Stuffs

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
2/5 Stars
Although this book was well written, witty, and intelligent, I simply did not understand enough of the cultural references to make it a worthwhile read.The inside cover reads “…Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs- the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks”; unfortunately, a reader must utilize a much greater cultural lexicon in order to understand how the writer deconstructs the topics. In one essay Klosterman analyzes The Empire Strikes Back, and as an avid Star Wars fan I believed that I would be reasonably able to follow his conclusions. In fact this was one of the comparably easy discussions to follow, yet I completely missed one of the major premises as soon as a paragraph began “Luke’s quandary in The Empire Strikes Back is exactly like the situation facing Winona Ryder in 1994’s Reality Bites..”, having no previous knowledge of this program and points made thereafter are less relevant to me, and I find myself less and less compelled to finish the piece. All in all, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is an elegant slice of a not very elegant culture meaningful for only those who are well versed in the culture to begin with.