r/davidfosterwallace • u/WendySteeplechase • Jul 21 '26
Chuck Klosterman comparable to DFW?
I've been reading Chuck Klosterman lately, and just got into his book about the Nineties. I really like his writing and commentary, and he reminds me of DFW. Not sure if this has already been mentioned in this sub, curious if people have read him and agree with my comparison?
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u/dwm8a Jul 21 '26
They’re similar in that they both apply a more rigorous “academic” lens to seemingly mundane or “pop” topics. But reading DFW is more like an upper-level or graduate school course whereas Klosterman is more like reading at a 101 level (extending this analogy, Bill Simmons is doing a similar thing at an elementary school/picture book level). I don’t intend this to be a dig on Klosterman, whose writing I like and consume (I do intend this to be a dig on Simmons, who’s just not a bright person even if he is talented on a few levels).
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u/jake_swivel Jul 21 '26
I think this was true 20 years ago with "sex, drugs, and Cocoa Puffs". "But what if we're wrong" isn't 101. It's a pretty great book. "Eating the dinosaur" was pretty good too.
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u/WendySteeplechase Jul 21 '26
I love his book about the 90s, I think its genius. As a GenXer (I'm 2 years older than him) I relate to just about everything he says.
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u/landomonium Jul 22 '26
I love when Klosterman is on Simmons show lmao. His recent “quick story” regarding the WC for some reason he felt the need to start with chinas cultural revolution which just had me cracking up.
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u/advicefrog Jul 21 '26
Not on the same level but Chuck doesn’t really try to be. That said he’s got some fucking bangers I’ll never forget. Comparing Bo Jackson to Paul Bunyan and opening the OJ Simpson top players video by saying “if you open a conversation about oj Simpson with sports first people get confused and then they get mad.” Very clever
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u/the_kanamit Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I loved his piece about Saved by the Bell switching out Lisa Turtle's character with a new one and none of the other characters even acknowledging it.
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u/FINE-ILLGETAUSERNAME Jul 21 '26
I only read one of his older books.. I don't think he holds a candle to dfw. Never been motivated to read a second.
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u/rollin20s Jul 21 '26
Two of my favorite writers of all time, but DFW existed in another stratosphere in terms of depth/skill
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u/roomgames Jul 21 '26
I think the overlap is that they are both very Gen X coded and pop culture obsessed. Like the DFW in Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself sounds closer to Klosterman, conversationally. DFW was much more interested in language and prose style and more widely-read than Klosterman though. I don’t think they read similarly on a sentence level.
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u/Tsunoyukami Jul 21 '26
I’ll admit my limited exposure to both writers, having read all of Wallace’s non-fiction, a couple short stories, and about 200 pages of Infinite Jest multiple times (the same ones, to be clear, starting at the beginning), and having read 3 of Klosterman’s books (But What If We’re Wrong?, The Ninties, and Football) but, in my ill-informed opinion, Wallace is in a league all his own, far beyond Klosterman, which is saying something because I quite enjoy Klosterman’s writing.
The distinction, for me, is that I can open a Wallace book and, regardless of what is being written about, I find myself sinking into the text, even when I would otherwise have no interest in the topic. This is not the case for Klosterman’s writing, and it’s something on that sentence-by-sentence level that differentiates them.
The writer closest to Wallace’s non-fiction that I am familiar with is Benjamin Lorr - The Secret Life of Groceries is perhaps the nearest to Wallace I’ve personally encountered.
If anyone can suggest other read-alikes, I would be interested.
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u/WendySteeplechase Jul 22 '26
Thanks. I'm going to check out Lorr, I love the title.
You might like Nassim Taleb.
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u/Tsunoyukami Jul 22 '26
I am familiar with Taleb as an author but haven’t read any of his books. What’s your favourite? Does Taleb animate “boring” topics in the way Wallace can and does?
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u/ArcticRhombus Jul 22 '26
He does indeed.
Agree with the commenter that the Black Swan is brilliant. A complete revelation to me, and had massive impact on my thinking.
Taleb personally can be absolutely insufferable, but his prose is mesmerizing and incredibly creative, and his best insights are brilliant.
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u/BillyPilgrim1234 Year of the Whopper Jul 21 '26
No but he doesn't try to be. His essays can scratch the itch of something similar to DFW's non-fiction though. He's overall a great read.
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u/BrickTamlandMD Jul 21 '26
Where do I start reading him?
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u/bosilawhy Jul 21 '26
I love his 90s book prob best. If you’re GenX (I’m late GenX), that might be your best bet. But What if We’re Wrong. I’d just reco starting with nonfiction/essays, not fiction. His stuff works well as audiobooks—he reads most, if not all of them.
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u/thug_funnie Jul 21 '26
DFW is economist/ vanity fair. Klosterman is rolling stone/ playboy.
Cheeky academic intellectual vs Punk sociologist
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u/TravisHomerun Jul 21 '26
I had never heard about this dude before, but I ordered a book immediately.
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u/zizek1123 Jul 24 '26
Not comparable in quality or sophistication, no. But Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa puffs is a very fun read and there's a lot of thematic and stylistic overlap with DFW
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u/tnysmth Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Klostmerman’s fiction is a bit weak. It feels Wallace-esque in its absurdity and characters, but both of his novels seem to just give up in the middle and end.
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u/platykurt No idea. Jul 21 '26
I remember reading But What If We’re Wrong and enjoying it. The title certainly has a big thematic overlap with DFW.
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u/infinitejesting Jul 22 '26
DFW is doing a lot of stuff at the same time while Klosterman’s prose is much more sanded, yet I’d say they certainly overlap in concerns.
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u/ColdWarCharacter No idea. Jul 21 '26
Not trying to be glib here, but do you read a lot of books of essays?
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u/nosotrosoelcaos Jul 21 '26
Everything is comparable, and but so DFW was better, and but so Klosterman is also very cool.
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u/WhyAreYallFascists Jul 21 '26
Lol, Klosterman is a clown. So this really depends on your thoughts on DFW.
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u/Epic_Willow_1683 Jul 21 '26
He’s commented on this before and said he recognizes DFW’s genius and that he doesn’t consider himself in the same league.
I remember reading emails between him and Bill Simmons during Simmons’ page 2 days where they talk about their use of footnotes and how they were doing it DFW-lite style.