I have often said no one has influenced my writing style more than Chuck Klosterman. In fact, these very words wouldn’t exist without him. So, my favorite author wrote a book about sports. One sport in particular, actually. And it was exactly what I’ve come to expect from him and his writing. I like to read his thoughts on pretty much any subject, but as it happens, football is also a topic I enjoy, though not nearly as much as he does. Still, his appreciation is undoubtedly infectious. This is less of a history or analysis of the game, and more critical think-piece essays about football’s place in the larger view of society, which is again to be expected. If anything, it was more focused than I expected, less tangential than his usual works. Not many nonfiction books have ever made me laugh out loud, but he does it with regularity, and this one was no exception. He writes at a level of intellectualism where I feel dumb even trying to comprehend it, but then bends it back around to a level of stupidity where I feel smart again. The truth is probably closer to the former for me, but at least it's a fun ride, and it tends to prompt me to initiate similar conversations with my own like-minded friends. He has an undeniably special way of looking at the world that sitting in the bar and chatting with him for an afternoon would feel natural.
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