I Wear the Black Hat
.jpg) The first edition cover | |
| Author | Chuck Klosterman |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Pop culture |
| Publisher | Scribner |
Publication date | July 9, 2013 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 242 |
| ISBN | 978-1-4391-8449-3 |
| OCLC | 886390536 |
| LC Class | 2013003049 |
| Preceded by | The Visible Man (2011) |
| Followed by | What If We're Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (2016)[1] |
I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) is a book written by Chuck Klosterman, first published by Scribner in 2013. It is a collection of twelve essays examining the nature of villainy through the lens of popular culture, rock music, and sports.[2] It is the eighth book released by Klosterman. The book debuted at number 5 on the New York Times bestseller list.[3]
Overview
I Wear the Black Hat investigates the thesis: A villain is someone who knows the most but cares the least.[4] The book explores how villains behave and why, and many of the essays surround famous athletes and musicians.[5]
Essays
I Wear the Black Hat consists of twelve essays:
- What You Say About His Company Is What You Say About Society: a short history of Niccolò Machiavelli, the term Machiavellian, and the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.
- Another Thing That Interests Me About the Eagles Is That I [Am Contractually Obligated to] Hate Them: an examination of the Eagles song Take It Easy and the reasons why certain music and musicians are hated.
- Villains Who Are Not Villains: a discussion of whether a person's actions or rather the circumstances under which they act make them a villain. Keith Richards, D. B. Cooper, Morris Day, Muhammad Ali and others are discussed.
- Easier Than Typing: Klosterman recounts the story of Bernhard Goetz, who is compared and contrasted to Batman.
- Human Clay: a commentary on the popularity of Andrew Dice Clay.
- Without a Gun They Can't Get None: an analysis of N.W.A, their debut album Straight Outta Compton, and why they became so closely associated with the Oakland Raiders.
- Arrested for Smoking: an examination of the Lewinsky scandal as a five-sided problem that included Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Kenneth Starr, Linda Tripp and Hillary Clinton.
- Electric Funeral: an exploration of Kim Dotcom and Perez Hilton.
- "I Am Perplexed" [This Is Why, This Is Why They Hate You]: a serial consideration of Fred Durst, Chevy Chase, Howard Cosell, and Aleister Crowley.
- Crime and Punishment (or the Lack Thereof): a comparison of O.J. Simpson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
- Hitler Is in the Book: an analysis of how evil Adolf Hitler was, seen through the lens of Bob Dylan's song With God on Our Side.
- The Problem of Overrated Ideas: Klosterman discusses steroids in baseball and recounts the circumstances by which he came to hate Rick Helling—the first player in Major League Baseball to take a stance against performance-enhancing drugs in 1998.
Reception
The book has received mixed reviews, with The A.V. Club giving it a B+.[6][7] Writing for the New York Times, James Parker said I Wear the Black Hat is, "...not [Klosterman's] best book, but in considering it we should remember the young person, probably not a reader of The New York Times, to whom its haphazardness, its occasional pointlessness and above all its difficulty keeping a straight face will come as sweet, sweet relief."[8] Michael Robbins said in his review of the book in the Chicago Tribune that, "What's most frustrating about "I Wear the Black Hat" is that I'd love to read a good version of it."[9]
References
- ↑ Jones, Nate Chuck Klosterman Is Writing a Book About the Possibility of Us Being Wrong About, Well, Everything Vulture. January 19, 2016
- ↑ Hyman, Dan Chuck Klosterman on His New Book, 'I Wear The Black Hat' Rolling Stone. January 19, 2016
- ↑ Coulter, Catherine Inside the List January 19, 2016
- ↑ Reynold, Daniel The Villain Syndrome: Why Movies Need More Hans Gruber SamePageTeam. January 21, 2016
- ↑ Miller, Laura “I Wear the Black Hat”: Villainy for beginners Salon. January 21, 2016
- ↑ Rizov, Vadim Chuck Klosterman: I Wear The Black Hat: Grappling With Villains (Real And Imagined) A.V. Club. January 20, 2016
- ↑ Wheeler, BradDissecting Chuck Klosterman and his latest pop-culture offering Globe and Mail. January 20, 2016
- ↑ Parker, James Badfellas: Chuck Klosterman’s ‘I Wear the Black Hat’ New York Times. January 20, 2016
- ↑ Robbins, Michael Review: 'I Wear the Black Hat' by Chuck Klosterman Chicago Tribune. January 20, 2016
External links
- I Wear the Black Hat at Simon & Schuster
- Chuck Klosterman on Twitter