Chuck Klosterman

Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman is an American author and essayist well-known for his writings on American popular culture. He was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota, and grew up on a farm in North Dakota. Klosterman attended Wyndmere High School and went on to study at the University of North Dakota in 1994. After graduating from college, he began his journalism career in Fargo before moving to Akron, Ohio, where he worked as an art critic and reporter for the Akron Beach Journal.

Klosterman has written for numerous publications, including Esquire, ESPN.com, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Believer, and The New York Times Magazine. He gained recognition for his rock music criticism, but he has also made a name for himself in sports writing. Klosterman was a founding member of the defunct pop and sports culture website Grantland, where he served as a consulting editor.

Klosterman's first book, "Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota," was published in 2001 and became a bestseller. The novel explores the history of rock music, focusing on the glam metal of the mid-1980s. His first work of fiction, "Downtown Owl: A Novel," was published in 2008. Klosterman has also published several essay collections, including "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto" in 2003 and "Raised in Captivity" in 2019. He has received critical acclaim for his work, including the ASCAP Deems Taylor award for music criticism in 2002. Klosterman's unique voice and perspective on popular culture have solidified his place as a respected and influential author and essayist.