50 Questions for Insane Conversations

Not as good as getting a "real" Klosterman release, but this what-if deck of cards is thought-provoking, most of them featuring Klosterman's off-the-wall wit.

It has potential for party fun, assuming your crowd includes mostly pop-culture-obsessed, half-drunk philosophers.

One downside: About half of the questions previously appeared in "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs." Readers of that book won't find as much new material. But if it has been a few years since you read SD&C, it's fun to revisit those ponderables again.

A nice tide-over until Chuck gets us another book.

These are incredibly lame. I got them for a cross-country road trip, and was so disappointed in the scenarios and questions. That guy you know who thinks Fight Club is super-deep and just like, whoa, man? He'd find these to be great conversation-starters. If the people you hang out with are deeper than a kiddie pool, you'll be bored immediately.

The questions don't provoke conversation about the subject. I got this for my adult daughter for her birthday present and we were all very disappointed. The scenarios were long and the questions seemed banal. I don't recommend for a fun night. We had more fun writing this review than the 50 questions for insane conversation.

Although the questions are honestly really great conversation starters and thought provokers, the questions themselves are oftentimes unnecessarily long winded. For example, there was a question that aimed to ask the group "would you save a friend from a bear attack if it meant it would always rain wherever you went?" But it turned into -your friend won't die in the attack - unclear how hurt he would get in the attack -he could just end up with a scratch, or just lose a limb -it could be multiple or all limbs -you just don't know how hurt, but he'd definitely live anyways -the rain won't change the environment -it won't rain everywhere forever -it will only rain wherever you are -it could be light showers -it could be torrential downpour -its definitely going to rain and you won't see the sun.

I'm just not convinced I needed all that fluff on the card to get everyone talking about it. We found it much more enjoyable once we took out all the exposition.

Stumbled across this product and it seemed absolutely engrossing, so me and the wife picked it up. We both find this set of 50 questions (many are not that insane) to be a lot of fun. We bring them along with us in the car and depending on the group of people we might be encountering for an evening also to parties.

One of the cards prompted my mother, my wife and myself into a rather lively debate on how far you can hold a child accountable for their actions, and whether or not the adult version of that child is to be judged based on those actions. It's a conversation that lingered for at least a couple of days as new thoughts and arguments were presented. I brought it with me to a party that included some friends who we usually play somewhat unstructured boardgames with, and thought they would have thoroughly enjoyed it, but the interest level just wasn't there. To others it reminded them of school (i don't see how that's possible).

It's a product that your either going to really enjoy or just be bored to tears with. The latter of which i don't see how it's possible. A bit of how I approach it is to at times play the devils advocate on idea's that me and my wife instantly agree on, or see eye to eye on. In this way it allows us to unravel the question a bit more, and on at least one occasion doing this made me change my mind altogether. There are layers to most questions, but more then one card features a dud, but that may just be my outlook on the question. Much is left up to interpretation and this is a good thing.

As far as the quality of the cards, that leaves something to be desired. They are thin, very thin which i guess helped to keep the cost down, just don't let any younger kids get a hold of them lest they be folded bent and torn. The box they are housed in is robust thankfully. The cards title is on one side and features usually a clever bit of art (nothing intricate simple design motifs) and the reverse is the question. When you first read a few the questions seem to ramble on, but you quickly realize this is to help address "what if's" that might arise when discussing the question.

All and all a solid product and if your one to find your self browsing the cultural studies section at your local book store, then this is more then likely a product you will find yourself enjoying and reaching for anytime you get the opportunity. My favorite question thus far has been one involving "Stereotypical Jesus".

Apparently, this counts as a book. I forced myself not to buy this for several years because it seemed like a party-themed card game was an obnoxious cash grab from one of my favourite authors, but the completist that lives inside me eventually won that battle and I bought the cards for a Cancun trip with my girlfriend and I'm glad to admit I was mostly wrong about them. They are well-written, extensive, fun and they do lead to insane conversation.

All the questions of HYPERtheticals function basically the same way: they put you in front of an elaborate (and completely hypothetical) dilemma that forces you to affirm your values about complicated subjects in front of a group of people. I had a lot of fun playing it for the first time, but I have a feeling that it'll change and evolve the more I will play it with different people. It's a bizarre, amorphous thing, but it's a lot of fun like everything Chuck Klosterman touches.

The only fun thing about parties is throwing weird questions and comments at random people and seeing if they can return the shot with any level of finesse.

This pack not only provided me with plenty of ideas for new ammunition, but is designed like a game. Since there aren't any rules to the game you can play it however you want, which is another bonus.

I actually think I might prefer to leave the cards at home and simply stick to my strategy of being the sober-yet-somehow-more-deranged-than-the-kids-in-the-back-room-freebasing-coke guy. But in case you don't want to own the responsibility for coming up with acid-soaked conversational curveballs, you can always just use the deck.

Thanks Chuck! By the way, I hear you write books too...?

A good number of the questions were the format of "Would you do [insert detestable act] and, as a result, solve or end [insert global crisis, which is not related to your action, such as hunger]. It got repetitive. Though There were a few relatively thoughtful and interesting ones.

This is a brilliant idea that can turn any situation into conversational chaos. 50 cards might not seem like many, but I received these as a gift for Christmas, carry them around in my briefcase to use constantly, and still haven't quite hit every card. I feel like a less sophisticated, modern day Socrates pondering the far-fetched scenarios with people. It's actually kind of amazing how much this deck of cards can reveal about someone, and how much time (hours) you can spend on a single topic. The best part is, you can't believe how much fun these can be. Can't underrate this item and can't wait for HYPERtheticals II (make it happen Klosterman).

Most of these cards DO lead to some pretty insane conversations. Some of those conversations require some nudging to continue though since a lot of people don't know what to say when you ask them if they'd rather eat old people or babies. It's great for a night out with friends and beers!

Get it off the shelves.
Sick boring, wordy and mostly irrelevant.
Now I realize how difficult it was to get a hold of. Stpres were removing it.
One of the rare cases that I returned a purchase. And, normally I keep my negative remarks to myself, but this is so, so bad!

This can really get the conversation going! You have to play with some open minds or they'll shoot everything down, but break this out in a party setting and you'll get some pretty interesting responses.

this deck of cards has three sample questions printed on the box which seem innocuous enough to be enjoyed by all...so I purchased it for my grandkids who thought it would be fun and entertaining to have...as it turns out there are 20 cards which should be rated PG and 30 which should be rated X...the package which cannot be opened before purchasing serously misrepresents its actual content...