Props to Rayo C. for spotting this first.  Let's hope we see more of these soon.

Pygmy Chuck Palahniuk. Doubleday, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-385-52634-0

Palahniuk’s 10th novel (after Snuff) is a potent if cartoonish cultural satire that succeeds despite its stridently confounding prose. A gang of adolescent terrorists trained by an unspecified totalitarian state (the boys and girls are guided by quotations attributed to Marx, Hitler, Augusto Pinochet, Idi Amin, etc.) infiltrate America as foreign exchange students. Their mission: to bring the nation to its knees through Operation Havoc, an act of mass destruction disguised as a science project. Narrated by skinny 13-year-old Pgymy, the propulsive plot deconstructs American fixtures, among them church (“religion propaganda distribution outlet”), spelling bees (“forced battle to list English alphabet letters”) and TV news reporters (“Horde scavenger feast at overflowing anus of world history”), before moving on to a Columbine-like shooting spree by a closeted kid who has fallen in love with the teenage terrorist who raped him in a shopping mall bathroom. Decoding Palahniuk’s characteristically scathing observations is a challenge, as Pygmy’s narrative voice is unbound by rules of grammar or structure (a typical sentence: “Host father mount altar so stance beside bin empty of water”), but perseverance is its own perverse reward in this singular, comic accomplishment. (May)

Order "Pygmy" Today!

Wow. This is just awesome. It seems a group of activists in the Ukraine calling themselves the UA Resistance, invoked the spirit of Tyler Durden by lighting up the side of an apartment complex in the form of a giant smiley face. The act was done in a non-violent effort to make a statement about the corruption causing high prices on apartment flats in the country.

Here's the email I received from the UA Resistance:

We have a present for Chuck on his Birthday:-) Ukrainian TV made a short interview about it, so we think, that it will be funny and interesting to send it to Chuck's fanclub. Where we can send photo of action?)  P.S. Sorry for bad grammar)) read more »

There's a new review up for the 'Choke' DVD from Steve Brown. The review is comprised in his latest podcast, along with an interview with writer/director Clark Gregg.

Listen to podcast here!

Let's all wish the big guy a Happy Birthday today.  Rather then say his age, I'll just tell ya that he was born in 1962 and let you do the math. 

So, in keeping with Chuck's spirit; rather then make this thread all about him.... (after all, how much fun is it really seeing a bunch of people just type the words 'Happy Birthday'?) let's instead hear you describe the best birthday gift you ever received. read more »

Filter Magazine just posted an exclusive interview with Chuck Palahniuk with his thoughts on the "Choke" film:

Read The Q&A Here!

Short but sweet.

'Choke' is now on DVD and you can order it from Amazon today!

Here's a listing of the features that are included with the DVD:

• My Name is Victor and I’m a Sex Addict
• A Mother’s Love, From the Los Angeles Film Festival
• Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session
• Audio commentary with Writer/Director/Actor Clark Gregg and Actor Sam Rockwell
• 5 deleted scenes with optional audio commentary with Clark Gregg and Sam Rockwell
• A conversation with Clark Gregg and Chuck Palahniuk
• Gag reel.

Order 'Choke' On DVD

Please use this thread if you want to post a review about the DVD.  Thanks!

Okay, I think my staff and I all have "eyes-bugging-out-of-our-skulls" syndrome. It's a rare condition. It afflicts those who have been working around the clock to launch a massive new version of an expansive author website.

I won't spend too long on a history lesson because you're all probably itching to explore the new site. What I will do though, is thank you all for your patience. Believe it or not, this site really is over a year in the making. Many of the features and options you are now being presented with, we fought tooth and nail to get into our 2008 version. But a series of bad circumstances just led us to a wall. And rather then get to build upon that version of the site, it soon became all about weathering the storm and steering you all to safety.

Today, that storm has cleared. So without further ado, here are your new features:

New Writer's Workshop

• Submit, read and review stories with greater ease
• Earn points for helpful reviews and comments
• Qualify to have your work read and reviewed by Chuck Palahniuk
• Qualify for the potential to be included in an Anthology Chuck will be publishing of the best stories in 2010
• New Writer's Desk lets you monitor new activity in the Workshop

New Forums

• We have a new version of the Drupal forum with a cleaner, fresher look and layout
• Mark All Forums Read actually works now
• There is now a 'Jump to Button,' at the top of all threads
• When there is a new Reply, if you click it from the forum listing, it will take you right to that post in the thread
• In Topic View, you can now see a "pager" navigation for threads that are more than 1 page.  Example:  Page 1, 2, 3...
• In the main Forum index, "Last Post by [username]" is now a link that jumps right to it
• It no longer shows you the first post of a thread when you go to Page 2, Page 3, etc.
• There are now more navigation options on the bottom of long threads
• Not to mention, a new Community Dashboard, which serves as a hub for all forum and community activity

Additional Features

• Awesome new user profiles with dynamic layout
• New convenient User Box with avatar view
• New sidebar activity boxes
• Out with the old search, in with a new custom Google search engine
• Updated Blog layout and Group features
• Our Book Recommendations page returns
• New sub-forums for Pygmy and Movies In Development
• All new Book and Movie pages
• A new Haunted movie page

Okay, digest that all in while you explore the site. 2009 is going to kick ass!

Join The Cult Today!

Greetings, all!  2009 is officially underway, so I wanted to take a little more time to hone down and elaborate on Chuck's wonderful post from January 2nd.  There's a lot to digest there, and while Chuck got to the meat and potatoes of it, he didn't quite explain all the other amazing things that were featured on the dish.

First though, let's revisit those big bullet points again, just so I'm sure you all understand exactly what is happening here: read more »

• In early February, we are unveiling a new version of the website. 
• This site will feature a brand new Writer's Workshop.  This is not our old Workshop with some added bells and whistles.  Rather, this is a completely updated Workshop, with a whole new interface. 
• Starting in February of 2009, we will be selecting approximately five Workshop submissions each month that will then be sent to Chuck Palahniuk.
• Chuck will read your work, review your work, and best of all, suggest ways to improve your work.
• Then, at the end of the year, Chuck and the editors on our site, will select the best stories of that year, to be published in an Anthology for 2010.
• The Anthology will include an Introduction by Chuck, and he will even go so far as to seek out and fund the publication of this book.

Last night our writers group met at Suzy’s house, and we took turns announcing what we’d accomplish with our writing in the coming year. After a decade of this ritual it’s too easy to simply resolve to complete a current project, then begin and complete another. Something feels a bit automatic, and that robs the process of any value.

Instead, consider that a suitable goal should make you feel a little – or a lot – embarrassed with its aspirations. Maybe only the goals that seem “impossible” really inspire or excite us to take action. In my experience, I’m never excited to answer mail unless I can do that task in an outrageous, over-done manner. It always feels like more work to send a simple letter than an elaborate package. With that in mind, please consider that these resolutions are a first step toward doing something which seems completely beyond your abilities at the present time. None of us want to waste our lives. We all want to surprise ourselves as we discover our abilities, and we want to meet other people and accept their help in completing our plans. In turn, we want to help others reach goals which seem beyond their current abilities.

In workshop, Suzy wrote down each writer’s committed goals, and we each took a moment to examine our writing lives. What we didn’t like, we determined to change. What sounded exciting and motivating, we stated we would accomplish. Please take a moment to examine your own writing life. read more »