I Wear the Black Hat is
a book by Chuck Klosterman which attempts to supposedly grapple with villains and villainy. Having not read any of Mr. Klosterman’s book previously, I found
his style rather readable although I could easily see how it would be a turnoff
to different audience with less interest in pop culture. Even the term circulatory doesn’t do the book
justice as the entire second chapter is entirely devoted to bands the author
hated when he was younger with zero tie in to his larger theme. But in his wanderings Chuck does find some
interesting nuggets, such as how history remember Niccolo Machiavelli, not as a
“profound democrat” but as the creator of a step by step guide on how to amorally
dominate one’s political surroundings. It is here where we have presented the
closest thing to a thesis, “the villain is the person who knows the most but
cares the least.” For some reason, a sizable chunk of pages are devoted to Bill
Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal which I found somewhat unnecessary,
except for this wise pontification: “expressing outrage over a president’s lack
of honesty is like getting upset over a sniper’s lack of empathy: it’s an integral
component of the vocation.” In the beginning of the book, the reader is made to
believe that possibly Mr. Klosterman is going to somehow attempt to analyze himself
under a lens-of-villainy however no such attempts occur. The book ends rather
abruptly.
2013