Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

by Chuck Palahniuk

You can get plenty of folks telling the same lie if they got a stake in it. You get everybody telling the same lie and it ain’t a lie, not no more.

reality is a consensus. Objects, from diamonds to bubble gum, only have value because we all agree they do.

In other cultures, children throw the tooth into a roaring fire, then, later, dig for coins in the cold ashes.

Getting vaccinated against fear. No matter the future, any terrible job or marriage or military service, it had to be an improvement over a coyote chomping on your foot.

Every family has its scriptures, but most can’t articulate them. These are stories people repeat to reinforce their identity: Who they are. Where they came from. Why they behave as they do. Rant used to say, “Every family is a regular little cult.”

What if it’s a total toilet in your head, but out of nowhere—slam-bo!—somebody crashes into you, and you’re better? Isn’t it like a gift, somebody slamming you? Don’t you get out of the car, all shaky and shocked? Like you’re a baby getting born? Or a whole relaxing massage that happens in one-half a second? Isn’t Party Crashing like an electroshock treatment for your depression?

Death is a tragic event, but stopping the flow of traffic is always seen as the greater crime.

The term “bogeyman” is derived from “Boney,” the British derogatory nickname for Napoleon Bonaparte. Over time, the name evolved into “boneyman” and later “bogeyman,” but it was always used as a threat by the British in order to keep their children obedient.