There were these constant stories and features, discussing the meaning of wearing flannel clothing, and why Seattle had somehow created this completely alien society of musicians that now had sort of succeeded by expressing a desire not to succeed. It was very confusing to people at the time. It seems as though it is almost predictable and that our understanding of Nirvana should have not been something that was transformative, but something that we all anticipated. The success of a band like Nirvana now seems like the most obvious result from what had happened to music culture in the 1980s. Then when you look back on your life or you look back at a period of history, it seems like an almost perfectly crafted novel and that everything that worked out was the result of all these other dominoes that lined up and fell in this perfect sequence, which weren’t visible at the time. It seems very confusing and disorienting. And almost every action in society has some non sequitur element to it. There’s this situation that happens in life, where in the moment, everything seems chaotic and nothing seems to make sense. It might seem like I’m avoiding the question, but it’s actually true. Is there any cultural phenomenon, in the ‘90s or now, that doesn’t have an origin story, that can’t really be explained so readily?Ĭhuck Klosterman: You know, this is maybe a strange answer. InsideHook: I looked at The Nineties as a series of overviews or origin stories on how events in the ‘90s happened and what their impact was. This interview has been edited for clarity and space. In Klosterman’s mind, the ‘90s are the “the last decade that’s going to exist” the book is an analysis of a deceptively simpler time.ĭuring an hour-long phone conversation last week, Klosterman, who lives in Portland, Oregon, spoke with InsideHook about his most recent effort and the collateral damage, from how social media affects its perception (please abstain from saying The Nineties is “nostalgic”) to the burden of being a successful author.

Klosterman’s latest book, The Nineties (Penguin Press, $28.00, out now), is free of his typical observational musings in favor of an astute, clear-eyed look at the decade that brought us into the non-stop stargate sequence that is the 2000s. The end could come just as suddenly.įor now, though, he’s still here.

The popularity of Fargo Rock City came from nowhere.

In fact, he freely admits his career path was a product of equal parts luck and timing. But the co-creator of Grantland can’t shake the feeling. The cultural critic and self-described “generalist” has enjoyed great success since the release of Fargo Rock City in 2001: a bushel of best-selling non-fiction books, two novels, columnist gigs at Esquire and the New York Times. Chuck Klosterman fears it could end at any moment.

Book review the nineties klosterman