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Jan 01, 2008

Joaquin rated it:

I don't yet have the stomach for Chuck Palahniuk's fiction. I've tried reading pretty much all of his novels and 'Fight Club' is the only one I've been able to finish, and that's because I'd seen the movie and pretty much knew what was going to happen. His writing is just so over-the-top graphic, filled with human suffering and self-loathing that for me they're too much of a mental, emotional, and physical workout to get through. But at the same time I would like to one day be able to read his More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2007

Dan rated it:

I liked this book.

This is a collection of true stories of very bizarre things that have occurred or occur regularly. They are all as the old adage goes: So strange they could only be true.

In the intro to this book Chuck Palahniuk even admits that he is something of a one trick pony. He views everything in America as the following struggle: We strive to be alone. We fight our way to independence from our fellow human beings by pursuing whatever interest we have, and t More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2011

vikki rated it:

i stopped torturing myself at the half way point and burned the book over my stovetop and ate the ashes in hopes of regaining the 3 hours i put in. didn't work. this was one of the worst things i've read since i tutored freshmen in their first writing course.

to anyone who happens upon it and can't resist, here are the only nuggets worth digesting: {you are here} and {the lady}. and i'd say the latter was more so, if only for the quick spill on palahniuk's personal history. also i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 19, 2007

Nicole rated it:

So it started out all right, but really crashed and burned in my opinion, maybe because I lost patience. This is a collection of stories, some interesting and indeed, almost stranger than fiction, others average. It is at its best when relating other people's stories, worst when it Palahniuk recording his own musings, which to me seemed as if he's trying too hard, and personal stories, which are not generally strange but seem more the experiences of a person who doesn't want to be well-adjuste More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Mnava rated it:

Partiamo da un necessario presupposto: questo libro non è un romanzo. E cosa è? Domanda leggitima, ma la riposta non è così semplice. La definizione che più gli si avvicina è quello di biografia, ma è una biografia anomala. Quello che è in realtà questo libro è un raccolta di racconti attinenti alla vita dello scrittore. Eventi che ha visuto di persona, che riguardano la sua vita privata e non solo. Detto questo bisogna aggiungere una considerazione che sorge abbastanza spontanea dopo averlo let More...

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Mar 09, 2009

Erik rated it:

Palahniuk is right. These essays of his are most certainly stranger than fiction. Just from the every first essay alone, you’re hoping that he’s making all this up. But no. The annual Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival just outside of Missoula, MT, detailed in the aptly-titled “Testy Festy”, is the kind of bizarre and mind-boggling public orgy that you think can – or should, rather – exist only in the most perverted of minds. (The shocking writing and fantasy worlds of Marquis de Sade comes read More...

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Feb 06, 2012

Ensiform rated it:

A collection of pieces covering a variety of subjects: autobiographical, ruminative essays; a portrait of Marilyn Manson; a look into amateur wrestling; an expose of a middle-America monster, uh, combine derby; and so on. All written in Palahniuk’s Ernest Hemingway gone jaded, bare-bones, non-judgmental “minimalist” style. Which style he also writes about, by the way.

A lot of the stories are extremely interesting, especially the ones that creep into seldom charted territory (like the More...

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Jul 18, 2010

Brad rated it:

Chuck Palahniuk wrote one great novel fifteen years ago. This collection of essays solidifies that Fight Club was a fluke; A glorious fluke, but a fluke nonetheless.

The voice of all the essays is highly similar to the Fight Club narrator- whom we presume- is similar to Chuck P, himself. The thing is, 'Jack' from Fight Club is a deeply alienated, confused soul- afraid of intimacy- insecure in his role as a man. Fight Club works because of this- it is literally the story of the de More...

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Jan 23, 2010

Kathryn rated it:

I missed the pattern to this book the first time around. Part of it is Palahnik's collection of anything he's encountered that he thought could be used. "Fight Club" used a lot of his experiences at a charity hospital, "Survivor" had as many interesting cleaning methods that he could find, and calls to telephone sex numbers ended up, well, everywhere. "Stranger Than Fiction" is a collection of the tidbits that he liked best, or hasn't been able to fit into a novel y More...

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Apr 21, 2009

Caitlin rated it:

I wanted to like this way more than I did, as I love stories about the things and the people who occupy the margins of society. Unfortunately many of the essays read like collections of notes, rewritten as to form a cogent narrative, but really lacked that certain something that makes them readable. There were a few times I nearly dozed off during an essay - never a good sign.

HOWEVER. There were two really wonderful pieces that I think made the whole experience worthwhile. The fi More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2011

Mallory rated it:

I will admit I was a little bored by his demolition car story, and the testicle festival wasn't my cup of tea, but the rest of the (chapters? essays?) I was in love, and as a whole I can definitely say I loved the book. I recommend this to anyone who likes good writing and smart writing and funny writing and isn't a sensitive reader topic/description wise.

Chuck Palahniuk is a genius. He is funny, cohesive, and writes very well: eliminating cloggy words but not going overboard (you know More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 24, 2009

Patrick rated it:

Then, sorry, your seven minutes are up.

Lind, Washington—home of the Combine Demolition Derby. I kid you not. How about the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival? Or how about a tour of duty on the USS Louisiana (it’s a submarine)? (Palahniuk was very tame on that last one which I expected to be a real bugger-fest.)

Twenty-four brief essays on the world according to Chuck Palahniuk as only he can see it—bizarre, eccentric, strange, peculiar—oh wait, those are all synonymous. S More...

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Jun 10, 2011

Lili rated it:

Finishing the remaining CDs reinforced my initial opinion about the unevenness of the essays selected for the audio book. A few were fascinating to listen to (because of the telling and the topic); others seemed just like any other "special interest" essay from "Rolling Stone," "GC," "Esquire," etc. The opening essay on Disc 1 (of 4) was unquestionably my favorite, with the third essay (also Disc 1, also about writing) as my second favorite. That third More...

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Dec 03, 2010

Brent rated it:

My response is divided: a reader response and a writer response.

The reader in me found Stranger Than Fiction to be very uneven. I have just come off of a Hunter S. Thompson binge and, sadly for Chuck, I ended up comparing the two. There is no comparison; however, I'd happily place "Fight Club" alongside any of the "Fear and Loathing" books.

What, then, is the problem with Palahniuk's non-fiction? He includes too much fastidious detail causes snoozing. One e More...

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Jan 19, 2009

Mimi rated it:

Stranger Than Fiction is one of those rare books that I simply don't have much of an opinion on. Despite the uniqueness of most of Palahniuk's stories, they simply weren't very engaging with the exception of one or two above-average pieces. In many of these short stories, the point wasn't getting across because there was too much detail in the way, the tone was off, or I just couldn't relate to the subject. The style was fine, but nothing special.

The stories are assorted into thre More...

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Feb 06, 2010

bethanne rated it:

As a die-hard Palahniuk fantic (just about), I was really curious to read some non-fiction writings by him. It's no secret that I really wanted "Stranger Than Fiction" when I saw it at a bookstore one day. Now that I own the book many years later, the stories in this book are PHENOMINAL!

I know a lot of people don't like Palahniuk's writings, saying that he's a "gimmick" author that has to rely on shock tactics in order to get people reading his works, but this bo More...

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May 31, 2010

Gabriel rated it:

Throughout the course of reading this collection of essays, I realized that they were more experiments for what Palahniuk would later do in his books. The oral biography of Rant is found in the first two essays in the portrait section and referenced in quite a few other places, for instance. The rest of the essays continue in this vein of experimentation in style more than a journalistic piece or even a non-fiction piece. They are more snapshots of a time and place, but with very little point More...

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Dec 05, 2011

Magdelanye rated it:

In the spirit of this years motto, to boldly go where my inclinations have never led me to browse,I applied myself to finishing this collection of essays.I had liked the introduction very much but got bogged down immediately in alien territory and put it aside.Although he is better known as a novelist, I reasoned that if I was going to read only one thing by him, this might be the book to give me some kind of perspective on Palahniuks work.I determinined to finish with it already.I started agin More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2011

Lili rated it:

Very pleased with my decision to follow up the "unabridged selections" audio version by reading the full (paper) book. Many of the essays included in the audio were much more comprehensible in written form (especially "Demolition" and "Dear Mr. Levin") and several of the essays I enjoyed most had not been selected for the audio version.

I'd love to see him release a second collection of non-fiction essays that fills the gap since this one was published in More...

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Dec 06, 2010

Chilly rated it:

2.5 stars really. A decent enough collection of essay bits. Not so well written, but great subject matter. And a very digestible read. Really a must for serious Fight Club fans with lots of backstory about making the film and some of writing the book. But lots of other topics/personalities covered. I said "yeah!" aloud when he gave props to Thom Jones and Mark Richard at one point.

Palahniuk slowly gains momentum of importance with me, as one who never bought into "hy More...

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Sep 18, 2011

Natalya rated it:

Loved the last section -- Personals -- best. Palahniuk values each and every word.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"The world is made of people telling stories. Look at the stock market. Look at fashion. And any long story, any novel, is just a combination of short stories."
page XIX

“That's why I write, because life never works except in retrospect. And writing makes you look back. Because since you can't control life, at least you can control your version More...

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Apr 12, 2011

Trevor rated it:

Stranger Than Ficiton is a collection of Palahniuk's nonfiction writing, both essays and journalistic articles, that show there's enough strangeness in the real world to rival anything people can dream up.

These articles fall into two categories, each interesting for their own reasons. The first category are the "journalism" articles where Palahniuk learns about and covers some person or event (be it Marilyn Manson or the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival). Ranging from biz More...

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Aug 04, 2010

Brian rated it:

Full disclosure: I’ve not read anything else by Palahniuk. I have seen the movie version of Fight Club. I came to this collection of his “nonfiction” at the insistence of my son, and discovered that Palahniuk is, indeed, a thoughtful and interesting writer. At first, I found myself underwhelmed with the pieces that seemed to be 2/3 quotations of the words of others (as interesting as the editing of the quotes was). Then, I made it to the final section, subtitled “Personal”. He won me over. More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Cynthia rated it:

I'm almost embarrassed to not have read any Chuck Palahniuk before this.
My hipster cred drops several notches. He wrote "Fight Club", which I loved in the film version.

This is a book of short stories written as if they are true. Most have some very odd aspect - hence the title. Some definitely are true if you look up his bio. (Okay, so one story is about obsessing over Brad Pitt's lips after meeting him. I mean, who wouldn't??) He alludes to the writer's ability to ma More...

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Mar 22, 2011

Alberto rated it:

Dico la verità, prima di comprare ogni libro, spesso do un'occhiata su aNobii per farmi un'idea. Questo mi aiuta negli acquisti, ma è inevitabile che influenzi anche parecchio l'aspettativa. Ho visto tanti 2 stelle affibbiati e pensavo d'andare incontro al picco più basso di uno dei miei scrittori preferiti. Già il fatto che fosse una raccolta di saggi e mini-storie non mi entusiasmava troppo, ma ancora una volta Chuck mi ha sorpreso. In molte pagine, soprattutto verso la fine, si intravede i tr More...

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Jun 14, 2009

Danna rated it:

I didn't know much about this before jumping in. After a brief glance, I thought it would be similar to News of the Weird, but it definitely wasn't. Honest, unvarnished, and therefore uncomfortable, I appreciated how authentic the stories were and his reasons for telling them. He speaks about storytelling in general, the lives of writers more specifically. I didn't always agree with his viewpoints, but I could always find something interesting to consider. The audiobook I listened to was an More...

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Sep 20, 2011

Dennis rated it:

This my second book I had ever read from Palahniuk, although it was released before the first book I read from him. Palahniuk has mastered a certain writing style that manages to bring life's absurdity to the forefront and that is on display here as well. I am a fan of his work but, this followed the same format as "Haunted." "Stranger than Fiction" is a compilation of short stories dealing with true life events which are strange occurrences. It is amusing and very entertai More...

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Dec 15, 2008

Steve rated it:

This collection of non-fiction pieces is what you would expect from the author of novels like Fight Club and Choke. In fact, you come to understand some of the inspiration for characters and scenes in those novels as Palahniuk unwinds various anecdotes, profiles, and reportage through the course of this book. I liked his report from a combine demolition in Eastern Washington, or the description of what it is like to wander Seattle in a dog costume. Or the profiles of castle builders, or life o More...

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Sep 25, 2010

Frank rated it:

This was slightly better than okay.

Palahniuk doesn't have a knack for gathering good quotes. He lets the characters speak for themselves in the early pieces, but didn't listen long enough to anyone person to get any more than a small journalistic blip, and fairly non-illuminating ones at that.

The later pieces in the book were stronger. The pieces where he allows himself to actually do the writing and the reflection at a little deeper level.

I was eager to read More...

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Oct 22, 2010

Luscinnia rated it:

Als ich schon der Meinung war, dass dieses Buch langweilig und doof ist, wurde es besser. Nicht wirklich gut, aber eben besser als die 2/3, die ich davor schon bewältigen musste. Sehr schade, wenn ein Autor selbst sich nur noch auf sein bestes Buch reduzieren kann und dieses immer und immer und immer wieder rauskramen muss, damit der Leser auch ja nicht vergisst, dass er ja derjenige war, der es geschrieben hat. Es ist nicht nur schade, sondern nervt auch außerordentlich. Der Schreibstil war mir More...

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