Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (Crown Journeys)
by Chuck Palahniuk
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1745)
Read in January, 2008
It's not a secret that Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite writer's but I had never read this, his foray into non-fiction. This is an ode to Chuck's hometown, Portland, Oregon. The delightful thing about this book is it is a tour-guide to what some would call the "underbelly" (and certainly includes the famous Underground) of this city. Within these pages you will find out how to hook-up with housewives, businessmen (if that's how you swing) and prostitutes. You will find directions ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Brooke by:
Josie (co-worker friend)recommends it for: portlanders, curious tourists, but not to the easily ruffled or those unwilling to skim
It's a quick read, and a fun primer (in parts) of Portland's underground and history, mixed with a bit of Palahnuik's attempt at autobiography. I actually give this book more like two and a half stars, but since Goodreads doesn't work like Star Search, I don't have that option.
The book lost points with me for being uncomfortably seedy in places; to put it more plainly, a chapter with restaurant recommendations, great local gardens, or tips on how to pronounce local streets was often immediat...more
The book lost points with me for being uncomfortably seedy in places; to put it more plainly, a chapter with restaurant recommendations, great local gardens, or tips on how to pronounce local streets was often immediat...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommended to Jen by:
merecommends it for: Visiting/Moving to Portland
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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I didn’t realize it at the time, but apparently this is one of a series of books that attempts to blend travel writing and guide book into one.
Naturally, when I saw that Palahniuk had written a book about Portland, I was intrigued. As a fan of his writing, I was fairly certain I’d find a hodge-podge of travel trivia and quirky destinations. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Not content to tell you about the usual tourist attractions, though he does cover those as well, Palahniuk...more
Naturally, when I saw that Palahniuk had written a book about Portland, I was intrigued. As a fan of his writing, I was fairly certain I’d find a hodge-podge of travel trivia and quirky destinations. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Not content to tell you about the usual tourist attractions, though he does cover those as well, Palahniuk...more
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Read in May, 2008
this is part autobiography, and part cityguide, with a heavy dose of things off the beaten path, and some experiences that were probably extinct before the book was off the presses. i feel like every city should have a love letter like this written to it, and i think crown journeys may be working on that very mission. my fave book is _geek_love_ and katherine dunn makes several appearances in _fugitives_and_refugees_ in an interview about some of portland's unique elements. i felt it was a littl...more
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Read in July, 2007
I love aspects of Portland, having lived there for a brief time and traveled to and through many times. That coupled with some rave reviews led me to hold high expectations for this book.
It completely disappointed me as I read it on the train to Portland last summer. Outside of the interesting history of the interconnected tunnels in old town, I don't remember learning much more than I had through my own explorations about 10 years ago. Portland is best explored with the advice or assistanc...more
It completely disappointed me as I read it on the train to Portland last summer. Outside of the interesting history of the interconnected tunnels in old town, I don't remember learning much more than I had through my own explorations about 10 years ago. Portland is best explored with the advice or assistanc...more
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Read in April, 2008
3.4 Stars
A fun, informative journey through Portland's joyful underbelly. As a recently arrived resident, I was treated to a recounting of just the kind of eccentric adventures I was in search of.
I found some useful shopping advice and marked a number of spots on the map that promise to be quality, future excursions.
I would have given this book four stars a few weeks ago. It's rare to find exactly the book you didn't know you were looking for, but that's what happened to me, and I ...more
A fun, informative journey through Portland's joyful underbelly. As a recently arrived resident, I was treated to a recounting of just the kind of eccentric adventures I was in search of.
I found some useful shopping advice and marked a number of spots on the map that promise to be quality, future excursions.
I would have given this book four stars a few weeks ago. It's rare to find exactly the book you didn't know you were looking for, but that's what happened to me, and I ...more
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Read in November, 2004
recommends it for:
People thinking of moving to Portland
In short, this collection of non-fiction essays is a love letter to Portland. If the style of this guide book appeals to you, if the odd, macabre, and sometimes loathsome puts you in just the right mood, if you want an adventure, come to Portland. Then read Fugitives and Refugees. The rain merely keeps the riff raff out and the green in. The battle for Canine Equal Rights has been won. The microbrew revolution began here and is thriving. And the people are as weird and welcoming as you could eve...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone that lives or loves to hang out in Portland, Oregon
I really enjoyed Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon, read it from cover to cover in only a couple hours. Written by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and Choke, it's a quick and enjoyable 175 pages. It's a type of alternative tra...more
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Something a little different from Chuck Palahniuk: a kind of travelogue of some of his favorites among the more eccentric things Portland, OR has to offer. Each essay provides a little bit of history as well as information about a different site or aspect of Portland. Maybe a bit of an odd comparison but it reads like a book version of Insomniac with Dave Attell. I get the impression from interviews with Palahniuk that I have read that contrary to many of his readers' expectations, his...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
People who love Portland; fans of quirky travel writing
Palahniuk discusses his lists of weird Portland sights & experiences, interspersed with personal vignettes. There are chapters on Adventures (such as participating in volcano basketball or the Adult Soapbox Derby), Eating Out, Ghosts of Portland, Shopping, strange museums, sex, gardens, transportation, animals (zoo & others), the Shanghai Tunnels, & where to get your picture taken. I've lived in Portland 7 years & I've been to about half of the places he talks about, so I plan to...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone traveling to or living in Portland
In this book, Palahniuk gives an insiders guide to some of the more odd things in and around Portland. He describes the neighborhoods, places of interest, and the things that makes Portland weird and oh so loveable. It's a quick read that should be bought before traveling, whenyou move here, or even if you've lived here your whole life. There is all kinds of information in this book no one would know otherwise. Plus, he gives his own personal experiences living and traveling here to make it more...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
twisted Santas, those who long to creep around in Shanghai tunnels
Ahh...dear old Chuckie P wrote a beautiful love letter to our fair city of Roses.
Written about the time my wife and I left Portland (in early 2002), it took me right back, leaving myself to wonder yet again..."Why did we leave there?"
But then, the answers come rushing back (family, farm, cost of living, humidity, snowy winters) and I settle into the couch, satisfied, patting my midwestern belly.
Now I have a whole new set of places to visit the next time we find ourselves in...more
Written about the time my wife and I left Portland (in early 2002), it took me right back, leaving myself to wonder yet again..."Why did we leave there?"
But then, the answers come rushing back (family, farm, cost of living, humidity, snowy winters) and I settle into the couch, satisfied, patting my midwestern belly.
Now I have a whole new set of places to visit the next time we find ourselves in...more
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I saw this in a bookstore years ago and finally picked it up while we were in Portland, OR. I wish they had books like this for every city. I really enjoyed his stories about the strange and bizarre things and people (like a woman who will teach you and your dog to ballroom dance, haunted KMarts and drug addled writers). The book gave my visit more depth and richness than I could have otherwise gotten from four days. I highly recommend it to anyone going for a visit or anyone who is at all int...more
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Read in July, 2008
I haven't ever read a travel book about a location, but after reading the first 15 pages last night, I imagine it would be like this but less entertaining, since this travel book happens to be told about the places and experiences Chuck Palahniuk had in these places of his home town, Portland, Oregon...I'll be done with this one in two days...
Yep, took two days to read. I of course loved the sex and under ground chapters the best, because they are classic Palahniuk...but the animal chapter ...more
Yep, took two days to read. I of course loved the sex and under ground chapters the best, because they are classic Palahniuk...but the animal chapter ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
people going to Portland.
Not surprisingly, my least favorite Palahniuk read. However, that may have been due to me reading it as if I were actually reading a novel, not with the mindset of "I'm going to go to Portland and here are things I should do!"
Informative, yes. Funny, yes. Pretty much everything one could want from reading a travel guide when not planning to travel to the place in question.
And, once again, the fact that Americans are lazy and uninventive when it comes to naming places/streets...more
Informative, yes. Funny, yes. Pretty much everything one could want from reading a travel guide when not planning to travel to the place in question.
And, once again, the fact that Americans are lazy and uninventive when it comes to naming places/streets...more
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Read in July, 2008
This is a travel guide to Portland, or at least Chuck Palahniuk's Portland. There are portions which are just short paragraphs about different locations, which are lesson it's readability. I guess I was hoping for more short essays about Portland. When Palahniuk does take longer to discuss a particular subject/location/event, the book is a lot more interesting. His writing here is also a lot less...whatever it is that makes Palahniuk distasteful to some, while still being firmly a Chuck Pala...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
people who are visiting portland, OR
Excellent book about Portland's past and present, including lore, ghost stories, and stories from the author's life. I wish I'd read this before I visited, but I didn't know it existed!
A good guide for the travel who would rather see Portland's quirky side than do the typical tourist thing, but there are also lots of suggestions for 'normal' activities like botanical gardens and museums.
At less than 200 pages, it's a fast read made even faster by how interesting all the stories are.
A good guide for the travel who would rather see Portland's quirky side than do the typical tourist thing, but there are also lots of suggestions for 'normal' activities like botanical gardens and museums.
At less than 200 pages, it's a fast read made even faster by how interesting all the stories are.
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Read in March, 2008
Random stories and tidbits about Portland from ficion writer Chuck Palahniuk ( Fight Club). It gives a good sense of the quirks and eccentricities of Portlanders past and present (the fugitives and refugees of the title). Want to know where to find ghosts? Sex shows? Or random museums? Palahniuk has it covered. At 175 pages it isn't exhaustive, and inevitably places are lost to the change always afoot in cities, but it's a quick, fun read.
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who calls Portland home
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon was so interesting I was able to read in one sitting. The author brings to life many random and unknown facts about Portland as well as offers advice on what to go check out in the city - the Shanghai Tunnels, haunted houses, Burlesque shows, etc...all the things Portland is not commonly known for but have a rich history in the making of the city. Definitely grab a copy and read it!
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