Chuck Klosterman, renowned columnist for “ESPN,” “Esquire” and “Spin,” has just come out with his newest work, “Downtown Owl.” Unlike his previous works, however, Klosterman has moved on from columns to fiction writing, with this book being his first attempt.

“Downtown Owl” is, for lack of a better description, about a town in the middle of nowhere. Nothing significant (for the most part) happens in Owl. The book focuses on different people as the narrative style switches from chapter to chapter. In short, the book is about high school football, coffee, teaching history and an immaculate two-point conversion that changed the lives of people in the small town forever.

Klosterman’s writing style is immense, as he creates characters with three-dimensional personalities. Julia, the history teacher, is a stoner from Wisconsin. John Laidlaw is the head football coach, who has a tendency to get “physical” with his female students. Mitch is the third string quarterback who has trouble understanding why so many people like ZZ Top.

To summarize the entire book would ruin its charm, as the dark humor envelopes the reader. Should you go out and read this, it will be difficult to put it down.

The pages just fly by as readers get the feeling something bigger is happening, and when it does, all bets are off.

“Downtown Owl” comes highly recommended not only to Klosterman fans, but to fans of dark comedy and good fiction writing everywhere.

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.