Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
{{short description|2005 book by Chuck Klosterman}}
{{redirect|Killing Yourself to Live|the song by Black Sabbath|Sabbath Bloody Sabbath}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Killijgasdhgsd.jpg
| caption = 2006 paperback edition cover
| author = Chuck Klosterman
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| subject = Death, rock music
| genre =
| publisher = Scribner
| pub_date = June 28, 2005
| english_pub_date =
| media_type = Print (hardcover and paperback)
| pages = 256
| isbn = 0-7432-6445-2
| dewey= 781.660973 22
| congress= ML394 .K59 2005
| oclc = 60684970
| preceded_by = Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
| followed_by = Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
}}
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story is a work of non-fiction written by Chuck Klosterman, first published by Scribner in 2005.
Background
The title is a reference to the 1973 song "Killing Yourself To Live", by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It is Klosterman's third book and focuses on the premise of writing about the relationship between love and death, particularly deaths involving music celebrities. The original feature, published in Spin in 2003, shares some ideas and language with the book.{{Cite web |url=https://www.spin.com/2003/11/6557-miles-nowhere/ |title=6,557 Miles To Nowhere: Death is part of life. Generally, it's the shortest part of |author=Klosterman, Chuck |date=2003-11-25 |work=Spin |publisher= |accessdate=2009-10-25 |authorlink= Chuck Klosterman }}
Synopsis
Klosterman's analysis focuses less on the actual circumstances leading to the deaths of rock musicians, but more on the existential and cultural implications that result. To these ends, Klosterman goes on a road trip, visiting the death sites of rock stars such as Duane Allman and Kurt Cobain.{{cite book |last1=Wexler |first1=Jay |authorlink=Jay Wexler |title=Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars |date=2009 |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston |isbn=9780807000441 |pages=xv-xvi}} In a rented Ford Taurus, which he nicknamed "Tauntaun", Klosterman encounters a variety of interesting circumstances and people along the way, such as a teenager in Missoula, Montana, who asks him to sell her some cannabis, or a Cracker Barrel waitress who reads Kafka.
A large part of the narrative describes four (although primarily three) women from Klosterman's past and present who embody abstractions that he loves (and are later compared to the four original members of the band KISS). According to Klosterman, in the same way that a rock star's death grants them a transcendence beyond anything they may have embodied during the course of their career, so, too, these four women transcend their own effect on Klosterman to become the molds by which all other women will undoubtedly be understood.
The book contains much literary analysis of songs and the retelling of conversations from the author's past. Klosterman also includes a controversial passage about Radiohead's Kid A, proclaiming that track-by-track the 2000 album unintentionally details the events of the September 11 attacks, which would occur 11 months after its release.{{cite web |url=http://www.powells.com/review/2005_06_25.html |title=Review-a-Day - Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Klosterman, reviewed by Powells.com - Powell's Books |accessdate=2010-12-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524101149/http://www.powells.com/review/2005_06_25.html |archivedate=2011-05-24 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
- [http://books.simonandschuster.com/Killing-Yourself-to-Live/Chuck-Klosterman/9780743264464 Killing Yourself to Live] at Simon & Schuster
- [http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2005/06/book_notes_chuc.html Largehearted Boy Book Notes music playlist by Chuck Kosterman for his book, Killing Yourself to Live]
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Category:Books about rock music
Category:American non-fiction books