“But whenever I meet dynamic, nonretarded Americans, I notice that they all seem to share a single unifying characteristic: the inability to experience the kind of mind-blowing, transcendent romantic relationship they perceive to be a normal part of living. And someone needs to take the fall for this. So instead of blaming no one for this (which is kind of cowardly) or blaming everyone (which is kind of meaningless), I'm going to blame John Cusack.”

American author and essayist

Chuck Klosterman is an American author and essayist known for writing about American popular culture, especially rock music and sports. He has been a columnist for Esquire and ESPN.com, and wrote The New York Times Magazine’s “The Ethicist” column. He is the author of 14 books, including two novels and the essay collection Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. His work often focuses on music, sports, and the way popular culture shapes everyday life. He received the ASCAP Deems Taylor award for music criticism in 2002.