Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto | 
 enlarge | Author: Chuck Klosterman
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  123 reviews
Sales Rank: 1442
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0743236017
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.0973
EAN: 9780743236010
ASIN: 0743236017
Publication Date: June 22, 2004
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
There's quite a bit of intelligent analysis and thought-provoking insight packed into the pages of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, which is a little surprising considering how darn stupid most of Klosterman's subject matter actually is. Klosterman, one of the few members of the so-called "Generation X" to proudly embrace that label and the stereotypical image of disaffected slackers that often accompanies it, takes the reader on a witty and highly entertaining tour through portions of pop culture not usually subjected to analysis and presents his thoughts on Saved by the Bell, Billy Joel, amateur porn, MTV's The Real World, and much more. It would be easy in dealing with such subject matter to simply pile on some undergraduate level deconstruction, make a few jokes, and have yourself a clever little book. But Klosterman goes deeper than that, often employing his own life spent as a member of the lowbrow target demographic to measure the cultural impact of his subjects. While the book never quite lives up to the use of the word "manifesto" in the title (it's really more of a survey mixed with elements of memoir), there is much here to entertain and illuminate, particularly passages on the psychoses and motivations of breakfast cereal mascots, the difference between Celtic fans and Laker fans, and The Empire Strikes Back. Sections on a Guns n' Roses tribute band, The Sims, and soccer feel more like magazine pieces included to fill space than part of a cohesive whole. But when you're talking about a book based on a section of cultural history so reliant on a lack of attention span, even the incongruities feel somehow appropriate. --John Moe
Product Description
Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman. With an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and an almost effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter, Klosterman attacks the entire spectrum of postmodern America: reality TV, Internet porn, Pamela Anderson, literary Jesus freaks, and the real difference between apples and oranges (of which there is none). And don't even get him started on his love life and the whole Harry-Met-Sally situation.Whether deconstructing Saved by the Bell episodes or the artistic legacy of Billy Joel, the symbolic importance of The Empire Strikes Back or the Celtics/Lakers rivalry, Chuck will make you think, he'll make you laugh, and he'll drive you insane -- usually all at once. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is ostensibly about art, entertainment, infotainment, sports, politics, and kittens, but -- really -- it's about us. All of us. As Klosterman realizes late at night, in the moment before he falls asleep, "In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever 'in and of itself.'" Read to believe.
Download Description
"From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City -- the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo -- comes Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs -- the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks. Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman -- with an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and a seemingly effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter. Whether deconstructing Saved by the Bell episodes or the artistic legacy of Billy Joel, the symbolic importance of The Empire Strikes Back or the Celtics/Lakers rivalry of the 1980s, Chuck will make you think, he'll make you laugh, and he'll drive you insane -- usually all at once. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is ostensibly about movies, sports, television, music, books, video games, and kittens...but, really, it's about us. All of us. As Klosterman realizes late at night, in the moment before he falls asleep, ""In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever 'in and of itself.'"" "
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| Customer Reviews: Read 118 more reviews...
No flow but the essays individually are thought-provoking and halarious! June 24, 2008
I really enjoyed this book for one reason: looking at things that would otherwise be mundane and extrapolating philosophy from them until they become relevant. It's something me and my friends do quite often such as suggesting how different Pokemon reflect people we know in real life. Who knew that talks about MTV's Real World, Billy Joel, Saved by the Bell, or the Sims could help us figure out ourselves. I admit for someone in my age group(college kid here) that I could relate to all of the things he talked about fairly well.
Though this book comes across as a cynical, comedic work (and trust me, it does), it has an odd way of being very profound with its assessments on life. I really liked the social commentary that talks about the world that will live in today, with people being shown on the mass media as flat and static characters to be more easily understood.
The best parts of the book were actually when he wasn't talking about the topic on hand. Sometimes Klosterman would get off topic and start talking about esoteric revelations of how people come to label themselves; I really felt was amazing.
The essays might not flow from one chapter to the next, but every one will have you thinking and laughing.
 Fun in the Sun June 21, 2008
Readers who take Chuck Klosterman at his word will have a hard time with this one. Those who can appreciate some hardcore tongue-in-cheekiness, however, will be rewarded with a highly entertaining collection of essays on a myriad of subjects. Does Klosterman overreach? Of course. Is it savvy, entertaining, and thought-provoking? Definitely.
Smart, witty, entertaining... June 19, 2008
Chuck Klosterman immediately became my favorite author after reading this book. He has a very good grasp of pop culture and deconstructs them in a hillarious way. You can read sections at a time before going to bed. But in my case, the chapters ended up being too good. It kept me up reading late into the night. Also, the stuff he wrote are good fodder for interesting discussions with friends. I especially liked the section on "questions I have to ask to know if I can fall in love with this person".
 I force myself to finish horrible "books" like this. June 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is simply not a book. I went in thinking some kind of story would develop and that some kind of underlying theme would connect everything he wrote about. The first chapter on love even appealed to me. I liked it! Hell that's why I bought the book I thought it was rather witty and insightfull. Then the Sims review came.... Then Real World... Then Billy Joel.... each 'chapter essay' getting worse than the one before. I continued on and only found out that there was a reason this book isnt filed in the Literature section. Its filed under Rock since this cannot be considered an actual literary work.
As for Chuck,I find this man to be pathetic and not cool at all. All he does is whine and complain about things and then throw in insanely idiodic stories about how homeless people are beneath him and how they should remember if they already asked him for money, because clearly their lives aren't so hard.
This guy is just a waste of space. I read the entire book looking for what I thought was humor in his first chapter. His first rambling statements rang true to me, but the rest of the book is about pointless references to pop culture that most people dont even take a second glance over.
My advice. Read the first chapter and throw the book away. The guy thinks hes above everyone when all you ahve to do is look at his picture, the guy is a dork or writes for a magazine for dorks. Don't encourage him anymore.
 Meh June 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Were you aware that some people are so insecure and/or vacant that they adopt one-dimensional personalities and behavioral paradigms from popular works of fiction? Did you know that some relationships don't work out because the participants have an unrealistic notion of love due to watching too many movies? If so, you probably don't need to read this book. Even if you didn't know these things, you probably still shouldn't, because you might be naive enough to believe Klosterman's implication that these are somehow distinctly late-twentieth-century, television-era phenomena. Did you know that your musical tastes don't necessarily have to be governed by how "cool" the artist is, by how the genre and style would tend to affect your "image?" I would hope so, at least if you're over the age of 22. I read the blurbs about this book and thought to myself, "Maybe this is some undiscovered genius of a cultural critic who will really shed light on the modern experience." Nope. Klosterman talks about behaviors that people have been exhibiting for millenia and pretends he's making new observations because he illustrates his points using semi-new pop culture products. This is hack work. If you're the kind of person who would be interested in reading a book on culture, you can probably skip this because you're probably already at least as observant as Klosterman. This truly is "low-culture," but not in the way the author thinks.
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