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Killing Yourself To Live
85% Of A True Story
by Chuck Klosterman


8.0

based on 18 reviews
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based on 11 votes
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Official Publisher Site

The Spin writer uses a cross-country trip to various rock 'n' roll death sites (e.g., the site of Buddy Holly's plane crash) as a basis for voicing his opinions on popular music and the people who make it.

Scribner, 256 pages
06/28/2005
$23.00

ISBN: 0743264452

Nonfiction
Entertainment & Media
Social Sciences

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Village Voice Mikael Wood

Warm, occasionally aggravating.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

Klosterman might be headed for Hornby, Eggers, and Sedaris status; Killing Yourself to Live should be his breakout book.

The Onion A.V. Club Noel Murray

But though his thoughts are a little scattered, Klosterman still arrives at a kind of accidental theme, having to do with whose legacy endures, and what moments in our lives we keep returning to.

Washington Post Joe Heim

As entertaining as it is unpredictable, as madcap as it is occasionally maddening.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Where Mr. Klosterman goes flat is at the coup de grâce stage: he seldom succeeds in wrapping up his anecdotes and arguments with a good closing insight or tag line. Given the book's skimpy premise and how much it exceeds expectations in other ways, this seems only a minor shortcoming.

Publishers Weekly

This literary cleverness recalls classic gonzo journalism, but also contains a self-conscious edge, inviting comparison to Dave Eggers. [18 Apr 2005, p.50]

Los Angeles Times Mark Rozzo

What emerges in "Killing Yourself to Live" is an amusing gazetteer of modern America, seen through the lens of high-profile plane crashes, overdoses, nightclub fires, drownings, suicides and motorcycle accidents. [10 Sep 2005]

The Observer Robert McCrum

[Klosterman] has a very likeable, winning tone, a sure comic touch and a singularly wry comic vision.

The Independent Dave Pollock

An account that, although self-referential and in-jokey, will appeal enormously to anyone of similar age and tastes.

Daily Telegraph Harland Miller

I enjoyed the book, especially all his inner monologues, with their erratic and often informative asides.

Daily Telegraph Paul Morley

The book oozes with a whiny, whimsical mixture of self-publicising self-deprecation and entertaining idiocy masquerading as refreshing wisdom.

The New York Times Book Review Stephanie Zacharek

While reading Klosterman is clearly supposed to be fun, it's often hard work.

Kirkus Reviews

Entertaining in a spontaneous, distracting way. When it ends, though, and Klosterman slams shut the door to his head, most of what went before melts into air. [1 Apr 2005, p.403]

Library Journal Dave Szatmary

A sometimes hilarious but ultimately superficial account of the meaning and challenges of everyday life. [1 May 2005, p.87]

San Francisco Chronicle Will Crain

Reading Klosterman at his best is like hanging out with your favorite drinking buddy in college and riffing all night on your pop culture obsessions. At his worst, however, Klosterman is like that favorite drinking buddy, 10 years after college, still drinking and still obsessing over the same old things.

Bookslut Alexa

The plot is all but subsumed by Klosterman’s musings on girls he’s slept with, girls he wishes he could sleep with again and girls he likes the eyebrows of but has never even kissed.

Flak Taylor Carik

If there is anything more frustrating than listening to a man go on about the fact that he has nothing good to say, it is a man who insists that you shouldn't listen to him. Even worse is listening to that man elaborate on the reasons why you shouldn't listen to him.

Boston Globe John Dicker

A mediocre Chuck Klosterman book is a lot like a Woody Allen film from 10 years ago. Delightful in parts, disappointing as a whole, but still sadly superior to the greater dessert tray of cultural offerings.

The average user rating for this book is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

christopher v gave it a10:
im not much of a reader but when i started to read this book it got my attention so fast. this may be one of the best books i have read in a while

Rob Bot gave it a6:
I was surprised to find this book not nearly as engaging as his first. The essence of what made Cocoa Puffs such a remarkable read was its wit and pacing. This book feels bogged down by its ties to a less than sufficient premise and suffers accordingly. It was an admirable attempt but ultimately left me unsatisfied save for too few insightful or funny moments.

Chris L gave it a10:
This book was a life changing read for me. Klosterman's views on life opened my eyes. Highly suggest this one!

Scott B gave it a6:
Reads like what it is: a magazine article that was stretched into a book. The result are some clever insights and a few funny stories intertwined references in a book that feels forced and is self-consciously trying to be hip and clever.

mike L gave it a10:
A great book. I wouldn't have changed a thing in it.

Michael C gave it a9:
Tries very hard to be Dave Eggers, and almost does it.

Killing Yourself To Live 85% Of A True Story by Chuck Klosterman

Killing Yourself To Live
85% Of A True Story
by Chuck Klosterman