Chuck Klosterman, author of the popular "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto," visits CU Wednesday. Klosterman read from his new book, "Eating the Dinosaur." (CU Independent/Adam Milner)
There was no pop culture stone left unturned during Wednesday night’s book reading and signing by author Chuck Klosterman in the Glenn Miller Ballroom.
Presented by CU’s Cultural Events Board, Klosterman spoke to a packed audience as he read from his newest book, “Eating The Dinosaur,” and answered questions from an eager crowd filled with both students and non-students alike.
Brian Frost, 27, said he enjoyed hearing the author dissect mass media.
“It was a really intellectually stimulating experience,” Frost said. “[Klosterman] is very quick on his feet.”
Speaking quickly and with expressive arm gestures, Klosterman tackled a slew of pop culture issues, including the stupidity of Britney Spears, the unnecessary current coverage of Tiger Woods, the flaws of time traveling, why football teams the Colts and the Patriots share similarities to the characters of the “Twilight” series and his dislike of the band Coldplay.
No one seemed off limits, including those who created the signs adorned throughout campus with Klosterman’s face on the front.
“You see this sign that says ‘Life Through the Prism of Pop Culture?’ I didn’t come up with that,” Klosterman said to the laughing audience. “The people who put me on this tour—Canada—decided it would be the name. It’s very confusing, because this poster that they made has this rainbow behind it, but I finally figured out two seconds before coming on stage that it’s from the prism! The first thing I thought was, ‘Maybe this was co-sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian club.’”
While perhaps best known for his 2003 best-selling book, “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs,” Klosterman has maintained a cult following over the years, authoring six books and contributing an extensive collection of essays to a wide range of publications, including “Spin,” “The Washington Post” and even ESPN.
Thomas Chong, a 22 year-old junior psychology major, said he enjoyed hearing Klosterman read from his newest book.
“The way he writes is very entertaining,” Chong said. “It always gives me something to reflect on, even if it isn’t especially deep or meaningful.”
While most of Klosterman’s time was spent telling anecdotal stories or critiquing pop culture, Chong said he was most impressed by the author’s discussion of the way television has forever altered the ability to imagine.
As discussed in “Eating The Dinosaur,” Klosterman said that most things a person imagines come from some form of current media. When someone thinks about basketball, does that person picture playing the game, or merely the camera angle of a game on television? When picturing a robbery, does imagination take over, or simply the static of an old movie with a robbery in it?
“Is there any possible way that 129,000 years of psychological evolution can be altered within the span of a single century?” Klosterman said. “Is it any wonder that people feel paradoxically alienated by the mechanical devices that they love? We do not have the freedom to think whatever we want—we don’t—and until we accept that, it’s useless to think about anything else.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sebastian Murdock at Sebastian.murdock@colorado.edu.
