Charles John Klosterman (; born 1972) is an American author and essayist whose work focuses on
American popular culture. He has been a columnist for ''
Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'' and
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
and wrote "The Ethicist" column for ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
''. Klosterman is the author of twelve books, including two novels and the essay collection ''
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto''. He was awarded the ASCAP Deems Taylor award for music criticism in 2002.
Early life
Klosterman was born in
Breckenridge, Minnesota, the youngest of seven children of Florence and William Klosterman. He is of German and Polish descent. He grew up on a farm in nearby
Wyndmere, North Dakota
Wyndmere ( ) is a city in Richland County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 454 at the 2020 census. Wyndmere was founded in 1883 and named after Windermere in England. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND– MN Micropolitan Statisti ...
,
and was raised Roman Catholic. He graduated from Wyndmere High School in 1990 and from the
University of North Dakota in 1994.
Career
After college, Klosterman was a journalist in
Fargo, North Dakota, and later a reporter and arts critic for the ''
Akron Beacon Journal'' in
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, before moving to New York City in 2002. From 2002 to 2006, Klosterman was a senior writer and columnist for ''
Spin''. He has written for ''
GQ'', ''
Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'', ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'', ''
The Believer'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
''.
His magazine work has been anthologized in
Da Capo Press
Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books.
History
Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...
's ''Best Music Writing,'' ''Best American Travel Writing,'' and ''The Best American Nonrequired Reading.''
Though initially recognized for his rock writing, Klosterman has written extensively about sports and began contributing articles to
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
's Page 2 on November 8, 2005.
In 2008, Klosterman spent the summer as the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the
Leipzig University's Institute for American Studies in Germany.
Klosterman was an original member of
Grantland, a now-defunct sports and pop culture web site owned by ESPN and founded by
Bill Simmons
William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former Sports journalism, sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer ...
. Klosterman was a consulting editor. In 2020, he co-hosted a podcast titled "Music Exists" with Chris Ryan as part of
The Ringer podcast network.
He also appeared in three episodes of the
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
web feature ''
Carl's Stone Cold Lock of the Century of the Week'', discussing the year's football games as an animated version of himself and trying (unsuccessfully) to plug his book as Carl cuts him off each time. He quickly vanished after, with Carl giving the explanation of "He had to go do a book tour and also he didn't like how I kept calling him 'pencilneck'".
In 2012, Klosterman appeared in the documentary ''
Shut Up and Play the Hits'' about musical group
LCD Soundsystem; Klosterman's extended interview with the group's frontman
James Murphy is woven throughout the film.
In 2015, Klosterman appeared on episodes 6 and 7 of the first season of
IFC show ''
Documentary Now!
''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series, created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas, that premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC. Armisen and Hader star in many episodes, and Thomas and Alex Buon ...
'' as a music critic for the fictional band "The Blue Jean Committee".
His eighth book, titled ''
I Wear the Black Hat,'' was published in 2013. It focuses on the paradox of villainy within a heavily mediated culture. His best-selling ninth book, ''
But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past'', was published June 7, 2016. It visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear in the future to those who will perceive it as the distant past.
In 2021, Klosterman appeared on the podcast ''
Storybound
''Storybound'' is a podcast created, produced, and hosted by Jude Brewer, with original music composed for each episode. The show is a collaboration between ''Lit Hub'' and The Podglomerate podcast network, featuring household names and Pulitze ...
'', backed by an original Storybound remix with
Portico Quartet
Portico Quartet are an instrumental band from London, UK. They are known for their use of the hang, a modern percussion instrument. Their debut album, '' Knee-Deep in the North Sea'', was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize and was '' Time Out ...
.
Personal life
In 2009, Klosterman married journalist Melissa Maerz. They have two children.
Books
Klosterman is the author of 12 books and two sets of cards.
Non-fiction
* ''
Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta'' (2001), a humorous memoir/history on the phenomenon of
glam metal
* ''
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story'' (2005), a road narrative focused on the relationship between rock music, mortality, and romantic love
* ''
I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined)'' (2013)
* ''
But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past'' (2016)
* ''
The Nineties
File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16s and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, F-15s fly over burning o ...
'' (2022)
Essay collections
* ''
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto'' (2003), a best-selling collection of original pop culture essays
* ''
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas'' (2006), a collection of articles, previously published columns, and a semi-autobiographical novella
* ''
Eating the Dinosaur'' (2009), an original collection of essays on media, technology, celebrity, and perception
* ''
Chuck Klosterman X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century'' (2017), a collection of previously published essays and features
Fiction
* ''
Downtown Owl: A Novel'' (2008), a novel describing life in the fictional town of Owl, North Dakota
* ''
The Visible Man: A Novel'' (2011), a novel about a man who uses invisibility to observe others
* ''
Raised in Captivity'' (2019), a collection of 34 essayistic short stories, described as "fictional nonfiction"
Card sets
* ''HYPERtheticals: 50 Questions for Insane Conversations'' (2010), a set of 50 cards featuring hypothetical questions
* ''SUPERtheticals: 50 Questions for Strange Conversations'' (2020), another set of 50 cards featuring hypothetical questions
References
External links
Chuck Klostermanat
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klosterman, Chuck
1972 births
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American essayists
American humorists
American male non-fiction writers
American music critics
American music journalists
American people of German descent
American people of Polish descent
ESPN.com
Esquire (magazine) people
Former Roman Catholics
Living people
People from Breckenridge, Minnesota
People from Richland County, North Dakota
Sportswriters from New York (state)
The New York Times Magazine
University of North Dakota alumni
Writers from Minnesota
Writers from New York City
Writers from North Dakota
Writers from Ohio