But What If We're Wrong?
Thinking About the Present as If It Were the Past
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But What If We're Wrong?
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Narrated by:
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Chuck Klosterman
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Fiona Hardingham
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Written by:
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Chuck Klosterman
About this listen
New York Times best-selling author
But What If We're Wrong? visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who'll perceive it as the distant past. Chuck Klosterman asks questions that are profound in their simplicity: How certain are we about our understanding of gravity? How certain are we about our understanding of time? What will be the defining memory of rock music 500 years from today? How seriously should we view the content of our dreams? How seriously should we view the content of television? Are all sports destined for extinction? Is it possible that the greatest artist of our era is currently unknown (or - weirder still - widely known but entirely disrespected)? Is it possible that we "overrate" democracy? And perhaps most disturbing, is it possible that we've reached the end of knowledge? Klosterman visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who'll perceive it as the distant past.
Kinetically slingshotting through a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems, But What If We're Wrong? is built on interviews with a variety of creative thinkers - George Saunders, David Byrne, Jonathan Lethem, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, Junot Díaz, Amanda Petrusich, Ryan Adams, Nick Bostrom, Dan Carlin, and Richard Linklater, among others - interwoven with the type of high-wire humor and nontraditional analysis only Klosterman would dare to attempt. It's a seemingly impossible achievement: a book about the things we cannot know, explained as if we did. It's about how we live now, once "now" has become "then".
©2016 Chuck Klosterman (P)2016 Penguin AudioYou may also enjoy...
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 126
It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Felt like an ode to Gen X
- By Jesse & Jess on 2022-02-16
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Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
- A Low Culture Manifesto (Now with a New Middle)
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 21
From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City, the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo, comes Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks.
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1 out of 5 stars
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a dated rambling best read by a teenager who think they're "deep"
- By Peter Keuning on 2025-01-04
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
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I Wear the Black Hat
- Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined)
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4 out of 5 stars 10
In I Wear the Black Hat, Klosterman questions the very nature of how modern people understand the concept of villainy. What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don't we see Batman the same way we see Bernhard Goetz? Who's more worthy of our vitriol - Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O.J. Simpson's second-worst decision? Masterfully blending cultural analysis with self-interrogation and limitless imagination, I Wear the Black Hat delivers perceptive observations on the complexity of the anti-hero.
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
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Killing Yourself to Live
- 85% of a True Story
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
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Story4 out of 5 stars 4
For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought about dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock 'n' roll all the way. Within the span of 21 days, Chuck had three relationships end, one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great book
- By Momomom on 2019-09-01
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
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Chuck Klosterman X
- The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century
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- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3
New York Times best-selling author and cultural critic Chuck Klosterman presents a unique Audio Companion for Chuck Klosterman X, in which he contextualizes and reads from the collection of his best articles and essays, providing both a fascinating tour of the past decade and an ideal introduction to the mind of one of the sharpest and most prolific observers of our unusual times.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A biased review
- By Bill on 2019-07-21
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
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Raised in Captivity
- Fictional Nonfiction
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Sloane Crosley, Chris Gethard, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Fair warning: Raised in Captivity does not slot into a smooth preexisting groove. If Saul Steinberg and Italo Calvino had adopted a child from a Romanian orphanage and raised him on Gary Larsen and Thomas Bernhard, he would still be nothing like Chuck Klosterman. They might be good company, though. Funny, wise and weird in equal measure, Raised in Captivity bids fair to be one of the most original and exciting story collections in recent memory, a fever graph of our deepest unvoiced hopes, fears and preoccupations.
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
-
The Nineties
- A Book
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 126
It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Felt like an ode to Gen X
- By Jesse & Jess on 2022-02-16
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
-
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
- A Low Culture Manifesto (Now with a New Middle)
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 21
From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City, the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo, comes Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
a dated rambling best read by a teenager who think they're "deep"
- By Peter Keuning on 2025-01-04
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
-
I Wear the Black Hat
- Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined)
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 10
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 10
In I Wear the Black Hat, Klosterman questions the very nature of how modern people understand the concept of villainy. What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don't we see Batman the same way we see Bernhard Goetz? Who's more worthy of our vitriol - Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O.J. Simpson's second-worst decision? Masterfully blending cultural analysis with self-interrogation and limitless imagination, I Wear the Black Hat delivers perceptive observations on the complexity of the anti-hero.
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
-
Killing Yourself to Live
- 85% of a True Story
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
For 6,557 miles, Chuck Klosterman thought about dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle, and he chased death and rock 'n' roll all the way. Within the span of 21 days, Chuck had three relationships end, one by choice, one by chance, and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great book
- By Momomom on 2019-09-01
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
-
Chuck Klosterman X
- The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3
New York Times best-selling author and cultural critic Chuck Klosterman presents a unique Audio Companion for Chuck Klosterman X, in which he contextualizes and reads from the collection of his best articles and essays, providing both a fascinating tour of the past decade and an ideal introduction to the mind of one of the sharpest and most prolific observers of our unusual times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A biased review
- By Bill on 2019-07-21
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
-
Raised in Captivity
- Fictional Nonfiction
- Written by: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Sloane Crosley, Chris Gethard, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Fair warning: Raised in Captivity does not slot into a smooth preexisting groove. If Saul Steinberg and Italo Calvino had adopted a child from a Romanian orphanage and raised him on Gary Larsen and Thomas Bernhard, he would still be nothing like Chuck Klosterman. They might be good company, though. Funny, wise and weird in equal measure, Raised in Captivity bids fair to be one of the most original and exciting story collections in recent memory, a fever graph of our deepest unvoiced hopes, fears and preoccupations.
Written by: Chuck Klosterman
What the critics say
“Full of intelligence and insights, as the author gleefully turns ideas upside down to better understand them.... This book will become a popular book club selection because it makes readers think. Replete with lots of nifty, whimsical footnotes, this clever, speculative book challenges our beliefs with jocularity and perspicacity.” (Kirkus, starred review)
“Klosterman conducts a series of intriguing thought experiments in this delightful new book.... Klosterman’s trademark humor and unique curiosity propel the reader through the book. He remains one of the most insightful critics of pop culture writing today and this is his most thought-provoking and memorable book yet.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
“A spin class for the brain.... Klosterman challenges readers to reexamine the stability of basic concepts, and in doing so broadens our perspectives.... An engaging and entertaining workout for the mind led by one of today’s funniest and most thought-provoking writers.” (Library Journal, starred review)
What listeners say about But What If We're Wrong?
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2017-11-22
Wish it was Chuck
The book is interesting and at times quite thoughtful, but I was disappointed that it wasn't Chuck Klosterman reading it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- David Michael Sidhu
- 2021-12-19
Didn’t finish this one
I only listened to the first few chapters. I like Chuck Klosterman’s appearances on podcasts, but just couldn’t get into this. There were interesting points, but it was too meandering without a discernible overall point much of the time.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-03-17
Would have been better with Chuck Narrating.
This was a fascinating listen, but the choice of narrator was unfortunate. She has a good voice but it didn’t suit Chicks style.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- David
- 2018-04-19
Good Narrator but Completely Wrong for Material
The narrator did her best, but she just wasn't the right choice for the material. Klosterman's particular brand of American-centric pop culture philosophy sounds best when read by him. And if not him, then preferably some other mid-west American male. Being that his material is written in first person, often about his personal experiences, having an English woman read it was really bizarre at times and prevented me from fully enjoying the material. C'mon Chuck, read the next one!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 2019-05-01
Exceptional ideas, but often off-topic
The author has some excellent, possibly revolutionary points in terms of our to view the world accurately, but the way he gets them across is often clunky and long-winded.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
- Jo-Anne McArthur
- 2022-05-03
A re-record with Chuck please
What a disappointment to see that Chuck is listed as a narrator but only to find out that it is for the introduction and the outro. I don't read Chuck's books, I listen to them, because he is so perfectly suited for audiobooks. Had I known, I would not have purchased this audio book, and I won't be finishing it either because a British accent is so ill suited to the content. This is nothing against Fiona.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Randall Morrison
- 2019-08-29
Weird choice for a narrator... kinda ruins it...
The author announces early that he has elected to have the bulk of his book read by a British woman on account of the fact that he "likes the sound of British accents better" or something to that effect. While I will concede that Klosterman's own voice is perhaps not best-suited for narration, the fact that he declares this at the outset in a self-deprecating tone that is periodically echoed throughout the book results in a listening experience that just doesn't sound right. The phrasing and language used in this book is quite blatantly American and to hear a British woman recite the words of a millennial dude from New York is inescapably bizarre and inspires no confidence in the words that were written. You would never hear Stephen Fry or David Attenborough unironically describe a historical revolutionary's obsequious will to create change by staying that they "refused to chill." It sounds just as inappropriate in this reading and he'd have been better off just recording it himself.
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