The Nineties: A Book - Chuck Klosterman ----------------- 3 Stars

This book seemed like a natural for me. I spent my formative years in the 1990s and I really enjoy Chuck Klosterman's writing style (last year's review of the much more enjoyable But What If We're Wrong?). So, I thought I'd give this a try and, for the most part, enjoyed it.

The Nineties: A Book, is Klosterman's deep dive into the important events, pop culture highlights, and overall ethos of the 1990s. What was so interesting to me about reading this book, was how much I could easily remember and how much was actually new to me. As I literally was between 10 and 20 years old for all of the 90s, my different understanding of things are so significant based to my age. For example, the '92 election of Ross Perot was mostly a memory for me of SNL skits and caricatures of him. Where in this book, he goes in a real depth about him as a candidate, which I felt like I had no understanding of in a real way. Then, of course, was Clinton's Lewinsky scandal in '98, which I remember much more fully and vividly.

The book has a lot more than politics, however. It has some important news items, but also covers a ton of pop culture, which was really my favorite parts. The music, the sports, and even the feeling that the 90s ended up being attributed to it (which he clearly described the feeling of apathy at the core of the 90s - at least historically).

A bit longer than I expected it to be, with far more detail and depth than I could remember, it was still a fun read. Of course, I love the way Klosterman writes, especially his fun use of footnotes (he and Foster Wallace are the best ever imo!). I certainly recommend this book if you're a child of the 90s or we're just like a fun way of recalling some of the key events, figures, and new stories. Of course, you have to be ok with with way Klosterman writes, which, besides being very wordy on many occasions, does make me feel like an idiot on some occasions too. He's a really smart writer, which always makes it so funny that he's writing about things that are not always important.