Chuck Klosterman's latest: But What If We're Wrong?

Mon, 08/29/2016 - 10:23am by eapearce

Chuck Klosterman is a prolific writer and reporter whose quick wit and unique perspective have made his work—usually on some aspect of the entertainment industry—beloved by fans for several decades. Klosterman’s latest book, But What If We’re Wrong? takes a step away from the musicians, actors and other famous figures that he usually writes about and instead takes a look at the present day as if it were the past. Through simple questions (for example, how sure are we about gravity?), Klosterman drives home the point that people have been “sure” about things for centuries, but then are proven wrong through further scientific discovery or a simple shift in belief systems. He doesn’t just focus on science; he also explores how we really have no idea what ideas and works from our time period will survive into the future, who will be remembered, or how our actions will effect the way that the world of the early 21st century is viewed hundreds of years into the future. He urges readers to “think about the present as if it were the past,” which is, of course, an entirely difficult thing to do, although it’s made slightly easier with Klosterman’s aid. Through interviews with various scientists, artists and thinkers, Klosterman uses his signature humor and twisted analysis to present to readers a fun, eye-opening and vaguely mind-bending series of concepts about how we live today, once today is yesterday.

Klosterman’s other works include his road trip story, Killing Yourself To Live, in which he travels around the nation visiting sites where famous rock stars have died, seeking some sort of greater meaning in it all, Chuck Klosterman IV, his book of essays and interviews on pop culture, and Eating the Dinosaur, which analyzes modern day expectation versus reality. He has also written several novels.