I fear that most contemporary people are answering questions not because they're flattered by the attention; they're answering questions because they feel as though they deserve to be asked. About everything. Their opinions are special, so they are entitled to a public forum. Their voice is supposed to be heard, lest their life become empty.
This, in one paragraph (minus technology), explains the rise of New Media (Klosterman, 19).
I have a a fan site for a heart-felt show called Friday Night Lights, I have a Facebook account, I have two Twitter accounts, I have an iPhone, I have this personal blog and I have a MySpace account that I just remembered exists. You could say I dabble in New Media. Or, you could just say I'm a regular 24-year-old. Klosterman, in his latest book Eating the Dinosaur, devotes a lot of time to discussing his profession as a writer and interviewer. As a result of this he profoundly decides that us contemporaries are answering questions for the wrong reasons. I submit that while I do enjoy hearing my own voice from time to time, that this notion of answering questions because we're "supposed to be heard" is an unavoidable social construct if you a) live in America or b) use the internet daily. I hardly think that my life will become null and void without updating my status or deleting my blogs, but it would most definitely become much more boring. I think what Klosterman fails to admit in Eating the Dinosaur is that contemporary people are used to multi-tasking and sharing information at a rapid pace, even if the information is as moronic as "just ate McDonalds, my stomach wishes I hadn't". It's not so much that we think our voices deserve to be heard, as it is that we like attention and networking. Maybe I'm just spitballing here, or speaking for myself, but if any of what I just jabbered about interests you READ EATING THE DINOSAUR IMMEDIATELY. Klosterman is a thought-provoking media guru who somehow manages to reference ABBA, Ted Kaczynski & Friday Night Lights all in 229 rad pages of goodness.
Note to readers: this post is supposed to be filled with book recommendations, but the English major in me just exploded after I typed that astute comment from Mr. Klosterman at the top of the page. From here on out I'll behave.
Things You Should Read:
1. Chuck Klosterman's Eating the Dinosaur. See above, but I should also acknowledge that his other essay topics include, but are not limited to: football, advertising, manufactured laughter, Nirvana (the band), and what it means to interview.
2. Kathryn Sockett's The Help. I majored in English and Africana/Diaspora Studies, so I may be a little biased when it comes to this absurdly good Civil Rights Movement era novel that takes place in Jackson Mississippi, but I'm fairly certain it's excellent all around. This novel is about three brave women who ban together to tell the story of "the help" that raised a generation of southern children in America. This novel reads like the love child of Toni Morrison and Jodi Picoult. Divine.
3. Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series. Imagine if the protagonists and the antagonists of Harry Potter were Greek Gods & their half human children. Well, Percy Jackson just found out he is Poseidon's son and that he's gotta learn to kick some ass. Nuff said.
4. Tim Winton's Breath. This is a beautiful and haunting tale of two boys coming of age in Western Australia, and learning to surf from an old dare devil named Sando that has battled more waves than is sane. A taster:
I leant across the wall of upstanding water and the board came with me as though it was part of my body and mind. The blur of spray. The billion shards of light. I remember the solitary watching figure on the beach and the flash of Loonie's smile as I flew by; I was intoxicated. And though I've lived to be an old man with my own share of happiness for all the mess I made, I still judge every joyous moment, every victory and revelation against those few seconds of living (Winton, 35).You should've bought this book yesterday.
