Wasn't my favorite book of Chucks, but it was full of nostalgia for me so I had an amazing time with it.

This isn’t Chuck’s best. In past books, he has come off strong with the first few essays, drawing readers in. With The Nineties, the beginning dragged and never got me hooked. Maybe I’m not the target audience as an elder millennial, but I’m disappointed in this one.

A classic Chuck Klosterman book. Full of 90's pop culture and enjoyable commentary on various 90's topics. It goes deep into topics like how Napster changed people's interests in music or lighter topics like receiving free America Online CDs. Overall, this was an enjoyable, nostalgic look back at an earlier decade for those who spent time in it.

Full of nostalgia and a great read for those of us growing up in the nineties. I thoroughly enjoyed this and have recommended to many of my coworkers already.

I have always liked Chuck Klosterman — reading one of his books feels like talking to my younger brother, who has a similarly episodic memory for pop cultural moments and an ironic tone that masks wise insights — and Klosterman’s latest, The Nineties: A Book, seems particularly written for me (and others who lived through that decade as adults). Klosterman himself notes that every generation thinks that they’re living through times of intense change, and that’s because it’s always true, but the changes that occurred in the period between the falling of the Berlin Wall and the falling of the Twin Towers, as the world moved from analog to digital, were particularly revolutionary (and maybe I only agree with that thesis because I was an adult during those years). We went from people who were tied to our house phones if we were expecting a call, answering every call in case it was important — people who published our addresses and phone numbers in books that were freely distributed — to becoming a people who took our phones along in our pockets, often ignoring calls even from people we know, and made it illegal to “dox” — to publicly publish someone’s address and phone number online. We went from watching fairly formulaic television — because it was the only thing on, and if you missed an episode, maybe you’d catch it in reruns — to “prestige television” like The Sopranos (which we could tape, then DVR, then stream and binge), but more viewers watched an average episode of Seinfeld than the finale of The Sopranos. The nineties were a time of nihilism and postmodernism and a desire not to be seen as trying too hard; the days of Nirvana and Friends and The Matrix; low speed chases and clear colas and domestic terrorism and both Lance Armstrong and Bill Clinton staring into a television camera and insisting that they did not do that thing that they totally did. Klosterman says that people born after 1985 look back and say, “How could you have put up with all of that?”, and he replies, as do I, you really had to be there. Because I was there, every little bit of this resonated with me, but I could see how some might see it as pointless navel-gazing about a decade that was about nothing. As for me, I am happy that this book exists and that I got an early chance to read it.

Another great Chuck Klosterman book. Been reading him for years. Informative yet fun to read. Loved it.

Unfortunately I did not connect with this writing style and was expecting something more nostalgic; instead this read more like a research paper. The content did not flow well in my option but I appreciate the research and time that went into this project!

I'm a huge Chuck Klosterman fan and I've read everything he's written, so when I saw this was coming out, it was a no brainer. He researches and dissects one of my favorite era's in his typical wry, sarcastic, and beautiful prose. Of course, I enjoyed every page. His social commentary is not only insightful, but relatable. There were more than a few spots where he made me think harder about my childhood while also making me laugh and shake my head. Another win for this author, absolute must read if you grew up in this era.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am sort've obsessed with the '90s so I figured I would like this book. I did end up really enjoying it. The intro was great and each chapter thereafter was very thorough.

“The Nineties: A Book” is another set of interesting essays and observations from Chuck Klosterman.

It is amazing how much I had forgotten, or just failed to realize, about the 1990s. Much like Mr. Klosterman, I am a Gen-X adult, the last people who firmly remember and grew up with one foot in the analog era, one foot in the start of the digital age. And this book is a reminder of that time before cellphones and Google, where it was OK to not know where your friend was, or who was calling on the other end of the phoneline, or whether Nelson Mandela was dead or alive. If you missed your favorite TV show, you would have to wait for a rerun. It seemed amazing that you could go to a video store and watch a movie in your own home – would it ever get any better than this?

Mr. Klosterman takes us through all of that and more – politics (Nader and Perot both had outsized influences on who became president), culture, sports, food (Pepsi Clear and Zima), music (Smells Like Teen Spirit), movies (yes, Titanic) and much, much more. You don’t always have to agree with his conclusions and perspectives, but (unlike some of his previous works) Mr. Klosterman is usually quite interesting. And yes, some of these essays seem to be pretty random, but so what? Enjoy the trip. If you lived through the 1990s, this is a great reminder of things you probably forgot. If you didn’t, prepare to be amazed at exactly how different life was not so long ago.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from PENGUIN GROUP, The Penguin Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Thorough pop culture analysis of a singular decade. It's full of grand proclamations and occasional contrarian views but overall a really fun look at the not too distant past.

I'm a fan of Chuck Klosterman's writing, and was really excited to have a nostalgic trip through the 90s with this book. For those new to him, be aware that it's a heavily researched non-fiction book that delves into various topics about the decade. This includes some areas that people may find "boring". It's not a book to read in one day. It's heavier than expected, but I still really loved it.

I think I was expecting more of, well, a FUN nostalgia trip through the Nineties supported by witty modern prose. Instead, this is painfully boring and meandering. Major events through music, politics, movies, and the news are covered, but there is no real flow to the "story" progression. I've been interested in reading Klosterman for awhile now, but I think I'm going to walk that urge back. As for the Nineties, maybe they're best covered on VH1.

I can no longer remember why I loved Chuck Klosterman's writing. I don't know if he got too smart, or I got too dumb...or vice versa? But I found this book impenetrably weird and genuinely don't understand what points he was trying to make about, well, anything.

I should start by saying I am a big fan of Klosterman. He often will have an opinion on something that is so unique, I doubt anyone else in the world would have approached it that specific way. He gives his perspective on The Nineties and the results are fascinating.

There were so many examples of Klosterman dissecting an issue from 25 years ago and provided an insight or an angle that I had never considered. It's all here--music, movies, internet, Clinton, TV, the Unabomber. There is even a part about the US interfering in Russia's election that I had completely forgotten about.

This book will give you a lot to think about it. Highly recommended.

Netgalley provided me with a free e-galley in return for this review.

I say this with the greatest of love, but my god! can Chuck Klosterman drone on. I've long been a fan of Klosterman's writing so when I saw this I had to request it immediately. Klosterman expertly tackles the 90's in often hilarious, always insightful, but occasionally just too repetitive ways. I know that I'm not the exact audience for this book, after all, as much as I'd love to consider myself a Gen-Xer (whatever that says about me), I am a millennial, with young parents, who thankfully got exposed to much of this as a child. That being said, and acknowledging that the '90s aren't 10 years ago as many of us like to think, I also felt that this book was a little too close to home sometimes. It was a lot. I found myself putting it down, taking a step back to really think about it, and then jumping right back in. Of course, I loved the book and I'm going to pick up a copy as soon as it's published, but reader beware this one might hit a little close. Readers are in for a laugh and a lot of thought with The Nineties.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP The Penguin Press, Penguin Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are many interesting passages in this retrospective analysis. The sections on music and movies were the best. There are also lots of boring sections. The layout of the book is odd. We jump around from music to politics to movies to sports. It feels disconnected. My biggest criticism of this book is how the cultural contributions of black people are largely ignored. There’s a small section on Tupac, but this is a decade when black culture became mainstream.

Very interesting book. You can tell a lot of research went into this book.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

As someone who lived through the '90s, I didn't really learn much from what was covered, but Klosterman does a good job of contextualizing why the decade was the end of a certain way of life. I will admit, it's difficult once this book gets towards the latter chapters, because I know the tragedy that will truly mark the decade's end. But as Klosterman says in the book, people still went to see Titanic despite knowing the ship sunk, so there's no reason to skip the pleasures of The Nineties just because it ends badly.

A typically fascinating book by Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman always finds his own take on events without coming across as intentionally contrarian. And that's even more important in this overview of the Nineties, which ultimately lacks a single unifying theme; it's more of a survey of different key events and changes that occurred during that decade than a thesis of that decade.

That might lead to an aimless book in the hands of a different author, but Klosterman is consistently fascinating even if his mind isn't leading to a singular destination.

If anything, Klosterman's analysis is consistent with the decade itself, which was transitional in nature - it didn't "stand" for anything specific but provided a connective tissue to get us past the Eighties, and in many ways stands alone for mores and morals that don't fit comfortably in any other identifiable time period.

If I were hoping for anything more, it'd be more of a showing of Klosterman's humor, which with a few exceptions (look for his take on the "clear" beverages such as Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear) isn't put into play. But we've been heading for a while to this destination with Klosterman, who started as a lone pro-KISS voice literally in the prairie and has developed a style that's less showy but more thoughtful.

Read The Nineties to spend time with a unique mind. You don't have to agree with all of Klosterman's takes to fully enjoy them and come away working hard to prove that he's wrong (and probably failing). It's hard to imagine a topic where Klosterman's views wouldn't be welcome or accomplished.