would never think of ourselves. From Pamela Anderson to The Sims Chcuk Klosterman talks about it all in this very up-beat and self-fulfilling book. I will not explain much about this one because i do not want to ruin any of it for anyone, and with that being said i do promise you it is an amazing book that you must read. I plan on reading all other books written by Chuck Klosterman and writing (better) reviews about them. Thank you and please read this book, you will not regret it.

Hilarity Ensues

Klosterman is hilarious. I saw the book and knew I had to read it. Having never read anything else by Klosterman I went out on a limb and was NOT upset. Klosterman put in a lot of thought to this book. Makes the reader think about everyday things in a totally different light. Great read and hard to put down once you start. You will never watch Saved By the Bell the same way again.

Pop Culture Parables

Chuck Klosterman's ability to find the common threads in seemingly different mediums, cultures and situations make his essays (most are actually newspaper or magazine articles he's written for various publications) profound and insightful. The thing that makes "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" so readable though is Klosterman's sarcastic and oftentimes self-depreciating sense of humor.

Excellent, but in small doses

If you try to read this book cover to cover, you may grow tired of Klosterman's signature style. Even originality becomes repetitive if you package a bunch of essays together.

But taken in piecemeal fashion, it's great stuff. Klosterman reminds me of high school friends who would get into heated debates about whether a baboon was more fierce than a hyena, or whether someone could survive a trip down a local waterfall. Klosterman delights in exploring the seemingly absurd (consider the essay on the deeper meaning of the Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee videotape, or in his delight in realizing he is friends with a person who once danced with a future serial killer in a seedy bar).