Chuck Palahniuk's Blog, page 16
June 1, 2011
'Tell-All' Now Out In Paperback!
As of May 31st, Tell-All, Chuck's thirteenth book, is now out in paperback. I think Random House did a great job with this new cover, which I prefer over the hardback cover. By now most of you have already read it, but if not, here's a quick blurb from Amazon:
Tell-All is many things: A Sunset Boulevard-inflected homage to Old Hollywood when Grand Dames like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford ruled the roost. A Douglas Sirk-inspired melodrama full of big gestures and muted psychic torment. A veritable Tourette's syndrome of rat-tat-tat name-dropping, from the A-list to the Z-list. A merciless send-up of Lillian Hellman's habit of butchering the truth that will have Mary McCarthy cheering from the beyond.
You can order the book from either Amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound by going to our Tell-All book page.
If you want to order the book from either Amazon UK or Canada, check out our store page.
Wanna have some fun? After you buy the book, snap a picture of yourself holding it, while dressed in your best classic film star/starlet costume. Best one gets a prize. We prefer you tweet the pic to us at @chuckpalahniuk.
May 31, 2011
Read "Nuts and Bolts: Thought Verbs" by Chuck Palahniuk
For three years, Chuck Palahniuk contributed to our ground breaking online Writers Workshop (which he also helped conceive, btw) with 36 writing essays. These are lessons from a best-selling author on how to improve your craft as a writer... the types of lessons they teach in $20,000+ MFA writing programs.
To look back and celebrate these exclusive essays, each month we are "unlocking" one and offering it for free on the site. Normally you would need a Workshop Membership to view these essays, but until you're ready to make that important commitment, we'll offer you one of these a month.
For June, we have Nuts and Bolts: "Thought" Verbs, an essay that explains the maxim, "Show, don't tell..." Discover how to strengthen your prose by unpacking abstract and static verbs into descriptive action.
Video: 'Fight Club' Trailer Spoof - 'Cuddle Club'
Someone ask me why I keep posting these? I guess with this latest, I just respect the fact that these guys went out and did something. Plus, they look like they had fun making this. And hell, the one dude even shaved his head.
Check out 'Cuddle Club,' a shot for shot remake (albeit, with some actual stolen shots) of the Fight Club trailer.
Credit for this find goes to SlashFilm.
May 26, 2011
'Snuff' Is On Trial In Turkey
In the past two days our Twitter feed (@chuckpalahniuk) has exploded with a breaking story coming out of Turkey. It seems The Istanbul Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the book Snuff and is calling for all copies to be confiscated. Here's more:
The Istanbul Press Prosecution sent a notice which includes a report from the Council for Protecting Minors from Explicit Publications to Ayrıntı Publishing. In the notice, the novel is accused of "abusing sexual instincts" and "incompliance with moral norms."
Ayrıntı Publishing, the publishers behind the Turkish translation of Snuff, are defending the book in their testimony. Editor Abdullah Yılmaz though, thinks there is a bigger issue at the heart of this matter:
"Sexuality is a matter that is related to any kind of social structures, including culture and religion," said Yılmaz, adding that even violence against women occurred because of sexual problems.
Read more on this developing story here. read more »
May 20, 2011
Video: Chuck Palahniuk On Ira Levin
As most of you diehards out there should know by now, Chuck is a big fan of Ira Levin. Haven't heard of him? Well shame on you. The man wrote some of the classic horror novels of the 1970's. Rosemary's Baby, The Boys From Brazil and The Stepford Wives, to name a few. And don't forget that Diary was directly influenced by Levin, to the point that he even provided a blurb for the book.
"Just for the record, Diary is as hypnotic as a poised cobra. Chuck Palahniuk demonstrates that the most chilling special effects come not from Industrial Light and Magic but from the words of a gifted writer." - Ira Levin
And in Stranger Than Fiction, Chuck called Levin's writing "a smart, updated version of the kind of folksy legends that cultures have always used." So yeah, the two men seem to have admired each other. In the above video, both Chuck and fellow Portland writer Chelsea Cain (Heartsick) wax nostalgia and influence from Levin's legacy.
Also, check out the eBooks available from Open Road Media! read more »
May 15, 2011
Forecast
It was as if I were both the fever-dreamer and the dream itself.
If you were paying attention in 2009 you may have seen the birthing of Forecast across the internet, from July to December, in forty-two installments. Billed as the Forecast 42 Project, this story is set in the year 2212, and is the bastard love-child of Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K. Dick, weaving elements of noir and science fiction into a humorous, touching love story, a narrative on what it means to see and be seen, to exist and yet be nothing more than a cog. Following this story across such esteemed online journals as Juked, Flatmancrooked, Keyhole, Redivider, Opium, Electric Literature, PANK, Word Riot, 3:AM Magazine, and Puerto Del Sol, it was a serial story that ended up landing Shya Scanlon a book deal at Flatmancrooked Publishing, giving hopes to many authors that the ways we publish, and get discovered, aren't static and predictable. read more »
Blue Velvet Monster: On David Foster Wallace
by Stephen Graham JonesSo David Foster Wallace is getting the Joyce treatment, where each and every little scribbleydoo we can unearth from him is magic, golden, poked and prodded from every angle so we can see the genius beneath. And there was plenty there, don't get me wrong. Granted, the pedestal he's being put on now that he can't do anything about it, it's kind of scary high, makes me nervous he might get elevated so far out of reach we forget about him altogether (and thus feel better about ourselves, without his talent in the room), but that kind of stuff's inevitable, really. His legend'll ride it out or it won't, and, either way, we'll still have some of his books around. read more »
May 12, 2011
Fan Artwork: 'Survivor' Book Cover
Check out this cool book cover design for Survivor, one of Chuck's most beloved earlier titles. It was designed by Ryan Harris.
Click for larger version
You can see more of Ryan' work at his portfolio site: http://ryanharris.posterous.com/
And as always, if you have your own fan covers to contribute, please contact us at submissions @ chuckpalahniuk. net.
May 6, 2011
A Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy novel was first published 15 years ago, but between the HBO series and A Dance With Dragons due in July, awareness is at an all-time high. Copies of the book have been flying off the shelves on leathery wings and magically appearing in eReaders everywhere. Cries of "For Winterfell!" have been heard reverberating across subway platforms and mall parking lots. Portly gentleman with chin-beards walk the streets with confidence. It is a glorious time to be a geek.
With weekly installments being parceled out by Home Box Office, I will offer only the most general of summaries. Thrones takes place predominantly in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, a land where there are no set seasons and winter can last for years. The narrative is comprised of three main storylines- that of a sacred brotherhood patrolling a gigantic wall of ice, a spoiled exile and his sister attempting to raise an army in a foreign land, and a power struggle over the coveted Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Like the Holy Trinity, the three stories are one, and a complex history is shared between them. It is a history that lays the groundwork for the thousands of pages and hundreds of characters to come. read more »
May 3, 2011
Buy the Chuck Palahniuk Documentary DVD Signed Edition!
Our popular documentary on Chuck Palahniuk, Postcards from the Future, is now shipping... with a big fat signature by Chuck right on the cover. We've got a limited amount of these and once they're gone, they're gone. So if you haven't seen this documentary yet, now is the time to order this 2-disk DVD set. If you have seen it, but covet having this signed edition, follow your temptation and click the link below.
Order the Chuck Palahniuk Documentary DVD - Signed Edition
*DVD orders will begin shipping on May 11th!
Summary
Postcards From The Future: The Chuck Palahniuk Documentary takes a look at author Chuck Palahniuk ís landmark year of 2003. With back to back books and subsequent tours hitting the public, Chuck ís year was filled with success, controversy, and even phenomena. But what many fans don ít know is that this entire year kicked off with a mysterious conference held on his work in a small town in Pennsylvania.
As guests of the conference, my fellow documentarians and I attended the three day event and captured some of the most exclusive material a fan could hope for. Chuck read from his novels, hosted multiple Q&As, gave an hour long exclusive presentation, participated in a screening of Fight Club, signed books and, best of all, sat down for a very candid one hour interview. But it wasn ít until the days of editing this piece together that followed that we realized the true gift of the conference for Chuck had attended with a very important motive and message for his fans: To evolve a generation of young readers into writers. read more »
