Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Scribner (2002), Edition: Reprint, 288 pages
Description
Empirically proving that--no matter where you are--kids wanna rock, this is Chuck Klosterman's hilrious memoir of growing up as a shameless metalhead in Wyndmere, North Dakotoa (population: 498). With a voice like Ace Frehley's guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn't quite ready to rock--his hair was too short and his farm was too quiet--but he still found a way to bang his nappy little head. Before the journey was over, he would slow-dance to Poison, sleep innocently beneath satanic pentagrams, lust for Lita Ford, and get ridiculously intellectual about Guns N' Roses. C'mon and feel his noize.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member trinityofone
I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Chuck Klosterman. I’ve read all his books (I left this one till last, because it’s about heavy metal and that’s not a subject I’m desperately interested in) and I think he’s frequently incredibly funny and often very insightful. But *man*, does
Okay, so this may have tapped into some other issues I’m having right now? But the point remains. Klosterman’s “analysis” of what makes heavy metal important is actually very minimal: it was important to him. It was important to a lot of other people. Therefore it is important in general. *And I completely agree with this*. I think pop culture should be talked about, because it does say a lot about people and what matters to them—and what could be more important than that? This is why I like reading Klosterman in the first place: because he recognizes that, and talks about it in an amusing manner. It’s just when he decides that he’s an expert on women that he pisses me off. (Well, and some other times. But never mind.)
ANYWAY…all of that said, I actually enjoyed the rest of the book a lot. And I don’t care one iota about heavy metal. But Klosterman does make me care about other people caring.
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he piss me off sometimes. In "Fargo Rock City," that occurred when he decided to share his views on female music fans. Apparently, male music fans are more loyal and less likely to get distracted by every shiny new thing because men are more analytical and women are more emotional. Yeah. There are so many things wrong with that statement that I risk turning this into a huge rant, which I do not want to do. Leaving aside the issue of “loyalty” (well, after I point to exhibit A: the giant collection of U2 stuff that I’ve bought over the years even when a) I had no money, and b) what I was buying was redundant to stuff I already had save for an extra B-side or remix or miniposter or WHATEVER), for Klosterman to use the old “men are analytical, women are emotional” argument is so absurd in the context of this book that it’s almost hilarious. Because the ENTIRE BOOK is about Klosterman’s emotions. How much he loved heavy metal, and how much it changed and shaped his life, and how much he still loves it. How much it bugs him when people dismiss it without thought, and how he thinks it should be considered important because it was important to him. This is a raw outpouring of emotion! Only he’s a guy, so we’re not allowed to call it that. We have to call it *analysis*. Right. Do people—Klosterman and anyone else—really think that when women have emotions—which, y’know, we’re actually willing to admit are emotions—we don’t analyze them at all? That we’re just like, “I feel so HAPPY today! La la la!” or “I’m SAD today. I’m heading straight for the Ben & Jerry’s, no thought involved!” Or even, “I really like this band! I’m just going to listen to them and go to concerts and scream and try to sleep with the drummer AND NEVER CONSIDER MY MOTIVATIONS AT ALL.” Women are clearly brainless puppy-dog creatures!Okay, so this may have tapped into some other issues I’m having right now? But the point remains. Klosterman’s “analysis” of what makes heavy metal important is actually very minimal: it was important to him. It was important to a lot of other people. Therefore it is important in general. *And I completely agree with this*. I think pop culture should be talked about, because it does say a lot about people and what matters to them—and what could be more important than that? This is why I like reading Klosterman in the first place: because he recognizes that, and talks about it in an amusing manner. It’s just when he decides that he’s an expert on women that he pisses me off. (Well, and some other times. But never mind.)
ANYWAY…all of that said, I actually enjoyed the rest of the book a lot. And I don’t care one iota about heavy metal. But Klosterman does make me care about other people caring.
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LibraryThing member screamforsheena
This book is amazing if only for the following sentence: "Speaking of Marc Bolan, aren't car accidents weird?"
LibraryThing member TakeItOrLeaveIt
Klosterman's first and maybe most innocent/vulnerable. the autio-biographical edge towards music is what made him great, and this is where it all started. doesn't have quite the same character his later work does but its a great basis/structure. a smart man.
LibraryThing member pbirch01
Great book about music, but would have been better as a blog. I enjoyed reading about the different bands, songs and videos and had to repeatedly put the book down and go listen to the song online. A blog with embedded mp3s and videos over a year would be an excellent way to read this book. That
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being said, it was thoroughly enjoyable and pretty funny as well. Klosterman is excellent at cutting through hype and delivering a well-balanced, if slightly biased review of pop culture. I highly recommend his other books as well. Show Less
LibraryThing member RockStarNinja
There is just something about Chuck Klosterman that I just get. Of course I have to preface this review by saying I am a huge rock fan, Motley Crue in particular, and of my top 3 favorite bands of all time 2 are classic glam rock acts, the aforementioned Crue, Bon Jovi, and a band that I actually
Anyway, I've actually read a few of Mr. Klosterman's books and each one is always better than the last, maybe because there's usually a few years between each book reading, but they are always highly entertaining, and almost always either confirm, or at the very least, give me some new insight on whatever it is he was writing about at the time.
Fargo Rock City begins with Chuck when he first learns about Motley Crue and then continues to tell how metal music (and all it's incarnations, glam-, speed-, etc.) effected his life, and gives (sometimes) answers to how and why people love, hate, and say they hate but secretly love, metal. The first half of the book I was literally cracking up the entire time I was reading. The second half got a little deeper, with him going into the images rock stars portray and how they affected him, particularly his alcoholism.
The whole book is entirely readable and if you are a fan of metal, or even a fan of music history/sociology I would get a copy and read it immediately. If for mo other reason it's just hilarious.
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categorize in the truest sense of that era Hinder. Anyway, I've actually read a few of Mr. Klosterman's books and each one is always better than the last, maybe because there's usually a few years between each book reading, but they are always highly entertaining, and almost always either confirm, or at the very least, give me some new insight on whatever it is he was writing about at the time.
Fargo Rock City begins with Chuck when he first learns about Motley Crue and then continues to tell how metal music (and all it's incarnations, glam-, speed-, etc.) effected his life, and gives (sometimes) answers to how and why people love, hate, and say they hate but secretly love, metal. The first half of the book I was literally cracking up the entire time I was reading. The second half got a little deeper, with him going into the images rock stars portray and how they affected him, particularly his alcoholism.
The whole book is entirely readable and if you are a fan of metal, or even a fan of music history/sociology I would get a copy and read it immediately. If for mo other reason it's just hilarious.
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LibraryThing member fantasmogirl
All I can say is Klosterman can virtually do no wrong. Being from a small, midwestern town full of people who couldn't remotely grasp my love of all things metal---I laughed outloud with fond memories in commiseration.
LibraryThing member dvf1976
Solid, but not as good as his other books.
I liked his comparison of Heavy Metal and Pro Wrestling... (as well as his analysis of Ted Nugent fans)
I liked his comparison of Heavy Metal and Pro Wrestling... (as well as his analysis of Ted Nugent fans)
LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
I resonate with Klosterman's musical obsession despite being one generation removed. Sure, he's only two years older than me, but when he was listening to Mötley Crüe, I was into Michael W. Smith. It wasn't until the early 90s that I started obsessing over albums and liner notes.
In Fargo Rock
Klosterman's penchant for ridiculous arguments is on full display in this critical tour of 1980s heavy metal. He also makes a surprising number of astute musical observations. (For example, he presents an unorthodox yet logical argument for why Bush signalled the death of Grunge.)
If you long for the days of Def Leppard, Poison, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, and especially G'n'R, this book is for you.
In Fargo Rock
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City, Klosterman pays tribute to the genre he loves—lovingly called "hair metal" today. The narrative is a trip through musical and personal landmarks that defined the pre-grunge era.Klosterman's penchant for ridiculous arguments is on full display in this critical tour of 1980s heavy metal. He also makes a surprising number of astute musical observations. (For example, he presents an unorthodox yet logical argument for why Bush signalled the death of Grunge.)
If you long for the days of Def Leppard, Poison, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, and especially G'n'R, this book is for you.
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LibraryThing member NaleagDeco
Confirms that I very very much enjoy Klosterman's writing style and dialectic technique.
The subject matter was less difficult for me to grasp than the other work of his that I've read, but I'm now more interested in checkout the Crue and Warrant than I've ever before been.
Doubt I'd ever buy the
The subject matter was less difficult for me to grasp than the other work of his that I've read, but I'm now more interested in checkout the Crue and Warrant than I've ever before been.
Doubt I'd ever buy the
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artists in question, but I have a new arsenal for thinking about the songs that were near and dear to my teenage heart. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2001-05-22
Physical description
288 p.; 5.31 inches
ISBN
0743406567 / 9780743406567