Rock Death America

Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself to Live is an insightful, hilarious account of his 21-day tour of famed rock death sites. The Spin scribe drove 6,557 miles, ruminating on life, music, and death along the way. "Death is part of life. Generally, it's the shortest part of life, usually occurring near the end," Klosterman writes. "However, this is not necessarily true for rock stars; sometimes rock stars don't start living until they die." Klosterman hits many storied locations: the Chelsea Hotel, where Sid Vicious stabbed girlfriend Nancy Spungen; rock death's mecca, Graceland; Mud Island Harbor where Jeff Buckley was last seen alive; the Minneapolis building where Replacements guitarist Bob Stinson drank himself dead; and the Seattle home where Kurt Cobain spent his last minutes. Armed with 600 CDs, a hipster's sense of humour, and the stink of sex and drugs, Klosterman's morbid trek reads like more fun than it probably should've been.