Chuck Klosterman’s “The Nineties - A Book” REVIEW
60) Part III of the books I read in the summer of 2023: "The Nineties - A Book" further validates Chuck Klosterman's credentials as the most prominent pop-culture critic of this era
It was during the height of the Pandemic that three friends and I formed a book-club. It ran via Zoom from June 2020 through June 2021. In those twelve months, we “read” / reviewed fourteen to fifteen books (depending on who in the group is counting).
It was a brisk pace of a book talk every three weeks. By July 2021 the world was opening up again and our “Book Club” disbanded only to re-form this past summer.
Since that time we have read and discussed “Generations” by Jean M. Twenge. Before the end of this month we will discuss a book that attempted (quite successfully, imo) the whole decade of the 1990s. We already have been having a lively text thread conversation on it, too.
The Nineties- a Book by Chuck Klosterman (Published 2022 → Read by me August/September 2023)
As I was reading this, I literally wanted to google everything mentioned, and just do a more thorough deep dive.
Some things I learned from this book that I might not have ever come across were things like, the strange odyssey of Biosphere 2, a mission at one point run by Steve Bannon. Yes! That Steve Bannon. I also found it fascinating that Alanis Morrissette wrote her pop-classic breakup song about Joey from Full House. Or how the Matrix Film Series was actually a Trans metaphor. I loved Klosterman’s breakdown of how Eminem, Vanilla Ice and The Beastie Boys, showing how they are all so different, despite being the three most prominent White Rappers of the 1990s.
The many movies referenced, the TV shows, the music and the literature, all made me nostalgic for a decade which were my formative years. Movies that Klosterman referenced that bring back instant memories for me are -
Cult classics like Dazed and Confused (1993) : I can’t believe how *old I thought Matthew McConaughey was in this, LOL. (*The actual person, not the character he played).
Obscure low-budget films like KIDS (1995) : The movie was based in NYC and LI, and was (actually) well-known by many “kids” I went to high school with.
There was also American Beauty (1999) : A movie that I absolutely loved, but according to Klosterman’s revisionist review of it, has not aged well.
Klosterman also provided smart political coverage, where he writes at length about Ross Perot’s 3rd Party Presidential bid during the 1992 election. Of course Bill Clinton is a topic of conversation. And who could ever forget the infamous Bush v Gore - Recount election of 2000?
I also loved Klosterman’s take on the OJ Simpson trial. (To some the OJ stuff might be redundant, to me it was very insightful). Also, Klosterman’s analysis of *Leonardo DiCaprio and his starring role in ‘Titanic’, was next level stuff!
*Leonardo DiCaprio and ‘The Titanic’ phenomena Klosterman expounded on will absolutely be further expounded on (by me). But, first let me just geek out on The various works of Chuck Klosterman.
My first (conscious) exposure to Chuck Klosterman was a sleepy summer weekend in July of 2005 when I was a single guy, just a year out of college. I didn’t have any kids, and I was living and working in Northern Connecticut as a grassroots organizer for the good government watchdog group Common Cause.
I was in a Borders Book-Store (this is a whole six years before Borders shuttered their doors for good), and I came across a book with a catchy title called Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs.
I was instantly intrigued, and read the book within a matter of days. I remember a short time after completing that book, I purchased Klosterman’s next book Fargo Rock City, even though I can’t tell you anything about that book. I never read it.
Now having owned two of his books (one I proudly read), Klosterman eventually just became a fixture in my life. I frequently found him and his work on ESPN and on Page 2 having written conversations with Bill Simmons.
Once interviews via written articles went out of fashion, I found Klosterman a frequent guest and a MUST LISTEN on Bill Simmons Podcast, where they both discuss sports and culture.
In their long-form conversations often spanning at least an hour, they always devote at least some portion of their discussion to the latest (or the most famous) conspiracy theories of the day.
For a brief spell (2012-2014??), Klosterman was the Ethicist for the NY Times Magazine. He is also known for doing a feature article for GQ on Tom Brady. Another one of my favorite books I read of Klosterman’s back in 2014 was I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains Real and Imagined.
One takeaway I got from IWTBH was how the people’s champion, Muhammad Ali actually once went to a local Ku Klux Klan gathering in support of outlawing “inter-racial” marriage.
I also picked up a copy of Klosterman’s book “IV” just to read the chapter on his interview with the Canadian Basketball Star, Steve Nash.
Klosterman has been a prominent pop-culture critic for some time. He manages to continue to enhance his reputation, without appearing somewhat dated. The “Nineties” book project of his was so compelling on so many levels, despite the fact that he wants us to remember Pauly Shore (and his terribly mediocre movies) as a big part of the 1990s.
Remarkably (or maybe not so remarkably) Klosterman is a small c “celebrity” and so much of his work observing and writing about culture has him decipher who is a small c “celebrity” compared to a BIG C “Celebrity”.
From The Nineties - A Book, Klosterman’s deep-dive into understanding *Leonardo DiCaprio’s instant superstardom from ‘Titanic’ (1997), is in many ways at the heart of why Klosterman writes about what he writes about.
“Leonardo DiCaprio was the last actor to achieve superstardom as a vestige of the monolithic Hollywood system and the first actor to become a megastar within the emerging paradigm of postmodern celebrity. He will always be the only person to have both of those experiences at the same time”. (Klosterman “The Nineties” P.236-237).
After ‘Titanic’ became the biggest movie (like ever!) Leonardo DiCaprio was so immediately beloved. And yet, he managed to remain such a mystery. If you compare him to the stars of today, DiCaprio stayed way more under the radar, for a way longer time than any other instant mega-star could every possibly manage to do (or imagine to do) today!
“Titanic made DiCaprio the kind of perpetual movie star that was supposedly a remnant of a different age- the untouchable, unknowable playboy who can only be understood through the scant movies he elects to accept. His career is both a contradiction of what is assumed about modern stardom and a living example of how many of those assumptions are created by a media complex that willfully misunderstands what consumers actually want. Which in all probability is the easiest way to comprehend why Titanic was the most successful movie of the century”. (Klosterman “The Nineties” P.239).
In many ways, DiCaprio is actually the last mega-star Hollywood ever produced for a mainstream media that largely no longer exists. Not only that, but ‘Titanic’, despite the movie-critics preparing an early funeral for it; smashed all kinds of box-office records nobody could have ever even dreamed of or imagined. It’s only in retrospect that ‘Titanic's’ success makes any sense.
Numerous people have written at length and made TV series on how and why the 1990s was The Last Great Decade in American culture. It is the last time period when the mainstream was still undisputedly mainstream. When I have discussed this book with friends (before I even read it), many took an interest in it.
As for the book itself, I realize Klosterman might have missed some key events or figures of the 1990s. So, while his book might be an incomplete guide to the 90s; and I know for a fact my take on the book is not the most complete review on it! I still gather for many of you (especially those born somewhere between 1970 & 1988), some of the topics in the book (that I didn’t even mention) might make you a little wistful for a time less complicated than today.
Either way, thanks for reading!
-JPJ
You’re right. I do like this! That Alanis fact is crazy. I wondered with the films you mentioned if he discusses Clerks, Chasing Amy, etc? And I’m so curious about Leo. I just rewatched Shutter Island the other day and was thinking about how wonderful an actor he is and how he seems like such a lonely guy (hopefully I’m wrong). I really have to read this. What a good book club you have. Thank you!
I just read a more comprehensive review of Klosterman's book from a writer from "The Nation". While it was interesting, in my view it was lacking objectivity, all the while criticizing Klosterman for his lack of objectivity. I would say this was quite ironic, but I actually found little humor in the review, although I did learn some things. https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/klosterman-nineties/