Klosterman Is Still Our Very Visible Man

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 15, 2011 10:00PM

By: Maggie Hellwig

We all know people who read Chuck Klosterman. Perhaps you’re one of them. In our personal experience, we find Inhaling one of his books is similar to gorging oneself on a McDonald’s meal, including that extra small fry that somehow always makes its way into the bag (God bless those perplexed workers). So if you enjoy reading a story chock full of music and pop culture references, commentary on modern forms of communication and somewhat pompous observations on both of these subjects, then by all means - gorge away. The Visible Man, Klosterman’s latest stab at fiction, might not disappoint readers who enjoyed Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs or Eating the Dinosaur, but then again, it might.

The story is narrated by a fairly nondescript therapist Victoria Vick and begins when a man who is called Y___ contacts her. Y___ is a whacked out immature scientist who has, through his sick obsessions, created a suit that makes him mostly camouflaged, but not entirely invisible. This allows him to observe unknowing subjects who are alone and in their truest, undiluted state of being. Y___ claims to seek therapy not for the sake of resolving personal issues, but rather so that he can share his tales of voyeurism with another individual.

And this is when we started rolling our eyes. Klosterman is a very opinionated man. A viciously funny man, but opinionated nonetheless. The character Y___ seems to have been created solely as a vessel for Klosterman’s riffs; the voice is very much of the man rambling on about the invention of the Sims or Facebook that we all know too well. Meanwhile our narrator, Victoria, is a fairly flat character. While she has many of the inclinations and faults of a genuine person, she is simply a sounding board for Y___’s (and Klosterman’s) reflections on life.

Throughout the novel, Klosterman uses shifting formats. Emails, telephone calls, recorded conversations, asides, footnotes (yes, I said footnotes), and prose to fill in gaps. Because the format is constantly shifting from cold and distant to up close and personal, the reader never feels much sympathy for Victoria. We don’t know what she’s feeling all the time, and because she is not fully developed as a character, we cannot identify with what feelings she does confirm to have. Who we do end up feeling sympathy for is Y___. Here is a man, much like the Klosterman we’ve come to love, who wants to delve into the souls of other individuals. And while his methods of spying may not be moral, we can relate to his motive. At the last chapter of the novel, Klosterman suddenly dumps on our sympathies. It is Y___ who becomes the actual criminal, obsessed with Victoria’s personal life. And while this is not logically unexpected, considering Y___’s controversial hobby, it makes for an abrupt ending - one that we have trouble digesting. The reader has been duped. While I’m sure Klosterman feels sly about it, we can’t help but feel that the bulk of the novel does not correspond to the ending.

Now, don’t get us wrong. We do love a good quick read. And Klosterman has some downright beautiful moments in this book. Y___’s succinct reflection on modern society -- our isolation from one another, and our simultaneous struggle to make meaningful connections -- is dead on. It always is, and while it’s like junk food for us, it is not a surprise. We only wonder if Klosterman will ever stop tinkering with social commentary and sideswiping us with his tricks. Will we ever read one of his books that doesn’t have Klosterman at the forefront? Until we see it, we’ll sit here with our salty french fries and stayed tuned.