Choke would be a good start.
Survivor God damnit
Survivor would make such a weird movie...who would play the main character?
There was talk about an Invisible Monsters movie and I hope this happens. I know it's probably his least popular book, but it's my personal favorite.
My favorite too. It's just so fucking twisted and hilarious
i just finished survivor. it's a lot like fight club in its structure.
Palahniuk does that.
Okay, call me crazy, but I think a good choice to play Tender would be Andy Richter. He could totally do it
I think Phil Hoffman would make a good Tender Branson. He's got the right look for early Tender, and his transformation would be pretty interesting.
Good choice
I read somewhere Fincher bought the rights from LULLABY before Palahniuk even finished it....and the history sounds a return to dark plots like Seven....I 'm praying to be truth....
Quote from: sexterossaQuote from: who else?I read somewhere Fincher bought the rights from LULLABY before Palahniuk even finished it....and the history sounds a return to dark plots like Seven....I 'm praying to be truth....
it was such a bad book though.
No, you just don't get it is all. In my opinion it's his best, most complex. I like Survivor better as entertainment, but think he's only improving as he goes on. Diary looks as though it will continue the trend.
Phil Seymour Hoffman as Tender Branson was
my idea a very long time ago. Which only confirms my suspicions about BonBon.
I read a while back that Choke was a possibility. Also that Chuck is taking a screenwriting class. (I so love that he's a learner.) I'd like to see any of his other novels on screen but don't really trust anyone but Fincher to do a good job. Tho I'd still be interested in PTA's translation and the weird hybrid that would plop out.
Survivor is my favourite, although I still haven't read Lullaby. I really hope they all get made into films! His work is so original and brilliant that I can't help but hope it reaches more people through any medium.
So what do all you big Chuck Palahniuk fans think about Fight Club the movie in relation to Fight Club the book? It's the only one of Chuck's books I've read, and I really liked it, but I think I actually prefered the movie (very unusual for me). Mainly because of the ending: the movie ending is one of my favourite conclusions of anything, bar none - the book's ending to me felt a little flat.
One bit from the novel that I wish they'd had time to put in the film is that amazing part where the narrator has figured out what's going on in his head ( :wink: put tactfully for the maybe one person in the world who hasn't seen this movie) and goes into a fight club night and picks a fight with every single guy there, wanting them to beat him to death. That's a really incredible moment, and could've been so powerful on film.
I liked the movie better as well
Quote from: budgie
Phil Seymour Hoffman as Tender Branson was my idea a very long time ago. Which only confirms my suspicions about BonBon.
que?
You're both the same person, but you're only you when she thinks she's asleep
Quote from: children with angelsSo what do all you big Chuck Palahniuk fans think about Fight Club the movie in relation to Fight Club the book? It's the only one of Chuck's books I've read, and I really liked it, but I think I actually prefered the movie (very unusual for me). Mainly because of the ending: the movie ending is one of my favourite conclusions of anything, bar none - the book's ending to me felt a little flat.
One bit from the novel that I wish they'd had time to put in the film is that amazing part where the narrator has figured out what's going on in his head ( :wink: put tactfully for the maybe one person in the world who hasn't seen this movie) and goes into a fight club night and picks a fight with every single guy there, wanting them to beat him to death. That's a really incredible moment, and could've been so powerful on film.
I find it hard to say which I think is 'better' because I saw the movie first so I can't guage the impact of the book so well. But I think they're both great, and that the movie is as good an adaptation of a book as I have ever seen, completely in tune.
As for the endings: the movie is a bit of a sell out to Hollywood formula in a way, and is more upbeat potentially. It follows the usual aim of creating a hetro couple, whereas the book focuses on the redemptive power of connecting with people and opening up generally. I see the ending of the movie as partly ironic and a nod to Hollywood, with that cute romantic pose, but I don't think it's only meant to read that way. And you can go on to follow through to where the book leads, thinking about what would happen to the Narrator from the end of the movie on. I love the ending of the book because it makes the problem explicit while leaving it downbeat, or what you feel is 'flat'. But I'm happy with both, and the movie's ending works for the movie, which has more energy than the book and also has to refer to the whole movie thing to achieve its point.
Quote from: BonBon85Quote from: budgie
Phil Seymour Hoffman as Tender Branson was my idea a very long time ago. Which only confirms my suspicions about BonBon.
que?
1. This.
2. Guffykins (don't think I haven't noticed).
= budgie wannabe.
But you're not alone, so don't be embarrassed, sugar plum.
Actually, I liked that other explanation.
Quote from: budgie
1. This.
2. Guffykins (don't think I haven't noticed).
= budgie wannabe.
But you're not alone, so don't be embarrassed, sugar plum.
Actually, I liked that other explanation.
Now let's not start anything - a shared passion for chuck does not make me a wannabe and considering we're both fans of PTA PSH is bound to come to mind. And Mac's just a friend. Besides, I'm lacking in the British wit department.
I like Tremo's explanation best, too
Quote from: BonBon85
Now let's not start anything - a shared passion for chuck does not make me a wannabe and considering we're both fans of PTA PSH is bound to come to mind.
What's wrong with being a wannabe? Anyone who says they're not one is lying.
Quote from: BonBon85And Mac's just a friend.
Hell, if I didn't know better I'd think you were related!
Quote from: BonBon85Besides, I'm lacking in the British wit department.
Don't be sad, it is the lowest form (after sarcasm).
I read/heard somewhere that Survivor was in the works, but now its stuck on the back-burner since the whole nine-eleven thing.
Which is silly, because the plane crash/hi-jacking really isn't a main deal in the book. Maybe it's not true. Anyways, I'm satisfied just reading the stories. The movies hardly ever get it right.
I liked Fight Club the movie better than the book, but the movie could have NEVER existed BEFORE the book. Since Palahniuk has said that Fight Club was just very very loose in terms of editting and structure, I think the movie is better simply because it has more focus. I mean, besides all the actors being wonderful.
And anybody who thinks Palahniuk's novels aren't improving with each project is just dead wrong. Period. :x Lullaby was amazing. The way he stomps the little houses. The Judas Cow. Or, remember when he was telling the story about his wife, the last morning they had together... :shock: The way he describes the whole thing. It just drives it home.
Looking forward to the scary one where HE READS IT TO YOU. Straight to book-on-tape, I guess. Isn't that just too cool?
I remember the Survivor script was being written by Gwyneth Paltrow's brother Jake
I'm hesitant to start a new thread because there are already a few on Chuck Palahniuk floating around, but I saw his new book, "Diary," in a bookstore a couple days ago, so I snatched it up. Haven't started reading it yet or anything, but I just thought I'd mention it to anyone who was interested. It surprised me because it's barely been a year since "Lullaby" first came out.
I'll try to get going on reading it in the next few days, though I can't really be sure when I'll be done considering a lot of other reading I have to do.
You forgot Fugitives and Refugees which came out after Lullaby
Wow. Okay. I'm really out of it. Thanks.
Invisible Monsters: Principal photography starts in November on the Chuck Palahniuk book film adaptation.
MacGuffin's note - From what I could find, this is who is at the helm (cerca Nov. 15, 2001):
Author Chuck Palahniuk, whose cult favorite Fight Club became the basis for the 1999 Brad Pitt movie of the same name, has sold the film rights to his novel Invisible Monsters to director Jesse Peyronel and his Bounder production company for a deal that could net him six figures should the picture get made, Variety reports.
Invisible Monsters, a tale of a pre-op transsexual and a disfigured fashion model who go on a revenge-filled but healing road trip, was written before Fight Club, but was published three years after.
Peyronel, who plans to write the script, may mark his feature directorial debut with the project after gaining attention for his short film "Swimming Out to Holly," a finalist in this year's Hypnotic Million Dollar Film Festival that Showtime picked up.
Other Palahniuk adaptations in the works are Survivor at Fox 2000 and Choke at Bandeira Entertainment.
Invisible Monsters is going to be very difficult to pull off, I think.
Not least because of the casting of Brandy Alexander.
Does anyone want to talk about Diary now?
I think I rank Diary #2 now in my revised list. I went by the official forums and there's a few people who didn't understand the ending. I don't consider myself a brilliant genius or anything, but that wasn't exactly a puzzle...
I have to say I was dubious about the ending. It's the right ending, but I don't feel he pulled it off. It feels a little clumsy. It makes the jumpy narration more interesting though. Now I wonder whether there's an implied edit going on, because otherwise Misty's character is pretty inconsistent.
I just read a few reviews, but haven't looked at the forum chat yet. I think you probably either get it or you don't, although I have to say that I can see how you could not get it and how you could. I'm quite interested in Chuck's intentions now, and might grill him (if he's lucky) when I go to meet him at his reading in London (very excited).
I have to say, I think it's my least favourite. Something about the art school context didn't work for me, amongst other things. But he's thinking about stuff that I currently am, so that was fun.
This is linked from AICN on CP.Net:
Hey Harry,
I was at the Chuck Palahniuk reading last in Los Angeles. He read his short story "Guts" and it was amazing. The story is so hardcore that it has made 18 people ( I think) pass out on his west coast leg of the tour. 2 people passed out last night, I was in awe.
So afterwards during the question and answer session, someone asked Chuck about where Survivor the movie stood. He said its been stalled, but he's been discussing a project with Spike Jonze and it is something very dark. If those two collaborated on something it would be amazing. Someone make this shit happen! In the meantime I'll just whack off until Kill Bill opens next month. If anyone else hears anything about the Palahniuk/Jonze collaboration, let all of us know. Ask Chuck about it at future readings, if you are not passed out or puking.
JD
Quote from: budgieThis is linked from AICN on CP.Net:
Hey Harry,
I was at the Chuck Palahniuk reading last in Los Angeles. He read his short story "Guts" and it was amazing. The story is so hardcore that it has made 18 people ( I think) pass out on his west coast leg of the tour. 2 people passed out last night, I was in awe.
So afterwards during the question and answer session, someone asked Chuck about where Survivor the movie stood. He said its been stalled, but he's been discussing a project with Spike Jonze and it is something very dark. If those two collaborated on something it would be amazing. Someone make this shit happen! In the meantime I'll just whack off until Kill Bill opens next month. If anyone else hears anything about the Palahniuk/Jonze collaboration, let all of us know. Ask Chuck about it at future readings, if you are not passed out or puking.
JD
it's so cute when u do a Ma
Nc's job..
Fight Club Writer Pens Hard Hearts
Source: Variety
Fight Club screenwriter Jim Uhls and former MGM executive Yalda Tehranian-Uhls have launched production company Peculiar Films and teamed with Hyde Park Entertainment for its first production, Hard Hearts.
Written by Uhls, the darkly comic crime actioner concerns a bounty-hunting couple who must chase down their most dangerous prey while planning their wedding.
The film is being prepared for production next spring.
Peculiar is also developing Thornley and Oswald by Stephen Barnes and Fool That I Am, written by Uhls and Knarik Koop. Uhls is also writing Flicker for Darren Aronofsky at New Regency and Gideon's Force for Imagine Entertainment at Warner Bros. Pictures.
I finally got around to reading Diary. I enjoyed it, but it's not one of my favorites. One qualm: the letter at the end was a bit unnecessary.
I went to the Union Square reading, and Guts is hilarious. I didn't get anywhere near passing out/feeling sick although many people around me had to put their heads down. I'm desensitized. Unfortunately the reading was packed and Chuck couldn't get to most of the questions, nor could he individualize every book he signed.
Quote from: BonBon85I finally got around to reading Diary. I enjoyed it, but it’s not one of my favorites. One qualm: the letter at the end was a bit unnecessary.
I went to the Union Square reading, and Guts is hilarious. I didn’t get anywhere near passing out/feeling sick although many people around me had to put their heads down. I’m desensitized. Unfortunately the reading was packed and Chuck couldn’t get to most of the questions, nor could he individualize every book he signed.
Why do you think the letter is unnecessary? Isn't the shift outside of the narrative wrapping up the whole leaving your mark theme, as well as turning it from a woman as silenced victim story into something else?
I've been following Chuck's phone-ins, and the readings sound hysterical. I'm keen to see whether it'll be the same with a British audience, cause I can't quite see it somehow. Maybe I'll pretend to pass out to gain attention if it's a bit reserved.
DIARY SPOILERS
I just thought the letter seemed like something out of a novel intended for preteens. It seemed like something more suited to an R. L. Stine Goosebumps novel. I see that it gives the novel a slightly more optimistic end, but the final entry has already made it clear that Misty knows that the way to prevent these events from happening again is to make them known to the world instead of hiding them. It seemed like the letter was beating you over the head with the idea that she was letting people hear her story.
Well, I already said I thought it was clumsy, but I can see reasons other than narrative for having it (such as the idea that Chuck has edited, which makes the ending less straightforward and 'happy', more ambiguous and 'real', as is Chuck's tendency). Since the whole book plays around the idea of different realities bleeding into each other I think Misty's writing had to escape the confines of the world of the novel.
Another fainting report:
Hey folks, Harry here with Bebop_chick and her brief report from Chuck's reading and signing at Columbia University. What on Earth is he reading... what spoken words can POSSIBLY cause 25 people to faint? This is a modern age. I would believe the people at these events have read Chuck's work before... What has he written to force their concious brain to simply shut down? That's astonishing to me. I must see/hear him read this short story GUTS... That's insane! Here ya go...
Hey Harry-
Bebop chick here - just wanted to let you know that I just got back from Chuck Palahniuk's signing at Columbia University. He read the now-notorious short story "Guts", causing his head count of individuals who have fainted during the full stretch of his American tour to rise to 25. Uniquely, the second person to pass out this afternoon actually fell forward into his chair, and was brought down onto the floor. After he came to, he started screaming at the top of his lungs (sounded like he'd had the crap scared out of him). I promised Chuck I wouldn't disclose too much info, but just thought I'd let you know that his upcoming anthology will prove to be everything it's hyped to be and more than you can fucking imagine.
On the Spike Jonze note - yes, Chuck DEFINITELY has spoken enthusiastically with Spike about an "underground movie project" after he is finished with his book tour (if Spike has not found another author before then - which I couldn't contemplate a reason for). He also shared a couple of other stories of friends, and examples of tales even his incredibly liberal publishers decided to censor (thanks to my question, of course) . . . there were numerous other goodies, surprises, etc. . . but I can't divulge too much. Any more questions . . . ? In the words of Chuck, I need that "like I need teeth in my ass-hole".
Au revoir,
Bebop_chick
From Entertainment Weekly:
A Knock Out
Fight Club author on why he's never attended one. And what Chuck Palahniuk's fans really want to know about the enigmatic creator of Tyler Durden
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.timeinc.net%2Few%2Fdynamic%2Fimgs%2F030919%2F172237__chuck_l.jpg&hash=7758f1e1655eca3abf3c58f14f57c2ecea5b9a0c)
JOIN THE 'CLUB': Palahniuk's first novel was one of those rare books that fans actually fought over
Once again, Chuck Palahniuk is seducing audiences with a tale of blood and guts. And the author of Fight Club, the bruiser anthem behind the cult movie, is beat up something good this time, his assailant a crystallized mass of evil burrowed deep within his whimpering bladder. ''I go to take a leak and, oh my God, I'm bleeding to death,'' he tells a Portland bookstore crowd of 200-plus. ''It's like Carrie. And I've got another kidney stone. Right now I'm on half a Vicodin. So go ahead: Hit me.''
And the crowd goes wild. Palahniuk (pronounced Paula-nick) is making a three-night promotional swing through local bookstores to promote his hometown travel guide ''Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon,'' and details of his bladder infection kill. His fans -- many of whom are young men, unemployed, or making do on minimum wage, tattooed and pierced, with black Sharpie pen on their nails and cut-off Dickies and red laces through their Chuck Taylors -- lap up his stories, so thrilled are they to be in their hero's presence. See, they didn't really read before. Maybe some Marvel comics or fantasy novels, maybe some Bret Easton Ellis. But they saw this movie Fight Club and something took hold and suddenly they're buying hardcovers and standing in line for three hours to meet a writer.
Dallas Webb, a 22-year-old struggling with borderline personality disorder, made the two-hour drive from Salem, Wash., to get his books signed by the master. Their exchange is clean and cordial and now Webb needs to sit down. ''This is a HUGE deal for me,'' he says shakily, embarrassed by his cotton mouth and trembling pierced lower lip. ''He's been the big influence on my life for the last couple years. I don't know, he's helped me a lot...the whole philosophy behind the movie. It wasn't just about violence, it was about how you can feel so alone in life and so abandoned and rejected by everything that you have to resort to violence to feel real.'' Like other hardcore fans, Webb flirted in the past with back-alley fight clubs. (One British kid wrote Palahniuk to say he'd officially changed his name to Brad Pitt's character, Tyler Durden.) And like others, Webb has self-mutilated in homage to Fight Club's infamous lye scene. To pay the evening its proper due, he'd poured superglue on his right hand and a buddy sprayed it with accelerant. His resulting chemical burn, a cracked, pink mess, is a source of pride. ''This makes me feel like I'm connecting with what I love. I have passion.''
Such earnest fanaticism propels Palahniuk's subversive novels, like Choke and Lullaby and the latest, a conspiracy horror story called Diary, onto the best-seller list. And at readings Palahniuk knows how to milk the love. He bought 45 masks of the WWE character the Undertaker at the dollar store and throws them out to the crowd, promising that ''these masks are excellent for sex!'' He signs everyone's books (''To Drew -- the best cellmate ever!'') and stamps the pages with ''Property of Oswald Men's Federal Penitentiary'' or ''Property of Dr. B. Alexander Sex Reassignment Clinic.'' He gives the crowd what they want -- and they want outrageous stories about acting up and getting loaded. They want to know when the next Palahniuk novel will bust its way onto the big screen. They want his personal e-mail address. They want to hear about his famous friends, like Trent Reznor and Marilyn Manson. Palahniuk loves to talk about Manson -- Manson this, Manson that -- and his painted-on shtick. ''It's almost like watching somebody do drag,'' he says. ''Because when he's up there doing his big nihilistic thing, it feels funny to watch him. Because I see it as this very put-on costume and persona.''
Chuck Palahniuk, 41, hasn't been in a fight since 1995. ''When I first used to tour,'' he says, ''guys would come up and say, 'Where's the fight club in my area?' and I would say, 'There isn't one.' And they'd say, 'No, no, you can tell me, you can tell me.' Or they would come and they would say, 'Is there one of these for women?' And I'd be like, 'There isn't one of these for men. I made it up.' And it breaks their hearts, it breaks people's hearts.''
Which is not to say that Palahniuk - who was raised in Burbank, Wash., a farming town without a gas station, in a trailer marooned across the street from the Burbank Tavern - doesn't have a family tree draped in violence. His paternal grandfather shot his grandmother to death before turning the gun on himself, Palahniuk's then-3-year-old father hiding under the bed. Palahniuk's parents, after years of messy, loud fights, split when he was 14. His dad, a railroad man and a great lover of drink and women, was shot and killed a week shy of his 60th birthday by the ex-husband of a gal he'd met through the personal ads.
"I started taking Zoloft after my day was murdered," says Palahniuk. "That was the year the Fight Club movie came out, same summer, and so it was a way to keep functioning and meet a lot of obligations. It was the best of times and the worst of times. [Zoloft] sort of kept me in the immediate moment. It didn't allow my mind to wander into a lot of tangentail negative thoughts about the trial and the murder and goddammit, the story of my father growing up and oh, if the sonofabitch hadn't placed that ad, you know, if he'd known what he was walking into, it just kept me from spinning off into all those different directions." His father's murderer rots on death row, "but he'll probably be appealing the verdict for the rest of our lives."
Knowing his dark history, and the irreverent, angry tone of his books, you might expect a man with menace in his eyes, someone ready to go off the rails. But in person, Palahniuk carries himself like a pussycat gentleman, eager and gracious. He took hard to swearing during his 13 years as a diesel mechanic at Freightliner Trucks (where he worked full-time until 1998), but he's sick of curse words and rarely lets one fly. Instead he uses milquetoast expressions like "Yes, Virginia" as in "Yes, Virginia, I have a kidney stone!" When he gathers with friends, it's for food and drink and board games like UNO or Trivial Pursuit. ("Hey, I hear Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have game nights too!") He wears loafers and khakis and reading glasses. "People are surprised that he's not some tattoo-ridden guy who's just like 'F--- the government! F--- this!'" says Dennis Widmyer, the affable 26-year-old creator and webmaster of the site www.chuckpalahniuk.net, otherwise known as The Cult. "My first view of him, he looked like Gordon Geeko, he had that slicked-back hair, very tall, good-looking, well built, and I was like, 'Huh? I don't get this.'"
Sting's album Brand New Day is in the CD player of Palahniuk's pickup truck. Wearing a Boston terrier T-shirt in honor of his two pups, Imp and Chick (Manson owns Boston terriers too!), he's driving up to Hood River, Wash., to show off an $800,000 castle he's interested in buying. Depending on whether the movie rights to Diary sell, Palahniuk hopes to purchase the castle and turn it into a writers' colony. ''Boy, I'd like to create a structure for my old age, since I don't have kids,'' he says. ''And also to provide that for other people as well, so that there's a sort of faux family of people devoted to a common passion.'' The fifth floor of the castle is a beautiful open space, with four skylights, that looks down on the White Salmon River. ''Can you imagine a better space for a workshop or a reading?'' he asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet. ''People would pee.... Manson would love this! He would pee!''
''Writing gave me the world,'' Palahniuk explains later, so he wants to extend a hand to other frustrated scribblers. If he hadn't hit it big with Fight Club, he'd be just another schmuck clocking in at some crappy job. ''I would be a really alcoholic person because that's really big in my family,'' he says. ''Until I started writing, every Friday was about going out for that big act of denial where you drink so much that you forget the fact that you have to go to work on Monday morning.'' Now he wakes up every day at 4 a.m., ready to wrestle with his passion for patterns and words. He listens to the same song on repeat, maybe Radiohead's ''Creep'' or, for Diary, Depeche Mode's ''Little 15.'' He's happiest when he's onto an idea for a new book, so he's going to keep cranking out one or two a year.
Life is sweet. So much more than his blue-collar roots, his working-class days, could have predicted. But the pressures of celebrity nip and bruise. Like Manson, Palahniuk takes heat when kids copycat. "A lot of 4-H clubs on the East Coast," he says, "they decided not to raise sheep. They decided to have fight clubs instead, and now it's a big scandal and I'm getting blasted for turning 4-H into a fight club." He swears he doesn't get puffed up by such acts of imitation. "It depresses me a little that people are so unoriginal...they're modeling their acting out after this prepackaged commodity."
Then there's the rightous finger-pointers who take shots when he doesn't live up to his anarchistic alter egos. Last year, The New Yorker hosted a reading party, and Palahniuk says he didn't know Bacardi had sponsored the event. When his mug later showed up in a rum ad, some fans cried sellout, and the alternate press ran articles carping that Tyler Durden would never shill liquor.
And there's the endless touring, where long days end at midnight with damp club sandwiches in indistinguishable hotel rooms. Despite his gleeful performances, Palahniuk discourages his friends from attending his events. He's tired of the dog and pony show. "You start to sort of read without reading it," he says. "Boy, that's easy to do with some of my Fight Club stuff. You just run it off like a little tape machine, or a Teddy Ruxpin."
He spends hours each day personally answering reader mail, sometimes including odd packages with Jesus night-lights and cheap rhinestone jewelry. But then people want second and third letters. They want intimate relationships. So at a recent University of Oregon book event, he had to think fast to shut a fan down. ''We're in this huge auditorium, full of people,'' he remembers. ''A kid way up in the top says, 'Sooo, uh, Mr. Palahniuk. Could you tell us something about your private life, maybe your private sexual life?' In front of 1,800 people! And it felt like, Okay, I have to think on my feet, what a great, fun challenge. So, I'm like, I was so proud of this, 'Well, actually, uh, I've chosen not to talk about those aspects of my life, blahblahblah, but what did you have in mind?' It was such a funny turnaround, it got a huge laugh. The kid was mortified.''
Turnarounds are a gas, especially when you get your pals in on it. ''When reporters call my friends, my friends start lying: 'Ah, yeah. He lives in a castle! He's a heroin addict!' And so they tell these contradictory stories, so it's fun for them.'' When the press makes references to Palahniuk's wife, everyone has a big giggle. ''My lovely wife!'' he smiles. In fact, Palahniuk has no wife, and declines to discuss his personal life on the record, preferring to keep his fans guessing (which they're not shy about doing). ''I just don't want the spotlight pulled away from my work,'' he says.
The Cult grows. On Aug. 26, when Diary hit stores, www.chuckpalahniuk.net received more than 250,000 hits. Aspiring filmmaker Dennis Widmyer has run the website, which is now advertised on Palahniuk's book-jacket flaps, out of his parents' home in Hickvill, Long Island, since 1999. He says he's not obsessed with the author; if he's obsessed with anyone, it's the model Millia Jovovich, thank you very much. But he doesn't have a steady job, nor does he make any real money from the site, even though he spends the majority of his days online.
The message boards are rabid, with topics like "Has Chuck Changed?" and "What Would You Do If Chuck Killed Himself?" The typical Cult member is a teenager, says Widmyer. "They're young, they're naive and their first dose of literature, real literature, is a guy like Chuck. And it's very liberating for them, and almost turns into a religion. They can get so wrapped up in some philosophy that Chuck puts in his book that if Chuck does anything to go against that philosophy, he's a total hypocrite and should be burned in hell." Later on, with five IM sessions about Palahniuk going, Widmyer says, "I think this world he created is now coming to get him."
Palahniuk doesn't go to the website. Too creepy. He already has enough on his mind, without worrying what people are saying about him behind his back. He suffers badly from insomnia. His record is 15 days. Sleep eludes him, and always has. "My parents used to fight a lot," he says, "and I think they fought a lot at night, and they would turn the television up to hide the sound of their fighting. Yeah, The Beverly Hillbillies really masks that! So in a way I just hated falling asleep with all that unresolved tension in the next room."
It was during a mean bout of sleeplessness that he stumbled upon the idea for Fight Club. These days, when he's staring sandy-eyed up at the ceiling, he'll pretend that he's falling alseep in God's hands (Palahniuk was raised Catholic). Or he pretends that he's dead. "I'm dead. I'm in a casket. I don't have to do anything. All the pressure is off. Every time I breathe out, I'm going to be more relaxed. I focus on the 'You're dead, boy, all bets are off, everything's okay and it doesn't matter.'"
That's lovely.
Quote from: MacGuffinAspiring filmmaker Dennis Widmyer has run the website, which is now advertised on Palahniuk's book-jacket flaps, out of his parents' home in Hickvill, Long Island, since 1999. He says he's not obsessed with the author; if he's obsessed with anyone, it's the model Millia Jovovich, thank you very much. [/size]
it's "Hicksville" and model/ACTRESS MILLA Jovovich
those people
Quote from: bonanzatazit's "Hicksville" and model/ACTRESS MILLA Jovovich
those people
Yeah, sorry. Those are my typos. The website article didn't have the complete one from the magazine, so I had to transfer what was missing (a lot actually).
oh. in that case i'll let it slide.
Exactly one hour till I see Chuck in the flesh. I'm so excited.
Whoa, cool. According to this (http://interbridge.com/lineups.html#LN), Chuck Palahniuk is going to be on Conan on Thursday, October 30th. Thanks to tremolosloth for posting the URL in another thread.
Well, Budgies off on one of her no Xixax kicks, so this won't be as fun, but I finally read my first Chuck P book (I know, it took me a really long time to get around to it).
I read Survivor... and I liked it... but I want to know... the people who's favorite book ISN'T Survivor, what is? Because I was expecting something a little better. I mean, it was funny... but it was a lot like Fight Club (I've only seen the movie, of course) and it didn't leave me saying "Wow, that was a great book" like I had been lead to believe.
Also, what's the deal with some little high-school goth kid thinking it was funny that I was buying a CP book? He was over near the shelf, looking at Diary and I reached around him to pick up Survivor and he started giggling and whispering to his girlfriend. Then they proceeded to follow me around the store, trying to stay sneaky about it (failing miserably).
Maybe I'm not hip enough to be reading his shit... that's the impression I got from this little prick... are most of his fans snobby little dicks?
After his appearance on Conan last night, I wanna hear more about his readings for the public, especially the death by masturbation tales. Did he talk about that, BonBon? And what is "Guts" about?
Guts is great. It'll be published in Playboy, so you'll want to check it out then. It's very funny in a very sick way. Two people passed out at the reading I went to and many others had to put their heads down and plug their ears. I think summarizing it would take away some of its effect, but I will say it is essentially just how he described it on Conan: 3 curious men each try something a little different and they all end horribly. I do have to wonder if the story will be as interesting in print form, though.
That's what i was thinking... I don't know anyone who's ever passed out while READING a book.
When that story comes out, someone (who's not boring) read the story and burn it to an MP3 for us.
Quote from: BonBon85There was talk about an Invisible Monsters movie and I hope this happens. I know it's probably his least popular book, but it's my personal favorite.
Okay, just finished this book, and it was so funny, especially the one-liners. Excellent characters. Fascinating exploration of vanity.
Quote from: BonBon85Guts is great. It'll be published in Playboy, so you'll want to check it out then. It's very funny in a very sick way. Two people passed out at the reading I went to and many others had to put their heads down and plug their ears. I think summarizing it would take away some of its effect, but I will say it is essentially just how he described it on Conan: 3 curious men each try something a little different and they all end horribly. I do have to wonder if the story will be as interesting in print form, though.
Okay, first off, I really understand now why people were fainting. My God, the descriptions and details were ghastly. It did make me cringe a couple times anticipating the reveal in my mind what I knew was happening, but I believe hearing it told to me would have been a whole lot worse. But it was also so damn wicked hilarious. It lived up to my expectations.
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: BonBon85There was talk about an Invisible Monsters movie and I hope this happens. I know it's probably his least popular book, but it's my personal favorite.
Okay, just finished this book, and it was so funny, especially the one-liners. Excellent characters. Fascinating exploration of vanity.
SPOILER FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ INVISIBLE MONSTERS
Should they make this movie, I have a great idea for a teaser trailer:
It's set to Prince's "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and it's just these ultra-sexy shots of a woman taking a shower, shot behind a frosted glass door. Steam is pouring out of the shower, we get a shot of her back, her legs, belly button, anything but her face (of course). We are absolutely in love with this woman.
She steps out of the shower, grabs a towel off the rack. Now she is facing the camera, as if in front of a mirror. She is drying her face and she slowly pulls the towel down, revealing her forehead, eyes, nose... and no jaw! Her tongue just hangs limp from her mouth as she looks at herself in the mirror (us). You can almost hear it now, the frat boys all shouting, "DOOOOOOOOOOOD!" in shock.
INVISIBLE MONSTERS
COMING SOON
That being said, I would love to see Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as the main character.
I met Palahniuk last year and asked him if some of his other books were going to get produced and he told me "Survivor" got a lot of interest but after 9/11 it went into development hell because no studio wanted to make with a crazy hijacker as the protagonist.
As for "Invisible Monsters", I read an adaptation that's currently being circulated to studios and I thought it was a really great read. It's got palahniuk's voice all over it, though he didn't adapt it. It would really be awesome if that script got made.
Quote from: El ScorchozAs for "Invisible Monsters", I read an adaptation that's currently being circulated to studios and I thought it was a really great read. It's got palahniuk's voice all over it, though he didn't adapt it. It would really be awesome if that script got made.
Was it the one I posted about on Page 2?
dammit. i wanted to make invisible monsters. they'd better do it right. i imagined it like a movie made in the 60's. technicolor, cheesy acting, really cool and original shots. oh well.
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: El ScorchozAs for "Invisible Monsters", I read an adaptation that's currently being circulated to studios and I thought it was a really great read. It's got palahniuk's voice all over it, though he didn't adapt it. It would really be awesome if that script got made.
Was it the one I posted about on Page 2?
You mean the one supposedly written by Gweneth Paltrow's brother? No, someone else wrote it. Can't remember the name, wasn't anyone with a famous name.
Quote from: taz.dammit. i wanted to make invisible monsters. they'd better do it right. i imagined it like a movie made in the 60's. technicolor, cheesy acting, really cool and original shots. oh well.
Actually that exactly what it read like.
Quote from: El ScorchozYou mean the one supposedly written by Gweneth Paltrow's brother?
No, I mean the guy on Page 2 of this thread. Jake Paltrow wrote a draft of "Survivor".
Quote from: El ScorchozNo, someone else wrote it. Can't remember the name, wasn't anyone with a famous name.
Was it the guy on Page 2?
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: El ScorchozNo, someone else wrote it. Can't remember the name, wasn't anyone with a famous name.
Was it the guy on Page 2?
Sorry, should have read better. Yeah, that's the one, Jesse Peyronel. Have you read his script Mac?
Quote from: El ScorchozHave you read his script Mac?
Nope, but if an anonymous tipster wants to send me a copy, I'll keep my mouth shut. I'd be interested in seeing how it was adapted. If it keeps that sharp sarcastic wit, I'd be happy.
Give me a great adaptation.
Give me jealousy.
i would fucking die if they did a film adaptation of invisible monsters. that is without a doubt my favorite book of all time. give me a hard-on.
Okay, so I'm almost through with "Lullaby" and decided I finally should start looking for a copy of "Choke" to complete my collection. After looking on ebay and the off-site sellers from Amazon, I found Strand Bookstore based in New York that had a hardback copy for $7.50, plus S&H. I bought that only copy because you can't beat that price. Well, today I received it in the mail and started thumbing through it, when right there on the page that lists the author, publishing co., title and graphics, I see Chuck Palahniuk's autograph! Holy Crap, I creamed my pants. I didn't expect that. It wasn't listed as an autographed copy, and it didn't have a sticker on the cover saying so. So it turned out to be an even better deal. Unless, of course, it's faked 'cause it looks a bit different than the autographs on ebay.
That's awesome Mac!!! Have you ever tried Amazon's used book store? They've got great deals there too. I bought Camus's 'The Stranger' there for 50 fucking cents and it came brand new!
Palahniuk Films In Development
Survivor
April 2005 Update: Francis Lawrence seems no longer intent on making Survivor his next movie. He most recently announced that he will direct an adaptation of Philip Ardagh's children's fantasy novel "A House Called Awful End". Read more at Dark Horizons here.
Chuck Palahniuk's second novel Survivor has long since been sitting in the halls of movie production limbo. Soon after Fight Club became a runaway cult hit, talk began of turning Survivor into a movie with such talent mentioned as Jerry Bruckheimer producing; starring names such as Jim Carrey, Kevin Spacey, and Madonna; even Trent Reznor of NIN tossed his hat into the circle and offered to score the entire film. The first tangible lead to take though was a screenplay by Jake Paltrow (Gwyneth's little brother). With a draft that convinced the heads at 20th Century Fox, Paltrow set into motion to move the project forward. Things looked good and ready to take off. And then two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center.
In the wake of 9/11, something happened behind the scenes of the book industry and Hollywood, and suddenly anything with transgressive themes found a dusty shelf. Survivor, a book with the running storyline of a person hijacking and crashing a 747 into the Australian outback just didn't sit right in this new, post-terrorist climate our society was living in. For years, Chuck would find himself answering a common question at almost every public reading he did: "What's the status of the Survivor movie?"
Well, Chuck is finally able to answer that question. At his recent appearance at the Chicago Book Fair, Chuck said that the Survivor movie now will be made into a film! It sounds like the Jake Paltrow screenplay is out, since he said the team behind the upcoming film Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, want Survivor to be their next project. Chuck has already signed the contract sent his way and the screenplay is being adapted as you read this. Who knows though how long it will be until actual filming begins. And don't forget, these things have a way of dying before they even get to the next phase. So don't hold your breath until the film officially gets a greenlight.
source: chuckpalahniuk.net
Quote from: Sigur RósApril 2005 Update:
upcoming film Constantine
sumthing's not right there..
Quote from: Sigur Rósthe team behind the upcoming film Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, want Survivor to be their next project. Chuck has already signed the contract sent his way and the screenplay is being adapted as you read this.
So Francis Lawrence and his crew? Does this include Keanu Reeves?
this includes Keanu Reeves
Quote from: Sleuththis includes Keanu Reeves
No wonder they call you Sleuth. Good job.
that's why they call me Sleuth
Quote from: Sleuththis includes Keanu Reeves
the crew of Constantine + Keanu + Palahniuk....but that would make it the best movie of all time! :shock:
Trade Breaks: Choke
Source: Dark Horizons
"Universal Pictures has apparently acquired film rights to Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Choke" with Paul Bernbaum ("Hollywoodland") tapped to write. The novel concerns Victor Mancini, a young man who scams people by, literally, choking in restaurants in order to keep his mother in St. Anthony's Care Center while he goes to sexaholic meetings to get some action & tries at the same time lusts after his mom's nurse".
Just read Choke and thought if done right could be a good movie.
Hollywoodland has pretty good buzz going so Paul Bernbaum may be a good choice.
Palahniuk is a great writer and his style is obviously integral to that but Fight Club is a perfect adaptation of his work, maintaining a similarity of tone as well as keeping and changing just enough of it for it to work.
I think that Survivor would make a brilliant film but it better not get made by the guys that did Constantine (a decidedly underwhelming movie) it deserves better.
Has anyone read Haunted? I'm about half way through it and I'm tempted to drop it - it's just not grabbing me... I love the idea - a sort of postmodern take on those Haunted Mansion ghost story type books/movies, but the delivery just does nothing for me. I've only read Fight Club and Choke of Pahaniuk's other stuff, but of which I kind of liked, but the thing about his style that really annoys me is the way he smugly loves to give you all this 'priveledged' insider information on these worlds and subcultures like he's educating you; it just happens ad nauseum. And with Haunted, with all the stories within stories, it's like he's just using this format to do that a hundred times over with no larger project other than a pervading nihilism that never finally convinces. Is it heading towards something fuller and more satisfying, or should I just give up?
Quote from: children with angels on September 12, 2006, 07:08:48 AM
Is it heading towards something fuller and more satisfying, or should I just give up?
You might be better off just reading the short stories themselves and skipping past the whole framing story, which leads to nothing and nowhere. But there are some genuinely great short stories scattered throughout, especially "Foot Work", "Swan Song", "Ritual", "The Nightmare Box", and "Obsolete".
Levy brings 'Haunted' to New School
Lit agent launches production company
Source: Variety
Former ICM lit agent Brian Levy has launched a management and production company, New School Media.
Levy's first move under the new banner is optioning the rights to Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Haunted."
Koen Mortier will adapt and direct.
"Haunted" revolves around a group of characters who answer an ad for a writers retreat and unwittingly end up competing in a "Survivor"-like scenario, where the host withholds heat, power and food. As the storytellers grow more desperate they ruthlessly plot to make themselves the hero of the reality show or film that they expect will be made from their plight.
Palahniuk, author of nine novels, is popular with Hollywood filmmakers. His books "Fight Club" and "Choke" have been made into films, while "Invisible Monsters" and "Survivor" are in development.
Mortier, who also works as a commercial director, made his directorial debut with "Ex-Drummer," which premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival.
Levy's client list includes Mortier and Andrew Lau, whose "Infernal Affairs" served as the basis for Martin Scorsese's "The Departed."
Additionally, New School Media has also inked a first-look deal with ArtFire Films ("George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead").
This book brought my Palahniuk fandom to a screeching halt. Forced myself to read the first 100 pages, then promptly forgot them (except for "guts" of course).
Quote from: nix on November 04, 2008, 01:25:41 AM
This book brought my Palahniuk fandom to a screeching halt. Forced myself to read the first 100 pages, then promptly forgot them (except for "guts" of course).
My sentiments exactly. I tried to return with Rant, but the Palahniuk sparkle had worn off. Haven't bothered with the most recent
Bring on a Survivor adaptation already. And make sure it's good.
Still his best novel.
Quote from: john on November 04, 2008, 01:53:57 AM
Quote from: nix on November 04, 2008, 01:25:41 AM
This book brought my Palahniuk fandom to a screeching halt. Forced myself to read the first 100 pages, then promptly forgot them (except for "guts" of course).
My sentiments exactly. I tried to return with Rant, but the Palahniuk sparkle had worn off. Haven't bothered with the most recent
Bring on a Survivor adaptation already. And make sure it's good.
Still his best novel.
Except that Invisible Monsters is. Or Diary.
His last three novels haven't been up to snuff (pun intended). I wish he would drop the multiple POV structure and get back to a regular narative.
Survivor is way too much like Fight Club.
How does Haunted become a movie?
Quote from: RegularKarate on November 04, 2008, 03:20:15 PM
How does Haunted become a movie?
a friend of mine was in a fairly successful amateur theatre version of it. it can be done.
Re: Thread title from 03 (not the poster) - No we don't.
I agree, though, Gut's is da dolphin's brain.
Quote from: RegularKarate on November 04, 2008, 03:20:15 PM
Survivor is way too much like Fight Club.
I see similarities in the narrator's tone, but nothing further. Though, the same complaint could be given to any of Palahniuk's novels. Regardless of character's variances, they all end up speaking with such a similiar infection and world view that it's become redundant. Basically, he's the nihilistic literary equivalent of Kevin Smith. That one-two-three combo of Fight/Club/Monsters/Survivor... and, to an extent, Survivor... is really hard to beat, though.
However, I don't think I've read Survivor in over six years, so if pressed, you probably could trump me in regards to their similarities.
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 04, 2008, 02:00:52 AM
Except that Invisible Monsters is. Or Diary.
Couldn't get into Diary... but I'll gladly accept Invisible Monsters as a formidable argument. I just prefer Survivor.
Quote from: john on November 07, 2008, 01:35:58 AM
Fight/Club/Monsters/Survivor... and, to an extent, Survivor
Fight
Club
Monsters
Survivor
Survivor
Top five Palahniuk books
I should probably correct that to read Fight Club/Monsters/Survivor... Choke.
But, fuck it... I'm sticking with Fight/Club/Monsters/Survivor/Survivor
I would love to see Monsters over anything else, if for no other reason, just to bask in the glory of a film with a facially mutilated super model protagonist.
Diary could also be a very effective film if handled properly, (i.e. by someone other than Clark Gregg).
I agree that Palahniuk's voice tends to envelop, and sometimes eclipse the characters he writes. I'm very divided about the way he presents them as well. He gives his book's inhabitants very specific activities, hobbies, jobs, etc. which fiction 101 says, should individualize them. The problem is, he leans too heavily on processes or little factoids, writing them in a frustratingly consistent rhythm so that somehow the characters, no matter how varied their jobs or surroundings, always end up feeling like one person.
All of the seemingly random bits of knowledge Tyler/Jack(or Joe in the book I think) possesses served Fight Club's story as well as being interesting on their own merit because at the time, Chuck's voice was fresh.
The novelty has long since worn off and our boy needs to shut up for a second and listen to his characters. He may realize that they don't all sound exactly like him.