Palahuniuk brings new novel to Ann Arbor

By Paul Wong  On  July 14th, 2002

By Maureen McKinney

Daily Arts Writer

In the present atmosphere of superficiality and rampant capitalist ideals, there exists a tremendous amount of difficulty in producing a work that draws attention to societal shortcomings, and at the same time, is rich in dark humor and satirical acuity. Chuck Palahniuk has accomplished this feat once again with his fourth novel "Choke".

Palahniuk, who is probably best known for his fierce and brilliant novel "Fight Club", has seemed to have waged a one-man-war on the accepted standard of a literary hero and has done so without an overwhelming sense of self righteousness. Rather, his heroes have evoked a collective introspection, which although sometimes unpleasant, have given Palahniuk's novels the resonance that makes them simultaneously amusing and profoundly disturbing.

These qualities do not, however, make a book very marketable, at least not in the eyes of publishers. Palahniuk found this to be true when his first novel, "Invisible Monsters," was rejected by all publishers who saw it. In a rage, he produced "Fight Club" and as Palahniuk stated, "I wrote it as an angry swan song. I figured no one would publish it, but still, no one would quite forget it."

Of course, "Fight Club" was published, and aided by an exceptional, glossy film adaptation, it catapulted Palahniuk into the role of the antihero who championed the undoing of capitalist foundations and highlighted the dark, raw spots of life such as addiction that often went unexplored by those in the literary world.

Palahniuk followed "Fight Club" with "Survivor", another eerily black comedy whose story was told through another unlikely protagonist. The main character in "Survivor" is, appropriately enough, the only surviving member of a religious cult who had just committed mass suicide. As the plane he is on plummets toward the Australian outback, he dictates his life story into the plane's flight recorder. "Survivor" was well received and demonstrated the strength of Palahniuk's ability to illustrate bleakness and humor with an adept style.

With "Choke", Palahniuk has one again delved into the recesses of his imagination and experience and provided us with Victor Mancini. Mancini, who spent a brief stint in medical school, is resourceful to say the least, and when faced with his inability to pay for his dementia-ridden mother's care, he devises a scam that will allow him a seemingly unending supply of funds. Each night, he dines in decadent restaurants and feigns choking until one of the well-heeled diners comes to his rescue. His rather disconcerting theory is that once someone saves his life, they will inevitably feel responsible for him in both an emotional sense and a monetary one.

"Choke" also returns to the world of addiction, support groups and self-help programs, which was so integral to "Fight Club". However, this time addiction is limited to sex and Victor frequents these support group meetings because of the likelihood of getting action.

For an author who experienced so much difficulty in the initial publication of his work, Palahniuk has established himself as a the spokesman for those who identify the ills of society, but who also recognize the pleasures that can be found in these dark and grim circumstances.

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 26 May 2012 19:18:34 -0400