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Stranger than Fiction
Chuck Palahniuk’s world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. In his first collection of nonfiction, Chuck Palahniuk brings us into this world, and gives us a glimpse of what inspires his fiction.At the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival in Missoula, Montana, average people perform public sex acts on an outdoor stage. In a mansion once occupied by The Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson reads his own Tarot cards and talks sweetly to his beautiful actress girlfriend. Across the country, men build their own full-size castles and rocketships that will send them into space. Palahniuk himself experiments with steroids, works on an assembly line by day and as a hospice volunteer by night, and experiences the brutal murder of his father by a white supremacist. With this new direction, Chuck Palahniuk has proven he can do anything.
233 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 2004
About the author
Chuck Palahniuk
257 books127k followersWritten in stolen moments under truck chassis and on park benches to a soundtrack of The Downward Spiral and Pablo Honey, Fight Club came into existence. The adaptation of Fight Club was a flop at the box office, but achieved cult status on DVD. The film’s popularity drove sales of the novel. Chuck put out two novels in 1999, Survivor and Invisible Monsters. Choke, published in 2001, became Chuck’s first New York Times bestseller. Chuck’s work has always been infused with personal experience, and his next novel, Lullaby, was no exception. Chuck credits writing Lullaby with helping him cope with the tragic death of his father. Diary and the non-fiction guide to Portland, Fugitives and Refugees, were released in 2003. While on the road in support of Diary, Chuck began reading a short story entitled 'Guts,' which would eventually become part of the novel Haunted.
In the years that followed, he continued to write, publishing the bestselling Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, Tell-All, a 'remix' of Invisible Monsters, Damned, and most recently, Doomed.
Chuck also enjoys giving back to his fans, and teaching the art of storytelling has been an important part of that. In 2004, Chuck began submitting essays to ChuckPalahniuk.net on the craft of writing. These were 'How To' pieces, straight out of Chuck's personal bag of tricks, based on the tenants of minimalism he learned from Tom Spanbauer. Every month, a “Homework Assignment” would accompany the lesson, so Workshop members could apply what they had learned. (all 36 of these essays can currently be found on The Cult's sister-site, LitReactor.com).
Then, in 2009, Chuck increased his involvement by committing to read and review a selection of fan-written stories each month. The best stories are currently set to be published in Burnt Tongues, a forthcoming anthology, with an introduction written by Chuck himself.
His next novel, Beautiful You, is due out in October 2014.
In the years that followed, he continued to write, publishing the bestselling Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, Tell-All, a 'remix' of Invisible Monsters, Damned, and most recently, Doomed.
Chuck also enjoys giving back to his fans, and teaching the art of storytelling has been an important part of that. In 2004, Chuck began submitting essays to ChuckPalahniuk.net on the craft of writing. These were 'How To' pieces, straight out of Chuck's personal bag of tricks, based on the tenants of minimalism he learned from Tom Spanbauer. Every month, a “Homework Assignment” would accompany the lesson, so Workshop members could apply what they had learned. (all 36 of these essays can currently be found on The Cult's sister-site, LitReactor.com).
Then, in 2009, Chuck increased his involvement by committing to read and review a selection of fan-written stories each month. The best stories are currently set to be published in Burnt Tongues, a forthcoming anthology, with an introduction written by Chuck himself.
His next novel, Beautiful You, is due out in October 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews
November 23, 2021
I do enjoy Chuck Palahniuk's fiction and was interested to see what he could bring non-fiction wise... and my verdict is that he should very much stick to what he is great at - fiction! My main take, out of this part documentary part essay, is the horrific story that his father was killed by a white supremacist! This is the only book in my sizeable Chuck Palahniuk collection that I'm thinking of giving to a charity shop! 4 out of 12.
2007 read
2007 read
October 6, 2017
I have often said there is no reason to read fiction as life is far stranger and more interesting and it is this premise that leads award winning and best selling author Chuck Palahniuk to write this compilation of real life oddities and bizarre observations.
Organized into journalistic sketches, Palahniuk describes such things as:
out in the open pornography
wheat field combine demolition derbies
the art of American castle building (there is a castle near where I live that hosts a Renaissance festival every year)
fun with anabolic steroids
the secret, hidden sex life of submariners
the politics of solitude
modern philosophy of Marilyn Manson
the applied, visionary genius of Ira Levin and many more.
All the sketches are good and frequently Palahniuk hits a chord and becomes very good.
Organized into journalistic sketches, Palahniuk describes such things as:
out in the open pornography
wheat field combine demolition derbies
the art of American castle building (there is a castle near where I live that hosts a Renaissance festival every year)
fun with anabolic steroids
the secret, hidden sex life of submariners
the politics of solitude
modern philosophy of Marilyn Manson
the applied, visionary genius of Ira Levin and many more.
All the sketches are good and frequently Palahniuk hits a chord and becomes very good.
November 10, 2016
*Official rating is 3.5, but always round up!
Collections of short works are tricky things to review. I say this almost every bloody time I review one. The reason being that each story or article or piece is inevitably pitted against one another in terms of likeability, and by a law of averages certain ones swim while other sink. A talent-fueled tale, followed by an even better one, tends to devalue the first.
This is often the case with Palahniuk's 'Stranger Than Fiction'.
This book was on my radar for years. Someone bought it for me last Christmas and I finally got around to diving in. I dig Chucky P quite a bit, enough to cite him as a writing influence of mine. Generally, there is a mixed response to his books and subject matter, but I've always admired his minimalist style and the way he strolls through territory where other writers fear to tread. However, his shock and awe tactics can get a bit transparent at times. Like a lot of his works, 'Stranger Than Fiction' is no different in this department.
For example, the first story you encounter is called 'Testy Festy'. It's about the Red Creek Lodge Testicle Festival, and an all-out in-your-face collage of blowjobs, handjobs, and crude lewd public sex acts in a nudist campground setting. It's signature Palahniuk, acting as a gatekeeper of a story that will make a number of readers put the book down before they've gotten through the first few pages.
If you can get past that one, you'll be fine.
The rest of this collection of non-fiction shorts offers some incredible insight to Palahniuk's considerably different, sometimes slightly demented, world. The book is divided into three sections: People Together, Portraits, and Personal. There is so much variety to take in, but it does have its problems. And those problems will often boil down to what you personally find interesting or engaging.
I loved reading about the author's life in 'Personal', his trials and tribulations, successes and failures. Mostly, it's his own eclectic experiences with family, friends, loss, steroids, shitty day-jobs, sickness, and writing that I found most fulfilling. A lot of the 'People Together' stuff was pretty great too; a combine harvester demolition derby, a collection of American DIY castle builders, the wrecked world or amateur wrestling, uncomfortable life aboard a US nuclear submarine. These stories couldn't be more different from one another. The spectrum covered is as wide as it is odd and interesting.
But the 'Portraits' section was often a let down for me. I can't fault Palahniuk too much for this, as most of them were gleaned from interviews with famous folk, and an article can only be as good as its subject. Let's just say I didn't really care about Juliette Lewis before I read Chuck's article about her, and I certainly couldn't give a shit about her afterward. Ditto for Marylin Manson and a couple others. There were other slight annoyances, like the mentioning of "Brad Pitt" a little too often throughout the book or Palahniuk occasionally passing judgement on people or topics that felt a bit unfair, particularly in the face of evidence that suggested his conclusions were wrong or weak.
I think the people who will mine the most profit out of 'Stranger Than Fiction' are writers themselves. There is a lot we writers can relate to in this book, and it's always a treat to be invited inside a successful author's head to be granted insight alongside memories recovered/analyzed. If you're at all a fan of Chuck Palahniuk, 'Stranger Than Fiction' makes a great companion to whatever collection of his books you already possess.
November 21, 2011
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 it's worth taking into account that i didn't read much past the second section of portraits where the mental yawns became unbearable.
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 it's worth taking into account that i didn't read much past the second section of portraits where the mental yawns became unbearable.
January 3, 2013
You will like this book if you are easily amazed by the things your fellow humans do for fun or to make a living, or to survive or to fend off loneliness and despair' if you are not surprised but what we do to light the flickering light of "I am special". You will like this book if you prefer understatement and no-sentimentality in presentation of the harsh and the painful and the noble, and if you prefer examples of the profane in the presentation of the mysterious and even the mystical. If you like to sense the writer's hard lived experience in what you read, you will like this book.
December 11, 2019
Nonfiction Palahniuk. A mediocre collection of essays compared to his fiction. A few pieces are worth reading but most of them are only worth a skim.
September 14, 2022
Las cuatro primeras líneas de la introducción constituyen la columna vertebral de los artículos y crónicas que componen “Error humano”: “todos mis libros tratan de una persona solitaria que busca alguna forma de conectar con los demás”. Con esta declaración, Palahniuk abre una serie de textos que se leen con entusiasmo a modo de divertimento.
De algún modo, sirve de trasfondo para sus primeros libros: desde “El club de la pelea” hasta “Diario”. Explica modos de recabar información, maneras de reunir historias escabrosas, métodos para componer relatos con la sencilla complejidad a la que apunta el llamado minimalismo.
No obstante, he de confesar que pasé mi mirada sobre algunos textos que arrojaban datos sin ton ni son, con una resonancia trivial o insignificante; quizás por su carácter localista norteamericano de cual, sin embargo, me quedó la ironía con la que Palahniuk expone la ridiculez de ciertos modos de tener (capitalismo) típicos norteamericanos.
De algún modo, sirve de trasfondo para sus primeros libros: desde “El club de la pelea” hasta “Diario”. Explica modos de recabar información, maneras de reunir historias escabrosas, métodos para componer relatos con la sencilla complejidad a la que apunta el llamado minimalismo.
No obstante, he de confesar que pasé mi mirada sobre algunos textos que arrojaban datos sin ton ni son, con una resonancia trivial o insignificante; quizás por su carácter localista norteamericano de cual, sin embargo, me quedó la ironía con la que Palahniuk expone la ridiculez de ciertos modos de tener (capitalismo) típicos norteamericanos.
September 23, 2018
-Palahniadas varias pero interesantes por diferentes razones.-
Género. Ensayo (en realidad no, o no solamente, pero hay que clasificarlo en el blog en alguna categoría).
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Error humano (publicación original: Stranger Than Fiction, 2004) recopila una serie de crónicas, extrañas semblanzas, artículos y ensayos muy personales escritos por el autor antes de y durante sus comienzos como escritor (escritor famoso, quiero decir), que nos permitirán conocer, entre otros, épocas de abuso de esteroides con fines cosméticos y sensuales, a la actriz Juliette Lewis, castillos en construcción en los USA, un campeonato de lucha entre máquinas cosechadoras, el submarino USS-Louisiana, a Marilyn Manson, eventos en los que se dan siete minutos a escritores para que vendan su obra, la muerte de su propio padre y cómo le afectó (iremos ahí más de una vez), la obra de Ira Levin, la lucha libre amateur estadounidense o el Festival del Testículo de Rock Creek Lodge, por citar unos ejemplos.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ensayo (en realidad no, o no solamente, pero hay que clasificarlo en el blog en alguna categoría).
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Error humano (publicación original: Stranger Than Fiction, 2004) recopila una serie de crónicas, extrañas semblanzas, artículos y ensayos muy personales escritos por el autor antes de y durante sus comienzos como escritor (escritor famoso, quiero decir), que nos permitirán conocer, entre otros, épocas de abuso de esteroides con fines cosméticos y sensuales, a la actriz Juliette Lewis, castillos en construcción en los USA, un campeonato de lucha entre máquinas cosechadoras, el submarino USS-Louisiana, a Marilyn Manson, eventos en los que se dan siete minutos a escritores para que vendan su obra, la muerte de su propio padre y cómo le afectó (iremos ahí más de una vez), la obra de Ira Levin, la lucha libre amateur estadounidense o el Festival del Testículo de Rock Creek Lodge, por citar unos ejemplos.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
April 21, 2009
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 first was about the writers at a writer's conference, you know, one of those deals where a writer pays $75 in exchange for the opportunity to pitch her story to agents and publishers. It was so sad and yet so poignant, to think of all of the people out there hoping they can peddle their story into something bigger, some recognition or some money, perhaps. He took it beyond that, and talked about the way writers mine the world around them for material, to the point where sometimes they get so wrapped up in thinking about how they will turn this thing or that person into fodder for their latest story that they lose the ability to take life on its own terms. I really loved this essay.
I also loved the final one, which mostly pivoted around the murder of his father by some jealous lunatic ex-husband of a woman he had just started seeing. Very powerful.
But aside from those two essays I didn't really like much about this book.
HOWEVER. There were two really wonderful pieces that I think made the whole experience worthwhile. The first was about the writers at a writer's conference, you know, one of those deals where a writer pays $75 in exchange for the opportunity to pitch her story to agents and publishers. It was so sad and yet so poignant, to think of all of the people out there hoping they can peddle their story into something bigger, some recognition or some money, perhaps. He took it beyond that, and talked about the way writers mine the world around them for material, to the point where sometimes they get so wrapped up in thinking about how they will turn this thing or that person into fodder for their latest story that they lose the ability to take life on its own terms. I really loved this essay.
I also loved the final one, which mostly pivoted around the murder of his father by some jealous lunatic ex-husband of a woman he had just started seeing. Very powerful.
But aside from those two essays I didn't really like much about this book.
August 11, 2007
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 then we get there and find ourselves lonely, and must reacquaint with our fellow humans. I agree with him, this is the lense that he views everything through, and it is getting annoying in his fiction literature. But these stories, these are true stories. And I think that his writing style is very aptly applied to these stories and telling them. Long story short: Chuck Palahniuk's writing style is best applied to nonfiction.
I read this book because I was staying for a week on the Oregon coast with my family. It seemed appropriate because Chuck Palahniuk is from portland. Also, this book seemed interesting.
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 then we get there and find ourselves lonely, and must reacquaint with our fellow humans. I agree with him, this is the lense that he views everything through, and it is getting annoying in his fiction literature. But these stories, these are true stories. And I think that his writing style is very aptly applied to these stories and telling them. Long story short: Chuck Palahniuk's writing style is best applied to nonfiction.
I read this book because I was staying for a week on the Oregon coast with my family. It seemed appropriate because Chuck Palahniuk is from portland. Also, this book seemed interesting.
August 24, 2021
Appunti sparsi (.... molto sparsi) di vita vissuta. Dall'America della provincia piu' profonda alle luci di Hollywood, sempre ai confini dell'assurdo. Alcuni stralci di quasi poesia in un contesto, per il resto, piuttosto piatto.
April 10, 2019
Though this is Non-fiction, it still delivers the best of Chuck Palahniuk
We all know Chuck Palahniuk right?
Even if you haven't read him, you probably know what he represents.
That's not him, that's Henry Rollins, but you get the point.
Palahniuk is the white male that has found a way out of a life of corporate unfulfillment. He is the fellow captured soldier who escaped past the POW fence one night.
Even though you are still in the cage, you cheer him on with your fellow captured soldiers. You wish him well, and tell him not to come back.
Why?
He offers you the hope for escape yourself - just by letting you know it is possible.
He left behind an extensive escape plan for you to read, and to one day make your own plan.
And of course, there is the chance that he is coming back with an army, so that everyone is freed.
Though this book is Non-fiction, it distills the best of Palahniuk and gives it to you straight
Palahniuk gets into rarely-visited situations as a journalist - he visits wrestlers in their element, or explores the world of combine-demolition derbies.
He is not Gabriela Wiener - she finds insane situations and then enters them.
Palahniuk will just witness a combine-demolition derby. He will not drive one of them in a competition.
But still - every page holds insight.
If anything, this reminds me of Jonathan Franzen's The End of the End of the Earth - just a collection of a contemporary fiction author's best non-fiction. Each one is short, and each one can change you.
We all know Chuck Palahniuk right?
Even if you haven't read him, you probably know what he represents.
That's not him, that's Henry Rollins, but you get the point.
Palahniuk is the white male that has found a way out of a life of corporate unfulfillment. He is the fellow captured soldier who escaped past the POW fence one night.
Even though you are still in the cage, you cheer him on with your fellow captured soldiers. You wish him well, and tell him not to come back.
Why?
He offers you the hope for escape yourself - just by letting you know it is possible.
He left behind an extensive escape plan for you to read, and to one day make your own plan.
And of course, there is the chance that he is coming back with an army, so that everyone is freed.
Though this book is Non-fiction, it distills the best of Palahniuk and gives it to you straight
Palahniuk gets into rarely-visited situations as a journalist - he visits wrestlers in their element, or explores the world of combine-demolition derbies.
He is not Gabriela Wiener - she finds insane situations and then enters them.
Palahniuk will just witness a combine-demolition derby. He will not drive one of them in a competition.
But still - every page holds insight.
If anything, this reminds me of Jonathan Franzen's The End of the End of the Earth - just a collection of a contemporary fiction author's best non-fiction. Each one is short, and each one can change you.
December 5, 2011
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 with the introduction.
If I had been anticipating a barrage of chauvanistic observations this prejudice was quickly laid to rest in the opening essay. Palahniuk is a keen and sensitive observer and he can write. His comments about the process and the reasons why he finds writing so gratifying were all pertinent to me, but even when he is writing about things that rather appall me,like extreme sports with farm machinary, he writes with such appreciation that finally even I can.
Actually, many of the stories captured my interest. I especially was fascinated by the one on American castle builders,and the essay on Amy Hempel gives some great leads. He also drops well thought out little nuggets referencing some of the great thinkers. Jefferson I might expect but I was pleasantly surprised to find a good precis of the essence of the philosophy of Kierkgaard. Taken together, the stories offer a cultural spectrum of America, and in fact, most of stories offer some great leads for our own inspiration.
What I like most about Palahniuk is his embracing of life in all its its astounding variety and aspects. Even writing about the sordid underside of the glimmering canopy, he retains his fresh perspective.We are not contaminated by his observations or despair. Curiously, the after effect of this book was hopeful.
If I had been anticipating a barrage of chauvanistic observations this prejudice was quickly laid to rest in the opening essay. Palahniuk is a keen and sensitive observer and he can write. His comments about the process and the reasons why he finds writing so gratifying were all pertinent to me, but even when he is writing about things that rather appall me,like extreme sports with farm machinary, he writes with such appreciation that finally even I can.
Actually, many of the stories captured my interest. I especially was fascinated by the one on American castle builders,and the essay on Amy Hempel gives some great leads. He also drops well thought out little nuggets referencing some of the great thinkers. Jefferson I might expect but I was pleasantly surprised to find a good precis of the essence of the philosophy of Kierkgaard. Taken together, the stories offer a cultural spectrum of America, and in fact, most of stories offer some great leads for our own inspiration.
What I like most about Palahniuk is his embracing of life in all its its astounding variety and aspects. Even writing about the sordid underside of the glimmering canopy, he retains his fresh perspective.We are not contaminated by his observations or despair. Curiously, the after effect of this book was hopeful.
Read
February 10, 2021Kitap, Palahniuk'un bir dizi yazısının bir araya getirilmiş hali. Bu nedenle yazılar arasında bağlantı zayıf doğal olarak.
July 3, 2018
Prisiminiau nihilistinę jaunystę (che, che) ir išsitraukiau iš lentynos seniai ten gulinčią ir neskaitytą "Fight Club" autoriaus esė ir įvairių straipsnių knygelę. O, kokiais 90s iš jos padvelkė - šiek tiek smagios, bet truputį priplėkusios nostalgijos. Sąžiningo įtūžusio ironiko pasakojimai.
Pirmoji knygos dalis - įvairių visuomenės pakraščių dokumentavimas - Palahniukas rašo apie kombainų rodeo JAV provincijoje, apie imtynes, apie steroidų vartotojus,apie pitchingą - bandymą parduoti savo idėją ar rankraštį kino industrijai, apie Rock Creek Lodge Testocle Festival ir t.t. ir pan. Panašių temų panašiu metu savo esė ėmėsi David Foster Wallace. Tik Wallace tekstas - tai fechtavimas, lauko tenisas ar pan. O Palahniukas - boksas, imtynės ir laisvoji kova. Gana įdomu.
Kik nykesnė antroji knygos dalis - poklabiai su žvaigždėm: Juliette Lewis, Andrew Sulivan, etc. Išsiskiria pokalbis su Marilynu Mansonu (dar viena 90s ir šio amžiaus pradžios ikonų).
Trečiojoje dalyje autorius rašo apie save - kaip jam gyvenosi po "Fight Club" sėkmės. jis rašo apie filmo pagal knygą statymą, apie tariamą išgarsėjimą ir pan. bet kažkaip be entuziazmo ir net ironija tokia rūgtelėjusi: "mes visi suprantam, kad ta šlovė maloni, bet hey aš toks pats lūzeris, koks ir buvau, jei ir pasikeičiau tai nedaug, dabar parašysiu jums reportažą, kaip iš tikrųjų niekam nerūpiu ir kokių juokingų nelaimių man nutiko. Hey, aš gi vis dar saviakas, ar ne? Saviakas? na, pasakykit, gi saviakas, chebra?"
Beje, skaitydamas niekaip neatsikračiau minties, kur man visa tai girdėta lietuviškame kontekste. Ogi Martynenko. Neteigiu čia, kad Palahniukas jį įtakojo (gal jis jo net neskaitė) ar kad vienas kitam prilygsta, nes taip nėra. Bet ta intonacija... Ir random facts... ir dvasingumo bei visokių fiziologinių smulkmenų mixas...
Vienžo, skaitykite, jei neturit ką veikti arba pasiilgote tos sunkiai nusakomos tūkstantmečio sandūros dvasios :)
Pirmoji knygos dalis - įvairių visuomenės pakraščių dokumentavimas - Palahniukas rašo apie kombainų rodeo JAV provincijoje, apie imtynes, apie steroidų vartotojus,apie pitchingą - bandymą parduoti savo idėją ar rankraštį kino industrijai, apie Rock Creek Lodge Testocle Festival ir t.t. ir pan. Panašių temų panašiu metu savo esė ėmėsi David Foster Wallace. Tik Wallace tekstas - tai fechtavimas, lauko tenisas ar pan. O Palahniukas - boksas, imtynės ir laisvoji kova. Gana įdomu.
Kik nykesnė antroji knygos dalis - poklabiai su žvaigždėm: Juliette Lewis, Andrew Sulivan, etc. Išsiskiria pokalbis su Marilynu Mansonu (dar viena 90s ir šio amžiaus pradžios ikonų).
Trečiojoje dalyje autorius rašo apie save - kaip jam gyvenosi po "Fight Club" sėkmės. jis rašo apie filmo pagal knygą statymą, apie tariamą išgarsėjimą ir pan. bet kažkaip be entuziazmo ir net ironija tokia rūgtelėjusi: "mes visi suprantam, kad ta šlovė maloni, bet hey aš toks pats lūzeris, koks ir buvau, jei ir pasikeičiau tai nedaug, dabar parašysiu jums reportažą, kaip iš tikrųjų niekam nerūpiu ir kokių juokingų nelaimių man nutiko. Hey, aš gi vis dar saviakas, ar ne? Saviakas? na, pasakykit, gi saviakas, chebra?"
Beje, skaitydamas niekaip neatsikračiau minties, kur man visa tai girdėta lietuviškame kontekste. Ogi Martynenko. Neteigiu čia, kad Palahniukas jį įtakojo (gal jis jo net neskaitė) ar kad vienas kitam prilygsta, nes taip nėra. Bet ta intonacija... Ir random facts... ir dvasingumo bei visokių fiziologinių smulkmenų mixas...
Vienžo, skaitykite, jei neturit ką veikti arba pasiilgote tos sunkiai nusakomos tūkstantmečio sandūros dvasios :)
January 1, 2008
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 stuff, let myself experience all the emotions, memories, and associations his writing churns up for me AND be detached enough to just finish the &$^*!! book.
So I was pretty stoked to see this collection of his non-fiction writing on the library shelf. I think a more accurate title would have been, "Perhaps Stranger, but Definitely More Boring Than, My Fiction." Compared to his fiction writing and his fictional characters, like Tyler Durden from Fight Club, the real-life people and their situations he writes about in this collection come across as a little ho hum. Even folks like Marilyn Manson.
I found myself wishing that he would take the best, most interesting parts of this non-fiction work and combine them into something fictional. Which I guess is what fiction writing is all about.
So I was pretty stoked to see this collection of his non-fiction writing on the library shelf. I think a more accurate title would have been, "Perhaps Stranger, but Definitely More Boring Than, My Fiction." Compared to his fiction writing and his fictional characters, like Tyler Durden from Fight Club, the real-life people and their situations he writes about in this collection come across as a little ho hum. Even folks like Marilyn Manson.
I found myself wishing that he would take the best, most interesting parts of this non-fiction work and combine them into something fictional. Which I guess is what fiction writing is all about.
December 4, 2012
Terminé «Error Humano», de Chuck Palahniuk. Es lo primero que leo de él, y ya logró que lo quiera y lo envidie.
El libro se divide en tres: «Gente reunida», «Retratos» y «Personal». Su nombre los describe lo suficiente.
Todos son relatos cortitos que cuentan historias tan interesantes como extrañas.
Desde un festival de sexo donde todos garchan porque sí hasta su paso por Los Angeles durante la época de «El club de la pelea».
Tiene una franqueza y simpleza que nos hace sentir identificados. Se acerca mucho al lector. Todo con una crudeza espectacular.
Desconozco el resto de sus libros, pero «Error Humano» se destaca por la diferente forma de mirar la realidad que lo rodea, de interpretar.
Lo mejor es que los protagonistas son personas raras. Como Palahniuk, como todos.
[Reseña escrita originalmente para Twitter]
El libro se divide en tres: «Gente reunida», «Retratos» y «Personal». Su nombre los describe lo suficiente.
Todos son relatos cortitos que cuentan historias tan interesantes como extrañas.
Desde un festival de sexo donde todos garchan porque sí hasta su paso por Los Angeles durante la época de «El club de la pelea».
Tiene una franqueza y simpleza que nos hace sentir identificados. Se acerca mucho al lector. Todo con una crudeza espectacular.
Desconozco el resto de sus libros, pero «Error Humano» se destaca por la diferente forma de mirar la realidad que lo rodea, de interpretar.
Lo mejor es que los protagonistas son personas raras. Como Palahniuk, como todos.
[Reseña escrita originalmente para Twitter]
September 9, 2021
Exceptionally fine writing. Palahniuk can be very intense, but I found these essays quite charming. This is mostly Palahniuk in paid-writer mode. I found The People Can about life on modern submarines fascinating. The Lady was a real high point. I had never heard the sad story of Palahniuk's father. And the ghost story in that essay is one I'll never forget! Also, Dear Mr. Levin was a brilliant dissection of writer Ira Levin's subversive and prescient work. I learned something from that one. Finally, as a fan of Fight Club - both movie and book - the essays about how that work changed his life and his experiences making the movie were more than I could have hoped for.
January 1, 2023
i need to talk to chuck palahniuk in person
May 18, 2023
Es adictivo. Por una parte, sientes vergüenza ajena y por otra, un cierto regodeo en la mediocridad y el absurdo humano. Esta lleno de reflexiones por las que merece subrayar sus páginas, de humor inteligente y, sobre todo, está muy bien escrito.
November 12, 2012
Weird. A series of essays, most of which have been published in other papers/magazines. This is my first experience of this author and i'm not really sure what to make of it.
Most of the early stories seem very stripped down, stories about wrestling - where the facts of each bout are told very basically. Other stories really grip the imagination - the combine demolition derby for instance, or the men who build castles out of chicken wire and plaster (or huge lumps of stone).
There's a melancholy tone to all of them - even the recounting of how the author dressed as a dalmation with a friend of his and ran around Seattle, just to see the reaction he'd get (very nearly getting arrested just for being dressed as a dog).
Random thoughts spring up everywhere. The portraits that he offers of people such as Juliette Lewis and Marilyn Manson are really just verbatim conversations or statements that they make to him.
I've already forgotten a lot of this book and I've only just finished it. But the Combine Harvester Demolition Derby - that'll stay in my head for quite a long time to come.
Most of the early stories seem very stripped down, stories about wrestling - where the facts of each bout are told very basically. Other stories really grip the imagination - the combine demolition derby for instance, or the men who build castles out of chicken wire and plaster (or huge lumps of stone).
There's a melancholy tone to all of them - even the recounting of how the author dressed as a dalmation with a friend of his and ran around Seattle, just to see the reaction he'd get (very nearly getting arrested just for being dressed as a dog).
Random thoughts spring up everywhere. The portraits that he offers of people such as Juliette Lewis and Marilyn Manson are really just verbatim conversations or statements that they make to him.
I've already forgotten a lot of this book and I've only just finished it. But the Combine Harvester Demolition Derby - that'll stay in my head for quite a long time to come.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2017
"About the third week, the priapism subsided or seemed to spread to my entire body. Weightlifting gets better than sex. A workout becomes an orgy. You're having orgasms, cramping, hot, rushing orgasms in your delts, your quads, your lats, and traps. You forget about that lazy old penis. Who needs it. In a way, it's a peace, an escape from sex. A vacation from libido. You might see a hot woman and think grrrrrr, but your next egg white omelet or set of squats is a lot more attractive."
This is the Chuck we all know and love. This right here is why he's my favorite author. No matter what he writes or does, he picks you up and never disappoints.
Short stories are always difficult to talk about. Obviously, some are way better than others but these all were unique enough to stand out from each other.
Palahniuk is one of those authors that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to writing from personal experiences. He's lead quite the exciting life and we all crave more.
If you aren't sold with the title or author, I'll say this.... Testicle Festival! You're welcome!!!
Sorry, your seven minutes is up!
This is the Chuck we all know and love. This right here is why he's my favorite author. No matter what he writes or does, he picks you up and never disappoints.
Short stories are always difficult to talk about. Obviously, some are way better than others but these all were unique enough to stand out from each other.
Palahniuk is one of those authors that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to writing from personal experiences. He's lead quite the exciting life and we all crave more.
If you aren't sold with the title or author, I'll say this.... Testicle Festival! You're welcome!!!
Sorry, your seven minutes is up!
March 1, 2011
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- when you can tell the aim is artistic fluency, but it really sounds like a stage actor cheesily overacting an already overdramatic scene, like "the wind--it hurts. The pain! My love. Oh life!") and picking out the good parts of a story. I love his voice. I love that he made me laugh out loud. Several times. I loved how real his "portraits" of others felt. He talks to you like a normal person, not super loaded and elegant syntax-wise or with diction that's just there to prove you know every four-syllable word in the dictionary. He is just...awesome.
4.8!
Chuck Palahniuk is a genius. He is funny, cohesive, and writes very well: eliminating cloggy words but not going overboard (you know- when you can tell the aim is artistic fluency, but it really sounds like a stage actor cheesily overacting an already overdramatic scene, like "the wind--it hurts. The pain! My love. Oh life!") and picking out the good parts of a story. I love his voice. I love that he made me laugh out loud. Several times. I loved how real his "portraits" of others felt. He talks to you like a normal person, not super loaded and elegant syntax-wise or with diction that's just there to prove you know every four-syllable word in the dictionary. He is just...awesome.
4.8!
January 3, 2016
Adoro Palahniuk, e in questo libro è interessantissimo scoprire da cosa gli sono venuti alcuni degli spunti poi confluiti nei suoi libri.
Situazioni assurde della vita reale, raduni di gente che trova un proprio scopo in un'attività e fa in modo di ritrovarsi con altri suoi simili. Sia questa attività il sesso esibizionista, la lotta, gli scontri tra mototrebbiatrici, la costruzione di castelli in pietra.
Interessante anche la parte con i brevi aneddoti tratti dall'esperienza personale di Chuck, prevalentemente dedicati al periodo in cui Fight Club era all'apice della notorietà, con il film in produzione.
Non mi sono piaciuti i "ritratti".
Ma i racconti non mi piacciono, e questi non sono nemmeno racconti.
Interessanti, ma nulla di più.
Situazioni assurde della vita reale, raduni di gente che trova un proprio scopo in un'attività e fa in modo di ritrovarsi con altri suoi simili. Sia questa attività il sesso esibizionista, la lotta, gli scontri tra mototrebbiatrici, la costruzione di castelli in pietra.
Interessante anche la parte con i brevi aneddoti tratti dall'esperienza personale di Chuck, prevalentemente dedicati al periodo in cui Fight Club era all'apice della notorietà, con il film in produzione.
Non mi sono piaciuti i "ritratti".
Ma i racconti non mi piacciono, e questi non sono nemmeno racconti.
Interessanti, ma nulla di più.
June 10, 2015
The high rating is purely because:
This is still one of the good ones from Palahniuk. This is still one of the ones he writes actual sentences and thinks. You can read all the thinking! I truly enjoyed reading about things that I knew to be actual facts, never mind how much I've heard urban legends about fem fight clubs or people choking on food at restaurants for money, I know the stuff Manson said is true coz I've read his book years back.
There is a certain kind of honesty in Stranger than Fiction that I feel Palahniuk lost at some point. His need to make up things and spiderweb worlds overlaps his ability to tell it how it is. In Stranger than Fiction he still tells it.
This is still one of the good ones from Palahniuk. This is still one of the ones he writes actual sentences and thinks. You can read all the thinking! I truly enjoyed reading about things that I knew to be actual facts, never mind how much I've heard urban legends about fem fight clubs or people choking on food at restaurants for money, I know the stuff Manson said is true coz I've read his book years back.
There is a certain kind of honesty in Stranger than Fiction that I feel Palahniuk lost at some point. His need to make up things and spiderweb worlds overlaps his ability to tell it how it is. In Stranger than Fiction he still tells it.
November 15, 2016
Some of the essays were so interesting and others made my eyes glaze over in boredom. There is one rather funny one where Palahniuk flew to Los Angeles to meet with movie executives for Fight Club. For some crazy reason, Palahniuk decided to shave his head the night before but he completely messed it up and had small cuts all over his head and a nasty rash. He essentially looked like he had a terrible skin disease. It was pretty funny, but most of the essays are serious. I listened to this on audio and there were two narrators, the author and a professional narrator. A word of advice. If you ever see an audio book by Palahniuk narrated by the author, pick up a paper or ebook copy instead.
August 19, 2007
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-adjusted, even when he's verging on it.
May 1, 2015
Stranger than Fiction es una lectura obligada para todo fan de Palahniuk, aunque no lleve el mismo estilo narrativo que el resto de sus historias. Es una respuesta a muchos por qués que uno se plantea cuando lee sus novelas: sobre su estilo, los temas que aborda, e incluso sobre su propia vida. Los primeros capítulos y algunos retratos son un poco pesados; otros, y sobre todo en "Personal", están buenos.
Me parece genial que, escribiendo historias reales pero inverosímiles, cuestione esa crítica tan común que lo tilda de 'visceral', si la misma realidad nos sobrepasa.
Me parece genial que, escribiendo historias reales pero inverosímiles, cuestione esa crítica tan común que lo tilda de 'visceral', si la misma realidad nos sobrepasa.
November 13, 2016
Error Humano es un libro de relatos, en su mayoría, de tipos que están bastante pillados de la cabeza.
Son muchas historias cortas las que componen el libro, de modo que me resulta difícil hacer una valoración general.
Con algunas me he muerto de la risa (Casi California me ha matado), otras me han cabreado (como Querido Señor Levin)... y alguna me la he saltado porque lo que hagan los paletos sureños con sus cosechadoras me interesa más bien poco.
Son muchas historias cortas las que componen el libro, de modo que me resulta difícil hacer una valoración general.
Con algunas me he muerto de la risa (Casi California me ha matado), otras me han cabreado (como Querido Señor Levin)... y alguna me la he saltado porque lo que hagan los paletos sureños con sus cosechadoras me interesa más bien poco.
April 25, 2017
Rating - 7.4
A collection of interesting people that have chosen oddball professions to define their life; The more memorable 'essays' was the lady in disaster relief and Chuck's thoughts on his own father's murder
Although the book is repetitious in nature, you develop an appreciation for the research that Palahniuk puts in his work and grow to respect the circle he lives In - looking forward to Amy Hempel
A collection of interesting people that have chosen oddball professions to define their life; The more memorable 'essays' was the lady in disaster relief and Chuck's thoughts on his own father's murder
Although the book is repetitious in nature, you develop an appreciation for the research that Palahniuk puts in his work and grow to respect the circle he lives In - looking forward to Amy Hempel
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