When authors read their own work, it is an exciting event. They choose the passages they are most proud of and attempt to impress the eager audience sitting before them. There is undeniably something special about actually seeing the person who wrote the composition reading it aloud.

This experience is not quite the same when applied to a book on CD. "Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas" was recently released on CD and contains more than five hours of Klosterman reading an abridged version of the book.

"Chuck Klosterman IV" is a collection of Klosterman's previously published essays. It also features new introductions, as well as frequent asides. The pop-culture packed commentary is mostly spot-on and insightful, but at times redundant and rather irrelevant. The essays are generally hit or miss, with more hit than miss.

Most would argue that reading the book would be more respectable, and it would be, but there still remains a certain charm in listening to the author read his own work, albeit nothing like if he were present in the room.

Another charm this audio book possesses is the people doing impersonations of the celebrities Klosterman interviews. All of the impressions are fairly decent, but the woman doing the Britney Spears' voice is eerily accurate. If the average listener were told it was actually Spears, he or she would probably believe it.

Perhaps partly for this reason, the Britney Spears story is the funniest and most interesting. The interview took place at a photo shoot in which Spears was going to be photographed without pants. His excitement at the chance to see the pop star's vagina is hilarious. Klosterman so looks forward to entering the elite fraternity of men who have had the pleasure of peeking at her privates.

He says, in one of the funniest lines throughout the book, "I honestly believed the reason I was invited to this Manhattan photo shoot was to glimpse Britney's vagina and write about its cultural significance." Unfortunately for him, she conducts the interview clothed, and our culture sadly remains in the dark about her vagina's significance.

Klosterman goes on to say that Spears avoided answering any questions about her overt sexuality. She pretends to be unaware of her sex appeal and acts as though nothing she does is intentional. Klosterman argues that nothing she does is an accident, and he makes a convincing point. How can a girl slap on a schoolgirl outfit and not understand what she is doing? She would have to be entirely clueless, which he argues Britney is not. Instead, she keeps her persona vague in order for individuals to come to their own conclusions about her.

Klosterman goes on to make several more excellent points, including one about guilty pleasures and how the term has incorrectly come to refer to only pop culture elements. He argues, and rightfully so, that no one should feel shame for enjoying entertainment.

The problem with some of the essays, however, is that they are occasionally both irrelevant and not especially amusing. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish whether the subject is supposed to be amusing because of its irrelevance or if it is just flat-out moot. It is a possible feat to make irrelevant points and remain engaging, which Klosterman frequently succeeds at. However, when he fails, the essay in question becomes a bore.

If an inconsequential point is going to be made, there ought to be humor involved. Klosterman is a very clever man, but he sometimes gets lost in the point he is making. It is when an essay on an irrelevant subject begins to take itself too seriously that the reader, or in this case listener, will no longer care.

A problem with the audio book is the manner in which Klosterman reads his own writing. Perhaps it is just the way he talks, but he often exudes an air of arrogance and pretension. The tone in his voice sometimes gives the impression that he thinks himself much wittier than he actually is. There are certainly moments when he deserves to have this mindset because he is, in fact, quite witty. However, this may turn off some listeners.

Which brings us back to the debate in the beginning: should one buy the book and read it, or buy the CD and listen to the author read it? What the book could bring to the reader is a full effect of every word choice and phrasing. The importance of everything would be open to the reader's interpretation.

The audio book essentially limits these components to what Klosterman believes to be the full effect of every word choice and phrasing. He stresses certain words, says certain phrases faster or slower and it is fairly obvious when he is attempting to make a point or tell a joke.

There is really no answer to the question of which is better. What it comes down to is personal preference. However, it would be fairly easy to argue that as the writer, he ought to be able to convey the way in which he truly wants his writing to be interpreted better than any individual reader. With this in mind, the audio book could function as an insight into what Klosterman is going for with his work.

Still, there is something special about reading a book and making one's own conclusions via the words on the page. Therefore, reading the book would probably be much more satisfying and, perhaps, more engaging. Nonetheless, to paraphrase Jim Gaffigan, the best part of listening to "Chuck Klosterman IV" is — no reading.

Rating: 3 out of 5