Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
by Chuck Palahniuk
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Book Summary Information
Author: Chuck PalahniukEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-10
ISBN: 0385722222
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Anchor
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780385722223
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Book Review: Some value, but not stranger than fiction
Summary: 3 Stars
Being a fan of the movie, "Fight Club", I decided to check out some of Palahniuk's other work. I didn't want to start with the, "Fight Club" book because I've already seen the movie and wanted to start with something new.
So I picked this one. The reason being, I was interested in the person behind the movie phenomenon.
At first, I was pretty happy. "Stranger Than Fiction" reads like the narrator talks in "Fight Club". This was pleasing at first because the first couple of stories really piqued my interest, not just for the narration, but because they were stories that I truly enjoyed. Palahniuk's insight in the first "story" was spot on, I could relate to it - and the insight in regard to writer's conferences I could relate to, as I'm a writer myself but have never even attempted to publish one of the many novels I've penned although that's soon to change.
Further, the story about the combine derby sounded like fun to me and was well described. Monkey See, Monkey Do was pretty scary, but things I've already assumed were true.
Unfortunately, the rest was rather dull. While I do find it interesting that people have built their own castles from scratch, or are attempting launching themselves into space, it just wasn't that much fun to read about here.
Furthermore, some of these stories just did not interest me at all. I'm now convinced that Juliette Lewis is a complete idiot, even though I've never paid much attention to her in the past. Hearing her ramblings peppered with a series of questions that she asks people made me want to reach out and smack her, and the story of Marilyn Manson using Tarot cards just didn't do it for me. I could have appreciated them some what had they been written from Palahniuk's perspective - how he felt or what he got out of conversing with these people. But it isn't, these "portraits" as they're called in the book completely leave Palahniuk out of the picture, and might as well have been written by the celebrities in question, in a room by themselves. This didn't shed much light on Chuck for me.
Last but not least, I was a bit dissatisfied that Palahniuk's personal experiences and insight later in the book is not really stranger than fiction. As a matter of fact, he talks about things that most of us already realize and understand, but just don't think about that often. The creative element is missing here (which is fine in a non-fiction work) but profound experiences do not take the place of the creative writing. What we're left with is a lot of boring reading with some parts here and there that really talk to us, and being that such a wide range of topics are covered, there is bound to be something you can really appreciate about this work.
Having said that, most of it will likely leave most people bored. I tried to think of a better word other than, "boring" but none are more appropriate. However, the good parts were good enough to have me plow through the book in less than 2 days, looking forward to the next part I could relate to.
If you're just starting off with Palahniuk, I'd take my chances with a different work. If you've read his other stuff and like him, then you won't be completely disappointed here if you're a fan already. I score it 3 out of 5.
Summary of Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Chuck Palahniuk?s world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. In his first collection of nonfiction, Chuck Palahniuk brings us into this world, and gives us a glimpse of what inspires his fiction.At the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival in Missoula, Montana, average people perform public sex acts on an outdoor stage. In a mansion once occupied by The Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson reads his own Tarot cards and talks sweetly to his beautiful actress girlfriend. Across the country, men build their own full-size castles and rocketships that will send them into space. Palahniuk himself experiments with steroids, works on an assembly line by day and as a hospice volunteer by night, and experiences the brutal murder of his father by a white supremacist. With this new direction, Chuck Palahniuk has proven he can do anything.Authors Books
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