Brooks on Books: Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

If you've read any of Chuck Klosterman's essays in mags like "Esquire," or any of his nonfiction books, you know what you're getting: Humorous, often skewed points of view on pop culture matters, peppered with liberal doses of references to music (especially metal) and sports (especially pro basketball and football). His style works for me, but I could see how it would get tiresome in large doses to some.

So what is a whole novel's worth of Klosterman like? Well, it's pretty much what you'd expect, but I'll get to that in a minute. "Downtown Owl" is a tale of 3 individuals who live in Owl, North Dakota, a rural community of less than a thousand people. In a series of short chapters, each from the point of view of one of those 3 (occasionally one of the peripheral characters), Klosterman creates a vivid depiction of small-town life in early-1980s midwest America. It all builds up to a huge blizzard, but until then not much happens other than dialogue both internal and external as the people of Owl just...live.

I think there are some significant ideas in this novel, notions of identity and the meaning of individual life in such a small community, but not a lot of significant plot, so be forewarned that this is more a character study or a look at a way of life. Klosterman establishes his setting very well. Himself a native of the midwest, he writes about this culture without condescension. I enjoyed inhabiting this world.

But while that aspect of this experience was new to me, the Klosterman part was not. A lot of his nonfiction style shows up in his debut novel, which sometimes hurts his conceit of telling the story through 3 distinctive voices. Many of the characters speak articulately and express ideas that sound a lot like the author's. Furthermore, Klosterman sometimes injects ideas and observations that entertain but don't necessarily further the story or develop his characters.

But to the writer's fans, it won't matter too much. There are references to bands like Def Leppard and Van Halen, references to sports figures, and lists. One chapter is essentially the Q&A of an exam that reserve high school quarterback Mitch takes on Orwell's "1984." Klosterman includes little insights throughout that might bring knowing approval, like, "In baseball and sex, cliches are usually true: Pitching beats hitting, and people always want to be loved by anyone who doesn't seem to care." I like this sort of thing, but if you're a stranger to Chuck Klosterman, you might want to read some of his essays before plunging into a novel.

"Downtown Owl" is a fine debut novel. Klosterman is funny as hell and creates an interesting milieu. I don't think, though, he's always successful at getting across some of this themes. Then again, maybe there are no themes. As we follow the lives of Mitch, Julia (high school teacher just out of college and new to Owl) and elderly widower Horace, we expect something to happen, especially since we know from the beginning that a blizzard will come to town eventually.

When that event does come, though, it seems to indicate randomness rules our lives, not meaning. The end is a little rushed and and not quite satisfying. You might get a sense of, "What was this all about?" Whether that question is in fact "the point" is debatable, but if you enjoy Klosterman's writing, you'll find this journey an entertaining one regardless. Just know what you're getting into.