Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (2023), published by W. W. Norton
What is it about? Fight Club follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia who finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups. He meets a mysterious man named Tyler Durden and ends up establishing an underground fighting club as radical psychotherapy.
Why should you read it? Originally rejected by his publisher for being too graphic, Palahniuk’s debut novel has gained cult status, propelled by a 1999 film adaptation by David Fincher starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Delving into the concept of masculinity in the 1990s, for many there are contemporary echoes with today's society, and controversial cultural commentators such as Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan. Do the heteronormative themes and violent aspects of the plot wash in 2024? Was this a weathervane predicting the anger felt by men unable to evolve in line with society? Has Fight Club added to the acceptability of violence in society?
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Watch: Chuck Palahniuk on writing Fight Club
How much? Palahniuk sold Fight Club to publisher W. W. Norton for $6,000 and the film rights were optioned by 20th Century Fox for $10,000. Directors such as Danny Boyle, Peter Jackson and Bryan Singer all rejected the original manuscript before Fincher came on board.
What the critics say: "A volatile, brilliantly creepy satire filled with esoteric tips for causing destruction…Fight Club offers diabolically sharp and funny writing." - Karen Angel, The Washington Post.
For readers of… American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis, A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess; Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh.
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