Mister Elegant

by Chuck Palahniuk

A short story about a male stripper who has an 'accident' while dancing on stage (published in Vice Magazine in December 2006).

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Written 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.

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An 'inside' look at life as a traveling male stripper. As you might expect from Palahniuk, there are some cringe-worthy moments.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars out of 5 Stars

I really quite enjoyed this short Chuck Palahniuk tale of a male exotic dancer and his struggle with a past incident, only magnified by the rise of youtube and illegal recording. While I do very much enjoy most of Palahniuk's books, I do have to say that his short stories always have a harder time pleasing me. With the exception of Pheonix, which is safe to say my favorite Palahniuk short story (which you should all check out if you're contemplated a good, quick Palahniuk read), most others don't wow me. That is, until Mister Elegant. Now, I wouldn't say it absolutely "wowed" me, but it does stand out as both enjoyable and rewarding. At 10 pages, the content flies by while keeping you hooked and entertained the whole time.

Unlike a lot of times I read a short story, I felt there was ample time to develop the characters and the plot - while not taking too much time - and nothing was rushed or left out. In my opinion, timing, and the use of legnth, is the hardest skill to master while writing a short story. I feel that, often, a story will be underdeveloped because of it's shorter page count. In order to master the art of short stories, and write a (forgive me) kick ass short story, you must - and i repeat, must - be able to balance the page numbers and plot progression equally. I suppose the reason why I digress is because Chuck Palahniuk balanced both plot and length perfectly in this story.

[Gigi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chuck Palahniuk has a strange interest with illness, doesn't he? It's a central theme of all of his books. And drugs. Lots and lots of over-the-counter drugs. I wonder what disease/disorder he has/had that lead him to be so interested...

[Jana Eichhorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, dark, funny read. Pure Palahniuk.

[Marissa Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s the connection between vanity and heartlessness? Answer us that.

I’ll take a wild guess... A lack of empathy? A complete obsession with receiving love without giving it? A selfishness? How about, both words have an A in them?

[Anirudh Mannattil · Rating 1 out of 5]

For all the interesting circumstances and characters, felt this was one of Chuck's weakest shorts, in terms of both theme and engagement, out of all those in Make Something Up.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not one of his better shorts. Chuck's known best for his Shyamalan-like plot twists that you rarely see coming. This story had none of that. It's short and humorous, but nothing I'd bother rereading.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was interesting, and felt like he actually put effort into writing it.
Again, we have the misfit with a fucked-up life and а recent traumatic event, lots of medical anomalies and the usual crew of weirdos.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasnt as topnotch as the other short stories, but it was still good. The Chuck Palahniuk formula that I was immensely enamoured of is still evident and I greatly enjoyed it.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is the insanity of exotic dancing and birth defects. It is a fantasy of body image and the confusion of faking a perfect build in a spotlight.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book.. just a vice mag short story