The Nineties: A Book

I am not one for nostalgic feelings. As much as you wish for the good old days, those days were never as good as you think they were. Also, we get too comfortable with our modern technology, so we forget how much we rely on them. I use my phone multiple hours throughout the day, I cannot imagine going back three decades and trying to do my job without a computer and cell phone. Now, having said all that, I really enjoyed this book. My early childhood was the 90’s. So, reading this book was a step into my boyhood. Over and over again, I kept saying to myself, “Oh I forgot about that” or “That’s right, that was wild.” The author does a good job highlighting the biggest culture impact of the 90’s. He may have missed some big news stories (e.g. LA riots, beanie babies), but he does highlight items that still have an impact on us today. I have no desire to “revisit” the 90’s. We definitely have our problems today, but in many ways, we are better off. If you love the 90’s, or pop culture history, you will enjoy this book. It is not an in-depth historical analysis of the decade, but it is a wonderful review of an interesting decade.

I found thisbook pretty engaging. I'd read Klosterman's first couple of books, and also foundthem.engaging. It's been a while though, and he has grown up a bit (especially as a writer) since then. This book seemed pretty academic Iin places, especially due to the language he employs. But his vocabulary is pretty precise and on point. I appreciated it. I even envied it at times. This book appealed to me, as I was a teenager of the 90's. I recalled most of what is covered in this book, even if I wasn't quite aware of the scope of all of it at the time. He did a good job of refreshing my memory, and bringing me back to date on the most salient points. This made me want to go back and read more of Chuck's work. Of course he didn't cover every important event or scene from the 90's. He even admits that he was more rock-centric, and Caucasian-centric, in his covering of 90's music. But, hey, write what you know, I suppose. Still overall, a good, informative read.

I have read all of Klosterman's books, and consider him to be the most entertaining chronicler of Gen X culture and attitudes. When I purchased The Nineties I was concerned it would be nostalgia, but given the author I bought it anyway. But it's not nostalgia, it's a legit fun read about what it was like living through the 90's, without any pretense of saying the times were better or worse than the present. It's probably my favorite Klosterman book in a long time and I devoured it. The author bookends the decade with the arrival of grunge music via Nirvana's release of "Nevermind" and the 9/11 terrorist attack. In between, he covers culture, politics, and the most newsworthy events from the era. His coverage of postmodernism and neoliberalism is mature. I found his comments on the way TV impacted American way of life to be particularly interesting - especially when discussing Ross Perot, the OJ trial, "must-see TV", the Clinton administration - if there is one recurring theme here it is the way TV media dominated American behavior at the dawn of the internet age. If you are from Chuck's generation and lived as a young adult during this decade, you will love this book. If you are a young adult now and interested in what it was like when your parents were young adults - when the internet wasn't everywhere, and before tragedies like Columbine and 9/11 transformed American political and cultural identity - this book will fascinate you.

Well researched, conversational, refreshing. I wanted the overview to feel sane. It worked. I recommend to anyone caught with to much screen time. Powerful and oddly pleasant.

I have really enjoyed all his books because his voice was like reading a conversation with my friends and me. Quirky, witty, pop culture takes on life. This book did not hold my interest and used too many big word (did I just write that?). That being said, there’s some fun insight into 90s music (grunge and glam) - both of which I don’t like. I felt the Tarantino essay was too little too late but he doesn’t hold up and I think I can finally say his filmmaking is “overrated.”

I am a year older than Klosterman so probably shared an almost identical experience of the Nineties as he did, and this is a tremendously interesting book. Klosterman does a wonderful job describing not just WHAT happened (that would be boring), but provided context for the SIGNIFICANCE of what happened, particularly under the lens of 30 years of retroactive perspective. This is the best 4-star rating I have ever given a book, in that it really is deserving of 5 stars short of a few drawbacks: 1. At times, Klosterman's writing was brilliant; at others, he spoke in such terms so abstract that I had no idea what he meant. Examples of the latter include his description of the TV series ER as "either the place you were going to leave or the place you ended up" or his characterization of Bill Clinton's reputation such that "conflict over who he was did not emerge over time. It was always there, before anything else." WHAT?! 2. He overcites certain sources such as "The Village Voice," which has its political leanings and thus colors the analysis of the events of discussion. 3. He seems to put too much of an emphasis on certain events, not quite knowing when to end it, which seem to cross into repetitiveness. Despite these downfalls, this book is exceptionally interesting and gave me a chance to reflect on my own recollections and experiences of this formative decade of my own life. I am now anxiously awaiting his book on the 2000s. (Hint, hint Klosterman!)

Love this book! I lived it. I'm gen-X and it's all there. It doesn't trivialize everything in catch phrases like "cool beans," and so forth... I mean, who would say that? ANywho, I'm really enjoying the dissection. The author doesn't dumb-down a thing, it's certainly thought provoking. Things I forgot about, like the importance of area codes, for one. And what a total bummer it was when artists "sold-out!" That was the worst thing ever. I think anyone, of any generation, with even a modicum curiosity of how things really were in the 90's, would find this book fascinating. I personally think Chuck Klosterman says it best in this book. I gotta read his other stuff now ...

i've been reading chuck since fargo rock city. with each book he becomes a tighter writer. he evolves. and he sheds, one by one, his chuckisms of tone, like "almost always because" and "except that the exact opposite was true" or "and it never could be." i read the nineties in one sitting the day it arrived. it's great, and well structured (chuck seems to attract great editors wherever he publishes), but as i always find with his books, i wanted it to be longer. the trouble with the nineties, specifically, is that he's always written gobs of relevant nineties essays (on seinfeld, the unabomber, reality bites, gen X, etc etc etc) in other books. so i almost felt an unconscious desire to see those bits sliced and grafted into this narrative. that would be the ultimate; a revised THE NINETIES REDUX THE FINAL CUT with all his other nineties analysis baked back in, making the book more whole and about 25% fatter.

Great book!

Klosterman's book is by no means a play-by-play, nor is it a sentimental recounting of the decade, all of which I was expecting. What it is is a treatise on perspective viewed through the events of that decade. The perspective of the media, people and himself. It doesn't question the facts, but rather how they are reviewed, recounted and perceived. It is a somewhat subjective viewpoint, not easily supported by fact, but it asks questions. I found my urge to question his assertions quickly overcome by an urge to question my own memories, and how I process information, even cold, hard facts. It was an enriching, thought - provoking experience.

A great book by a great author. I really like the guys style and think he's got an original voice worth listening to. It probably helps that I was born in 1982 and that the 90s were my 'glory years'!! A fun book.

Good book

If you’re of my generation you might find this a pleasurable if more than a little self indulgent look at the decade which defined us. Very US centric portrait of the only generation which will likely never produce a US president :-)