“A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas” Chuck Klosterman IV Simon ‘ Schuster Audio… “A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas” Chuck Klosterman IV Simon ‘ Schuster Audio

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Ironically, Chuck Klosterman IV has become part of the very pop culture that is the basis for his work. By analyzing all that is popular culture, he has become woven into the culture itself. His past few works have achieved critical acclaim, and one of them (“Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs”) was featured on an episode of “The O.C.” You can’t get much more pop culture than that.

Unsurprisingly, Klosterman’s new book is based entirely on his favorite subject. Yes indeed, “A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas” has almost as many pop-culture references as a VH1 countdown show. What is surprising, however, is that “Decade” manages to stay fresh and viciously humorous, using material that Klosterman has used many times before.

“Decade” is broken down into three different sections: “Things that are True,” “Things that Might be True” and “Something that Isn’t True at All.” The entire novel is read by Klosterman himself, which is both good and bad. He is able to put in the emotion he undoubtedly envisioned while writing, but listeners may quickly tire of the sound of his voice.

“Things that are True” is the section made up of Klosterman’s profiles and trend stories that are undoubtedly true. The section includes profiles of Val Kilmer and Steve Nash and stories about McDonald’s, ’70s rock band nostalgia cruises and gothic kids at Disneyland, but it is the profile of Britney Spears that makes the listener both blackout from constant laughter and actually think about what makes Britney Spears who she is.

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of Klosterman’s interview with Spears takes place during a photo shoot in which she is being photographed sans pants. He explains that the scene unfolding before him is the secret dream of most boys old enough to understand what pants cover, and he feels like a member of an elite fraternity to be able to witness it.

However, he soon realizes, the photo shoot commences behind a partition – only a select few will be able to join the selective fraternity of “the secret garden,” and he is not one of them.

Klosterman’s profile of Spears soon moves from an image of her without pants to a questioning of what makes her who she is. He says that she has become so involved with projecting herself as one person that she can no longer remember who she once was. In short, she can not distinguish between the real her and the famous person she projects to the public. It is an interesting point, one of the many Klosterman raises during this section of the novel.

The second part of “Decade,” “Things that Might be True,” is entirely devoted to Klosterman’s opinions, theories and questions relating to life in general. Extremely ironic and humorous, the topics covered in this section almost always leave the listener perplexed in some way or another.

If you had the power to stop a bear from attacking your friend but as a result, it would always rain wherever you went for the rest of your life, would you? This is the first question Klosterman poses to the listener. Klosterman then goes on to list reasons why people would give their various answers to the question, which leaves the listener wondering which he would choose, bear or rain?

The last story of the section doesn’t seem to fit into the theme of the rest, but it is just too ridiculous to leave out. Klosterman describes going shopping for bulletproof vests with 50 Cent, and how he couldn’t find a vest that looked good on him. So instead of a bulletproof vest, 50 Cent buys 10 pairs of leather pants.

At the end of the story, they get into a car and Klosterman shoots 50 Cent. Nothing makes sense about this story; it certainly isn’t real and it doesn’t pose a question or theory. So what is the point of including it? Because it’s hilarious, that’s why.

“Something that Isn’t True at All,” the last section of “Decade,” is Klosterman’s first piece composed entirely of fiction. There is a small introduction to the piece, which provides a bit of preparation before the listener is thrown into the story. The storyline is hard to follow unless one pays close attention, and there are no asides or footnotes. However, like the rest of the novel, it is a humorous take on pop culture.

In “A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas,” Chuck Klosterman attempts to shed some light on what it’s like to live in modern America. Klosterman is able to accurately portray the dazed and confused society in which we live and simultaneously inject just the right amount of humor and cynicism.