Taking a journey with Chuck Klosterman

Perhaps one of the most intriguing parts of Chuck Klosterman's publications are their titles. I first heard about the former Spin writer (who has also written for such publications as GQ, The Washington Post and recently as a columnist for Esquire) when a friend of mine was reading his book; Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto.

I am ordinarily not one to judge a book by its cover, or its title I guess, but I must admit that I was more than intrigued.

I ventured out for Klosterman's most recent publication, 2005's Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story and found that I was not let down in my expectations.

Killing Yourself to Live is a non-fiction account of Klosterman's 21-day journey across the U.S. on assignment from Spin magazine, to visit the places where famous rock stars died. He elects to inform the reader (and his editor) that the importance of an assignment like this lies in the fact that he wants to know "why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing."

His adventures are best summed up in a declaration he makes early into the book: "I want to walk the blood-soaked streets of rock 'n' roll and chat with the survivors who writhe in the gutters."

I never read the article for Spin, but the book of his adventures exceeded my personal expectations.

A book that is structured around exploring "the places where everything stopped" for rock stars like Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley, Elvis Pressley, Duane Allman, etc. is much more than an account of these destinations.

This book puts the reader beside Klosterman in his "Tauntaun" (his nickname for his rented Ford Taurus) and discusses every aspect of life with Klosterman himself, in a brilliant, heavily musical sort of way.

Chuck Klosterman has a musical intellect. He experiences three relationships throughout his trip, meets locals at restaurants and bars in every town that he visits and somehow finds a way to compare many of them to songs he has heard or the way songs have made him feel in the past.

Near the beginning of the book, Klosterman admits to having over 2000 CDs and then disappointingly confesses that he will only bring 600 on the trip. After reading this, I thought that he might be a bit pretentious with all of his musical facts and figures, but soon found that he earned the right to boast about his musical collection.

His ability to relate everything to music is sincere and proves him a very knowledgeable rock critic.

He gives a hugely detailed account of how he believes Radiohead's Thom Yorke accidentally predicted the events of September 11 in the band's 2000 album, Kid A.

With each new town, person, or event he somehow relates it to something he has experienced in the past, or something he hopes to experience in the future and almost always views it from a musical perspective.

This book will not make you cry or laugh or cheer for any of its characters. Killing Yourself to Live is a bit cynical, much like the writer seems to be. When reading a book like this you are seeing the world as the writer sees it and taking part in their conversations and their adventures.

For the amount of time it took for me to read this, I saw the world the way that Klosterman views it, or at least for the 21 days he was in his Tauntaun. The trip was a bit cynical, humorous and addicting--and I enjoyed every minute of it.

This writer can be contacted at copy@theeastcarolinian.com.