“IV,” Klosterman’s adventurously named fourth book, is mostly a collection of previously released pieces, many of which were published in SPIN and Esquire (at least the American version - not sure if he’s regularly in the UK version), but he does add a new, consistently entertaining intro to each story. The book is divided into three parts: Things That Are True (profiles of various people or features on particular phenomena), Things That Might Be True (columns where he often hilariously speculates on ideas that randomly pop into his head) and Something That Isn’t True At All (an outlandish short story with some very real parallels to his early days writing for the Akron Beacon Journal). This last one has never officially been released, though it’s rumored to have once been seen in an obscure Midwestern ‘zine.

One of my favorites in part one is “Viva Morrissey!” It’s a fascinating and multiple laugh out loud-inducing bit about how today’s most hardcore Smiths / Morrissey fans in L.A. are overwhelmingly young and Latino. The fact that this culture so often unabashedly trumpets the virtues of machismo takes this scenario to a whole ‘nother bizarre level. “Dude Rocks Like A Lady,” a candid behind-the-scenes look at all-female tribute bands like Lez Zeppelin, AC/DShe and Cheap Chick, showcases Klosterman’s talent for stepping back and letting his subjects provide most of the fun while he subtly and skillfully slips in his witty commentary on the whole (often sorry) scene. And “The Stranger” is a tragicomic look at Billy Joel from a perspective that the man has never been seen in before.

Part two is probably the best reason to buy “IV.” In it, Klosterman is free to ramble on about whatever the hell he wants with no real obligation to stick to any conceivable facts. Each column begins with a hypothetical conundrum that’s at least somewhat related to the piece, and they’re all generally interesting.

At this point I have to tell you about a Chuck Klosterman hypothetical from his absolutely fantastic second book, “Sex, Drugs And Cocoa Puffs.” In it he asks what you would do if faced with the following dilemma (and I’m paraphrasing here): Your soul mate will have his or her collarbones broken with a blunt instrument every three years unless you take a pill that will make every piece of music you hear for the remainder of your life sound like Alice in Chains. This even includes commercials and humming to yourself. I mean, FUCK ME! Alice in Chains? Can’t stand ‘em. Even if it was The Ramones or another band I absolutely love, it would get old after awhile. This would make life very much less worth living. My wife, however, couldn’t believe I’d even consider letting her collarbones be crushed for ANY reason at all. We ended up arguing about this for portions of the next several days. I still think I’m right for wavering (and never ultimately answering the question) on this, though.

Anyhow, among other things, the Things That Might Be True section ponders the essentiality of having both a nemesis AND an archenemy (and it defines the subtle differences between them), discusses monogamy in a way that will probably polarize couples who read the column together, and examines the overwhelming popularity of pirates these days. All 14 essays in part two made me laugh out loud at least once, and several times during most.

And without getting into too much detail about the aforementioned 34-page short story “You Tell Me” that closes the book, it’s almost as worth checking out as the previous two sections.

I was at a reading Klosterman did a couple days ago to promote “IV,” and it was a helluva good time. He read just one piece from this book, and then he took over an hour’s worth of questions for the 100+ closely jammed together people who had the pleasure of listening to him. The inquiries on his writing process were fielded ably, but his best answers came to the random pop culture questions people threw at him (Is Rivers Cuomo purposefully writing songs to piss off his fans?” etc.). Toward the end of the session, Klosterman said that he ultimately strives to be interesting, entertaining and to provide a clear point of view. “IV” is all of that and more.

Ben Hunter grew up in Cleveland, Ohio but has lived in Boston, MA for half of his goddamned life. Luke Perry would play him if there was ever a film made about his time on this planet, mostly due to the five-head, pompous hair and skinny frame. And also because a movie about his life wouldn’t warrant any greater star power. Ben is a founding member, guitarist and singer for The Medveds, an underground (read: unpopular) Boston garage/punk band that tried to flourish in the mid-to-late ‘90s. With one “published” piece under his belt (“Me and My Beer and How Great I Was,”), Ben now continues to vomit out more crap on askewreviews.com and on his MySpace page.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.