Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

I had high expectations for this next book based on the title: Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman.  Was it going to be a novel on how a young teen got involved in drugs, unclear of how he would get sex or was it about the General Mills Company had a scandal while selling it’s highly popular Cocoa Puffs brand cereal?  Well, got none of that for sure.  Instead Klosterman presents a series of short chapters outlining 1990s media and culture issues, from Billy Joel (his angst with him) to how the Real World MTV changed how television presented itself (Klosterman really liked the Real World, even discussed how he had applied to be on the show).  His presentation on Saved By the Bell, the first non-animated Saturday morning series (which I can’t believe only had 4 seasons), created the first “fourth wall syndrome of sorts” on TV when Jessie and Kelly disappeared for half of the season and returned on graduation day and we never knew where they were.  His rants on music of Madonna and other 1990s musical talents (he was growing up then) attempted to make connections to what we accept and believe in as a society.  He presents the evil mass murderers like John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer and how they were created during the 90s and aligning them to music and other media outlets of the time.  This book didn’t seem to fit the title.  It really is a series of stand-alone chapters that could have been editorials in Rolling Stone or SPIN magazine, ahhh this author writes for them, maybe they actually come from it.  I felt like I was on an airplane and opened the US Airways monthly magazine and found a few fun “meaningless” stories about the 1990s music scene, TV scene, but not about Cocoa Puffs (which I really didn’t find big in the 1990s, for those who were alive then, did you?).  This is probably a book to place in your country home’s bathroom so guests can read should they have an extended stay in the throne.  Had a few laugh out loud moments, but not many.   I’d take a major pass on this one.