What If We're Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (2016)[1]
I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) is a book written by Chuck Klosterman, first published by Scribner in 2013.[2] It is a collection of twelve essays examining the nature of villainy through the lens of popular culture, rock music, and sports.[3] It is the eighth book released by Klosterman. The book debuted at number 5 on the New York Times bestseller list.[4]
I Wear the Black Hat investigates the thesis: A villain is someone who knows the most but cares the least.[5] The book explores how villains behave and why, and many of the essays surround famous athletes and musicians[6]
Another Thing That Interests Me About the Eagles Is That I [Am Contractually Obligated to] Hate Them: an examination of the Eagles song "Take It Easy" and the reasons why certain music and musicians are hated.
Villains Who Are Not Villains: a discussion of whether a person's actions or rather the circumstances under which they act make them a villain. Keith Richards, D. B. Cooper, Morris Day, Muhammad Ali and others are discussed.
Easier Than Typing: Klosterman recounts the story of Bernhard Goetz, who is compared and contrasted to Batman.
The Problem of Overrated Ideas: Klosterman discusses steroids in baseball and recounts the circumstances by which he came to hate Rick Helling—the first player in Major League Baseball to take a stance against performance-enhancing drugs in 1998.
Reception
The book received mixed reviews, with The A.V. Club giving it a B−.[7][8] Writing for the New York Times, James Parker said I Wear the Black Hat is, "...not [Klosterman's] best book, but in considering it we should remember the young person, probably not a reader of The New York Times, to whom its haphazardness, its occasional pointlessness and above all its difficulty keeping a straight face will come as sweet, sweet relief."[9]Publishers Weekly wrote of Klosterman, "His circuitous arguments are occasionally self-indulgent and too reminiscent of David Foster Wallace, but the writing is always intellectually vigorous and entertaining." Michael Robbins said in his review of the book in the Chicago Tribune that, "What's most frustrating about "I Wear the Black Hat" is that I'd love to read a good version of it."[10]
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