The Next Great American Author?

October 3rd, 2007

Chuck Klosterman

As nerdy as it sounds, ever since the passing of Kurt Vonnegut a few months ago, I have been having an unofficial debate with my friends as to who will inherit the throne of “Greatest Living American Author” (just to put things into perspective we also wage bets on who will get the chance at a date with Natalie Portman first, of which I’ve already messed up my opportunity, but that’s another story altogether).

Needless to say, Mrs. Portman notwithstanding, I’m rarely affected or interested in the idea of celebrity. Furthermore, I’ve never really been affected when someone famous has died. I wasn’t alive when John Lennon was murdered, I was 10 and probably playing with Lego when Kurt Cobain killed himself, as a teen I always assumed Elliott Smith would eventually get what he seemed to want, or at least what he sang about wanting for the most part, so I was hardly surprised when the news broke that he had, as so many before him, taken his own life.

But when Vonnegut died in April, something different happened. I was honestly caught off guard (despite the fact he was 84) and found myself very sad for days afterwards. Logically speaking, this made no sense to me – I had never met the man, we have no mutual friends, but his words reached me at a time in that awful time in everyone’s teen years, where one becomes incredibly self aware and in need of an identity. Kurt Vonnegut’s words became part of my identity for the most part, in many ways, they still are. That sense of loss prompted me and a few of my friends who love all things Vonnegut to try to find his successor – and I have.

His name is Chuck Klosterman and he is in every way my new favourite author. You may recognize the titles Fargo Rock City and Sex, Drugs And Cocoa Puffs of which he is the author.

His new book IV is a must read for everyone who loves insanely sharp wit and ridiculously introspective yet hilarious commentary on todays politics, music and sports. It’s a collection of articles and interviews he has done for Spin, Esquire, Rolling Stone and many other fantastic publications, it also includes interviews with Bono, Britney Spears, Robert Plant, Radiohead, Wilco, Val Kilmer (strangely) and many more.

If you read one book this year, make it IV (provided of course you have already cycled through the Vonnegut collection once or twice).

- Devon

Posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 9:34 am by Kat and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture.