Chuck and Group Therapies
I'm just curious. Chuck's novels are always written in first person, as in a confession most of times, and they revolve around the subject of marginalization. Also, Fight Club shows with detail how group therapies are.
So I was wondering out of curiosity whether Palahniuk had gone to any of these sessions.
It's not something I couldn't die without knowing, but I'm just interested in knowing.
"After a whole life reading, I realized books don't make you cleverer. They think for you.
So I started writing."
He used to drive people to and from the group therapy things. He used to do a lot of strange charity work. So ya he used to sit in on different things of that nature. Actually In Fight Club, that is Chucks cave, and his power animal.
As your attorney, my advise to you is to start drinking heavily(er).-Tuffy
Right on.
Thanks for the info.
"After a whole life reading, I realized books don't make you cleverer. They think for you.
So I started writing."
If you read all the "Postcards from the Future" in "Fugitives & Refugees" they will sometimes reveal where he gets his ideas.
Also, his essay, "Escort" in "Stranger Than Fiction" is the best thing he has ever written and the events in it gave him inspiration for Fight Club.
If you read his magazine articles and his interviews, you can pick up more from those. And a little more is revealed in his workshop essays here on The Cult.
He did go to Sexaholic Anonymous meetings while researching for "Choke."
He had a good friend that died from a rare case of hepatitis that Denny in "Choke" was based on.
The chapter in "Rant" that talks about wild dogs was inspired by his long walks home after Basketball practice in high school.
The small desert town he grew up in (Burbank, Washington) inspired the setting for "Rant."
Women's fashion magazines that he read while at the laundry mat inspired "Invisible Monster". As well as friends he had who would actually go to open houses and steal prescription medicine.
Carl Streator in "Lullaby" was a journalist as well as CP. And his college major.
I could go on and on... but knowing the inspiration behind good art is sometimes my favorite part.
Chuck used to work with terminally ill patients, and he wound up sitting in on a lot of group meetings.