Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

I just finished the increasingly popular analysis of pop-culture entitled Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by the brilliant Chuck Klosterman. If you haven't heard of or read this book and you enjoy pop culture, or even just learning from the American culture, you must check out this book. It's memoir style, and it's one of those books that you really can't put down.

Highlights for me:
The book opens with the line, "No woman will ever satisfy me." haha. Klosterman goes on to form this whole theory about how we are all miserable due to John Cusack. The evil of John Cusack is his role in the 80's blockbuster, Say Anything. So, Klosterman says that all women (and men) who were at least in their pre-teens in the 80's, have this ideal of love that they can never reach. We can't reach this ideal love, because it's not even real love. The love that Say Anything sold us on isn't realistic! So, we're all miserable because we're chasing a false love that we can never attain. I buy it.

There is a chapter where Klosterman follows this Guns 'N Roses cover band to a show. It's really amazing to see that subculture and how seriously the rock star clones take themselves. The highlight for me is when Klosterman explains that these guys used to have a tour bus, but they lost it. They literally lost it. haha. It broke down in Illinois, they took it to a mechanic, but the next day they couldn't remember where the mechanic was. They never found the place again. Apparently in Illinois there is a law that says you have 30 days to find your tour bus, and if you can't locate it, you can't get it back. Crazy.

The last three chapters were incredible. They were on the media, serial killers, and The Left Behind Series.

Do read this book if you like to laugh out loud at books. If you watch VH1, you have to read it. If you lived in the 80's, even if for a short time, you have to read it. Read it if you listen to rock music. Read it if you have played, wanted to play, or despised the idea of playing The Sims video game. If you like intelligent writing about culture, read this book.

Don't read this book if you are offended by the f-bomb. He drops it a lot. Don't read this book if you are offended by the word masturbation--he uses that a lot too. Don't read this book if The Left Behind Series are your favorite books ever.