Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Chuck Klosterman

Quote by Chuck Klosterman

“What's hard to do is describe why you like something. Because ultimately, the reason things move people is very amorphous. You can be cerebral about things you hate, but most of the things you like tend to be very emotive. It's really hard to do a literary reproduction of what makes you happy. That's what I try to do. If nothing else, it seems like there's enough people out there telling the world what isn't cool, or what's terrible, or what's depressing. I think there's an element of cynicism in my writing, but I'm an optimistic cynic.”

Quote by Chuck Klosterman

Create image

Author

Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Klosterman

Chuck Klosterman is an American author born on June 5, 1972. Known for his unique perspective and humorous writing style, he has explored a wide range of subjects including popular culture, music, sports, and film, winning the admiration of readers with his work. more

You May Also Like

“In the eight years I worked at newspapers, even during a little stretch when I was a film critic, I was never, ever doing exclusively criticism. In the daily newspaper world, much more value is placed on reporting than on thinking abstractly about art. The eight years I was in newspapers, I was mainly a journalist in the conventional sense, and just doing criticism when there were opportunities.”

ThinkingWorldArtFilmValuesOpportunityCriticismCriticsJournalist
Author:Chuck Klosterman
Create image

“A lot of people involved with celebrity journalism have interesting ideas about the people they want to write about going into the interview. Then as soon as they actually sit down with that person, they basically ask the questions they think journalists are supposed to ask, and they start viewing themselves almost as a peer of the subject. Like they're going to become friends. That's why most celebrity journalism is so terrible.”

PeopleThinkingWritingInterestingTerribleJournalismJournalist
Author:Chuck Klosterman
Create image

“The problem a lot of writers have is that they really enjoy people saying, "You're brilliant." They let their self-perception be dictated by reader response. But if you're going to let other people make you feel good, you're going to end up feeling bad when they say the opposite. You've got to be a cultural stoic. Then you won't be devastated by people who respond negatively. Of course, the downside is that it sort of stops you from being able to enjoy people liking your work.”

PeopleFeelingsProblemEnjoyLike YouResponseBrilliantFeel GoodDevastatedStoicFeeling Bad
Author:Chuck Klosterman
Create image

“I think people feel very comfortable reviewing the idea of me, as opposed to what I've actually written. Most of the time, when people write about one of my books, they're really just writing about what they think I may or may not represent, as sort of this abstract entity. Is that unfair? Not really. If I put myself in this position where I'm going to kind of weave elements of memoir into almost everything, well, I suppose that's going to happen.”

PeopleThinkingWritingKindBookMemoirAbstractUnfair
Author:Chuck Klosterman
Create image

“The people who review my books, generally, are kind of youngish culture writers who aspire to write books. When someone writes a book review, they obviously already self-identify as a writer. I mean, they are. They're writers, they're critics, and they're writing about a book about a writer who's a critic. So I think it's really hard for people to distance themselves from what they're criticizing.”

PeopleThinkingWritingKindMeanBookCultureDistanceCriticsCriticizeBook Review
Author:Chuck Klosterman
Create image

“I've written arrangements for choirs and strings in the past, but I usually write music with my voice or a keyboard and then I'll get someone who is good at writing scores to write it out. Or, if I have the luxury of time, I will go in a room and hear the people perform and then change it through what I hear, not on paper. I can read music OK, but I probably rebelled a little - music changes into something else when you read it.”

PeopleWritingPastChoirI Can Read
Author:Bjork
Create image