Eating the Dinosaur
Q: What is this book about?
A: Well, that’s difficult to say. I haven’t read it yet—I’ve just picked it up and casually glanced at the back cover. There clearly isn’t a plot. I’ve heard there’s a lot of stuff about time travel in this book, and quite a bit about violence and Garth Brooks and why Germans don’t laugh when they’re inside grocery stores. Ralph Nader and Ralph Sampson play significant roles. I think there are several pages about Rear Window and college football and Mad Men and why Rivers Cuomo prefers having sex with Asian women. Supposedly there’s a chapter outlining all the things the Unabomber was right about, but perhaps I’m misinformed.
Q: Is there a larger theme?
A: Oh, something about reality. "What is reality," maybe? No, that’s not it. Not exactly. I get the sense that most of the core questions dwell on the way media perception constructs a fake reality that ends up becoming more meaningful than whatever actually happened. Also, Lady Gaga.
Q: Should I read this book?
A: Probably. Do you see a clear relationship between the Branch Davidian disaster and the recording of Nirvana’s In Utero? Does Barack Obama make you want to drink Pepsi? Does ABBA remind you of AC/DC? If so, you probably don’t need to read this book. You probably wrote this book. But I suspect everybody else will totally love it, except for the ones who totally hate it.
A: Well, that’s difficult to say. I haven’t read it yet—I’ve just picked it up and casually glanced at the back cover. There clearly isn’t a plot. I’ve heard there’s a lot of stuff about time travel in this book, and quite a bit about violence and Garth Brooks and why Germans don’t laugh when they’re inside grocery stores. Ralph Nader and Ralph Sampson play significant roles. I think there are several pages about Rear Window and college football and Mad Men and why Rivers Cuomo prefers having sex with Asian women. Supposedly there’s a chapter outlining all the things the Unabomber was right about, but perhaps I’m misinformed.
Q: Is there a larger theme?
A: Oh, something about reality. "What is reality," maybe? No, that’s not it. Not exactly. I get the sense that most of the core questions dwell on the way media perception constructs a fake reality that ends up becoming more meaningful than whatever actually happened. Also, Lady Gaga.
Q: Should I read this book?
A: Probably. Do you see a clear relationship between the Branch Davidian disaster and the recording of Nirvana’s In Utero? Does Barack Obama make you want to drink Pepsi? Does ABBA remind you of AC/DC? If so, you probably don’t need to read this book. You probably wrote this book. But I suspect everybody else will totally love it, except for the ones who totally hate it.
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Buy from us:
- Scribner |
- 304 pages |
- ISBN 9781416544210 |
- July 2010
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Book Reviews
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for EATING THE DINOSAUR includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Chuck Klosterman. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Chuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. Through a variety of mediums and with a multitude of motives, he’s written about everything he can think of (and a lot that he’s forgotten). The culture keeps accelerating, and the pop ideas keep coming. In Eating the Dinosaur, Klosterman dissects, among other things, the boredom of voyeurism, the reason why music fans inevitably hate their favorite band’s latest album, and why we love watching superstars fail spectacularly. Eating the Dinosaur examines the relationship between expectation, reality, and living history.
Questions for Discussion
1. The first essay in the book features a conversation between Klosterman and filmmaker Errol Morris, in which they discuss the significance and nature of interview responses. Klosterman and Morris disagree about the importance of narrative consistency versus truth. If you were to be interviewed on a nationa see more
Introduction
Chuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. Through a variety of mediums and with a multitude of motives, he’s written about everything he can think of (and a lot that he’s forgotten). The culture keeps accelerating, and the pop ideas keep coming. In Eating the Dinosaur, Klosterman dissects, among other things, the boredom of voyeurism, the reason why music fans inevitably hate their favorite band’s latest album, and why we love watching superstars fail spectacularly. Eating the Dinosaur examines the relationship between expectation, reality, and living history.
Questions for Discussion
1. The first essay in the book features a conversation between Klosterman and filmmaker Errol Morris, in which they discuss the significance and nature of interview responses. Klosterman and Morris disagree about the importance of narrative consistency versus truth. If you were to be interviewed on a nationa see more
