In Chuck Klosterman’s new novel, Eating the Dinosaur, he once again supplies a funny and entertaining commentary on popular culture. With past works such as Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story, he’s always known to include a share of music references, praise for cult classic films and thoughtful critiques of our obsession with the media.

In his most recent effort, Klosterman writes a series of essays that generally reflect on the concept of the media and our perceptions of reality, but sometimes seem to stray from their overall aim. In the first of 14 sections, titled “Something Instead of Nothing,” he examines the art of interviewing. As a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Spin and The Washington Post, and as an author of five novels, he has experienced both sides of the question and answer process. Within the chapter he speaks to documentary filmmakers and asks why they think people answer questions so unflinchingly. Klosterman comically examines his own odd interviewee behavior and looks at his tendency to lie randomly or answer questions strangely.

Another essay, “Oh, the Guilt,” is more difficult to follow as he interweaves different topics to try to show their latent connections. He explores Nirvana’s constant destruction of their instruments, the mixed reception to the band’s In Utero album and Kurt Cobain’s struggles with fame. But what prevents the section from reflecting solely on the late ’80s/early ’90s grunge band is its discussion of the 1993 standoff between the Branch Davidian cult and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Waco, Texas.

A random reference to the ABC drama “Lost” keeps the material somewhat light, but it’s difficult to follow Klosterman’s series of numbered subheads and jumps from whether Nirvana can measure up to the likes of the Rolling Stones and The Beatles to Davidian leader David Koresh’s media attention.

“Tomorrow Rarely Knows,” which shifts to a theme of time travel, is one of the best parts of Eating the Dinosaur. With mentions of H.G. Wells’ novel Time Machine, the Back to the Future movies and Planet of the Apes, Klosterman explores the philosophical and physical dilemmas of time traveling. In this section, the reader also finds the reasoning behind the odd title of his book, as Klosterman muses: Why should the reader travel through time? “What’s the best reason for exploding the parameters of reality? With the possible exception of eating a dinosaur, I don’t think there is one.”

Another must-read section is “Through a Glass, Blindly,” in which Klosterman writes about why we’re fascinated with voyeurism. With a reference to (my personal favorites) Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Rear Window, he explains that we like the sensation of watching something and not knowing what will happen next. He gives an entertaining account of living in Fargo, N.D., when he was younger, where his and his female neighbor’s windows looked directly into each other’s apartments. He pokes fun at the situations with lines like, “For a while I thought she was schizophrenic, because it often looked like she was dancing with a houseplant; I later realized she owned a NordicTrack.”

Klosterman touches upon a range of topics in the rest of his essays including Garth Brooks and alter-egos, ABBA, TV shows with canned laughter and even the Unabomber. The section on believability, which gives humorous analyses of Ralph Nader and Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, and another section on advertising and AMC’s “Mad Men” are especially interesting.

What keeps Eating the Dinosaur light and earnest rather than too serious or elitist is Klosterman’s constant self-deprecating attitude. He interjects funny personal anecdotes and doesn’t take himself too seriously. However, readers who are unfamiliar with pop culture or are interested in a novel with a more obvious purpose may find his most recent offering lacking. Admittedly I zoned out during his lamentations over basketball player Ralph Sampson and high school football, but I enjoyed this book thoroughly, perhaps because it references some of my favorite things like Hitchcock movies, “Lost” and Nirvana.

Certainly, the novel does not depart in a new direction from his previous work. It includes the sly pop culture references that fill his other novels, so Klosterman doesn’t necessarily offer anything new. Often, his writing in Eating the Dinosaur lacks the enthusiasm and up-to-date references he usually shows. But regardless of whether the material is fresh or eye-opening, I definitely recommend Klosterman’s contribution to media criticism if you’re looking for a fun read or a break from the end-of-semester workload.