Do you remember your first Chuck book?

The first one I owned or read?

I remember hearing a movie review on NPR, I think of the video release of 'Fight Club,' probalby on Fresh Air. I remember really clearly the comment that it was a diesel mechanic in Portland's debut novel and that the title was misleading. I got the book from the library, I think this was before I saw the film. I can't be sure, but I read LOTR when I heard they were making movies of it because I generally think it's more fun to read the book first.

As far as ownership, I guess 'Diary' was the first one I bought. Chuck sent me the trade pb of 'Fight Club' in my care package last year, and I bought 'Lullaby' in that format. I bought 'Haunted' in hb on a preorder basis and regretted it as it's my least favorite of his books. Balanced that out by buying my favorite of his, 'Survivor,' twice. I loaned the trade to someone and bought a first edition hb from St. Helen's with Chuck's inscription. Somewhere along the way I picke dup 'Fugitives and Refugees' in hardback, probably as a remainder though it lacks the telltale heel mark. Oh, and 'Choke,' not sure when I bought that, but that was one I got in trade paperback.

I forgot how I heard of Chuck P., but I remember visiting amazon.com and I decided to try out the ol' Invisible Monsters.

I read it.

I got hooked.

That reminds me, awhile before I bought Diary, someone told me how Fight Club was the most awful, disgusting movie ever, and I kind of cringed at the description. Then I finished reading all of Christopher Moore's books and was looking for something else, and checked out "Chris's Picks" on his website, and found Chuck Palahkiuk in there. I was actually a bit apprehensive at first, didn't know what to expect. Diary was like the gateway drug, and then Invisible Monsters and Lullaby. By then I felt like I had the intestinal fortitude to tackle Fight Club, and it turned out to be not such a big deal, in fact I loved it. Then I went out and rented the movie Fight Club and loved that to. But if I had just straight seen the movie Fight Club before all of that, I'm pretty sure I would have hated it. So, that's definitely a measure of how Chuck's books have affected me. Also, I got my wife to read all of his books as well, including Haunted.

I remember mine....[URL=http://www.campusi.com/isbn_055306908X.htm]The Secret Power Within.[/URL]

Changed my life that Chuck did.

Shortly after 9/11, living so close to what happened, I needed a break from the whole thing. Me and my college roommate drove up to Rochester, and spent a week between there and Toronto. He used to go to RIT, so we stayed with an old friend of his. It was a week of drinking heavily next to a bonfire and sleeping on a floor and trying to process a lot of things. As we were leaving, my roommate's friend handed him a battered copy of Survivor. I don't know what the exchange was, I couldn't hear it, but my roommate took the book, nodded, and stuffed it into his bag.

When we got home, it sat on his bass amp for two weeks. He couldn't read at that point. He had no attention span for reading and would freak out if he had to do it. Now, he can zero in and finish a book in a day or two, and reads at least 6 or 7 a month. But then, it was just sitting around. So one night I picked it up, and read it straight through. Skipped two classes to do it. Been hooked ever since.

My first Chuck book was [U]Fight Club[/U], I read it over the Christmas holidays in 1997. My copy was even the original hardcover...[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=6475&stc=1&d=1143573763]http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=6475&stc=1&d=1143573763[/URL].

When I finished the book I immediately knew I had found an author that I was going to follow forever, such as Easton Ellis. I have since read each of Chuck's books succession.

Ah, yes. My friend suggested "Choke" to me and I thought it looked completely ridiculous, in a bad way. Of course, after I read it I still thought it was completely ridiculous, but in a good way.

I read Lullaby first, I think. It was on holiday in Spain and everything in this bookshop was either in Spanish or shit, so I bought Lullaby on the off chance it might be good and lo, here I am.

[QUOTE=Monkeyspoon]I read choke first - some hot girl lent it to me to read so how could i refuse?[/QUOTE]

...And a hundred pages in you realized she had been trying to drop a hint. Oh! The frustrating life of a bookworm.

Chuck wrote this civil war western that totally owned that very few people know about ....[URL=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0805440321&itm=1]Justice Riders[/URL]

I'm looking forward to this altering my life as I know it.

[QUOTE=UbikRex]Chuck wrote this civil war western that totally owned that very few people know about ....[URL=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0805440321&itm=1]Justice Riders[/URL]

I'm looking forward to this altering my life as I know it.[/QUOTE]

Uh, I don't know quite how to tell you this after you've hung out here a couple of years and posted thousands of times, but this forum is about Chuck [I]Palahniuk[/I].

And remember, when it rains on Chuck Palahniuk, he does not get wet: the water gets Chuck Palahniuk.

[QUOTE=merigirl]I'm not all too proud of the way I heard of Chuck Palahniuk, but it was from the band Panic! at the Disco, because they used a line from Survivor as a title for one of their songs. I think I googled the title and found a forum discussing him. I decided to give him a shot and got Survivor from the library. Honestly, at first glance I was thinking it was going to be one of those books you check out and then never end up reading. It sat on the bottom of my pile of books for about a month and a half until I was out of things to read and finally picked it up. It was midnight, and I had to be up in a few hours, but after the first chapter, I knew I could forget sleeping that night. I actually missed school the next day to finish it. Since then, I've read every book he's written except for Fight Club and Fugitives and Refugees.[/QUOTE]
What a great way to get into "Survivor" and Chuck P. ! An unexpected find for you! Good for you

It's certainly better than getting into him after hearing that song by Fightstar.

Mine was the usual route.

I saw Fight Club when it came out and I loved it. People told me to read the book first and someone loaned me a copy and i've had it stashed away for a few years now - still haven't read it.

Last month I went on a snowboard trip that I was regreting and in the airport I picked up some Car magazines, a skateboard magazine and a book called "Marely and Me". It said "Life and love with the worlds worst dog" and I thought "sweet, someone wrote a book about my dog!" I read that while I was on vacation, which, is pretty rare cause I'm "not a reader". I can count all the books I've read in my life on both my hands.

On my return trip home I stopped by a bookstore in the Sea-Tac airport. After not figuring out which Star Wars book I left off on in the New Jedi Order series I jottled over to find some other books. I thought about getting Fight Club, but, didn't 'cause I don't want too copies that I'll probably never finish or read. I rummaged through Chucks other titles not knowning anything about them and picked up Choke. Read the words on the cover, inserts and the glorious quotes from uppity-review-companies. I bought that and went on my way.

I sat in the airport and read it waiting for my flight. I was 30 pages to the end by the time I landed home. Once home I threw my stuff on the ground, petted my dirty, sick dog I picked up from boarding and finished the book.

the following Friday was payday. I went to the book store and picked up "Survivor", "Invisible Monsters" and a Star Wars book. It took me a few nights to finish Survior 'cause I had band practice two nights that kept me up late and one night I went to watch some bands and stayed up way past my bed time, all night saying "I could be at home reading." But, I'm glad I went out 'cause a few girls got on stage and showed some titties! Tits are always worth it!

Ten minutes after I finished Survivor I started Invisible Monsters, and I'm about 3/4s of the way through it right now. I'll finish it tonight when I get home! Yay! So, here I am, Hooked. I keep asking myself, should I spend the money and get some other Chuck books? Or save it and buy stuff I [i]need[/i]? The books aren't spendy ,but, when you're as broke as I am every dime counts!

Oh. Hi! I'm Minimaul.

[QUOTE=anxious phoenix]

When we got home, it sat on his bass amp for two weeks. He couldn't read at that point. He had no attention span for reading and would freak out if he had to do it. Now, he can zero in and finish a book in a day or two, and reads at least 6 or 7 a month. But then, it was just sitting around. So one night I picked it up, and read it straight through. Skipped two classes to do it. Been hooked ever since.[/QUOTE]
I liked that story.
My first boyfriend in highschool got me into Chuck. I read Fight Club before I saw the movie. His books got me excited about reading again.

[QUOTE=merigirl]I'm not all too proud of the way I heard of Chuck Palahniuk, but it was from the band Panic! at the Disco, because they used a line from Survivor as a title for one of their songs. I think I googled the title and found a forum discussing him. I decided to give him a shot and got Survivor from the library. Honestly, at first glance I was thinking it was going to be one of those books you check out and then never end up reading. It sat on the bottom of my pile of books for about a month and a half until I was out of things to read and finally picked it up. It was midnight, and I had to be up in a few hours, but after the first chapter, I knew I could forget sleeping that night. I actually missed school the next day to finish it. Since then, I've read every book he's written except for Fight Club and Fugitives and Refugees.[/QUOTE]

I don't know this band. What line did they use from Survivor?

[FONT="Arial Black"][COLOR=Red]My first taste of Chuck’s writing came with “Fight Club.” It was a short time after I had seen the movie and was driven to search out the source material. I was lucky to find the original first printing in a public library and read the first few chapters. To my delight it moved along like a train and gripped me like few other books. Since then I have devoured anything Chuck has ever written and share his works of any person with the same wild demeanor.

What I like to do is buy the book read it a few times so I’m hardwired to its brilliance and then pass it on. I write on the back of the inside cover how, “this book should never be kept and needs to be circulated.” I also invite the reader to write their name and the date of completion under mine.

I agree that it’s important to keep some books for reference but for me its more fun that the books are enjoyed then sitting on a shelf 99% of the time.

Laters,

M-Love
[/COLOR][/FONT]

I remember way back when the "Fight Club" movie came out and a friend of mine told me I had to see this movie he said it would change my life. I told him, "I don't want to see some gay ass movie about Brad Pitt and soap." I later saw "Fight Club" on DVD and boy was I ever wrong - at this point I didn't even know there was a book.
A few years down the road I saw another friend reading "Fight Club" I went out that day and bought it and had it read in 3 days. Two months later I had read all of Chuck's books out at that time.
I now own all of his books including four first additions and every short story of his I can get my hands on. I also have a standing order with my book dealer for any Chuck Palahniuk book I haven't read.

I suddenly got interested in good movies one summer. My brother was there to provide. He showed me Fight Club and I remembered there being a book. So I figured out the author and got Lullaby. I didn't get Fight Club until later. After Lullaby (even though it's not the best) I was hooked.

My cousin, who is two years older than me, showed me Fight Club when I was... ten or eleven, and I remember thinking "I really don't understand this, but damn, that was a good movie."

Then... two years ago I was on vacation in Door Country, Wisconsin with same cousin ( I was 13 at the time) and he had a friend's copy of Choke. He let me read it with a warning not to let my mom catch me. I got about a quarter through before we had to leave, and loved it. Bought my own copy that winter.

i never read much before I saw fight club, I heard that palahniuk had wriiten a few others and decided to check them out I read choke and loved it then i went on to read all the others, and begain reading other books like brett easton ellis and others and just finished haunted and Im starting diary now I heard that haunted was suppose to be an hbo mini series anybody have any info on that

unfortunately i only bought fight club the book after seeing the movie...my version has brad pitt and edward norton on the cover, which is pretty lame. the whole time i was reading the book i kept remembering the movie and it kind of ruined the experience...but otherwise i wouldn't have started reading all of chuck's other books...which i love

I saw fightclub, and went : "Hey, a film about fighting, that's not about fighting. Cool" and looked no further into it. A while later, an older guy I knew advised me to read it, saying it was one of the best books he's ever read. I go to a library, borrow it, read it, find it brilliant, then return it and my memory of it dies. A year later, and I'm in Leeds with my girlfriend, and I bought it. Then I bought Choke. Then Survivor. Then Invisible Monsters. Then Haunted, which I'm reading now.
Good times, good times.

i knew him from the movie. i hadn't heard of him before then. i tried to get fight club out of the library but it was checked out and had a lot of holds on it. the only book they had not checked out was invisible monsters. i remember the day i got in. it was may of 2003. the cover was coming off. i remember the smell of it also. but it had some thing on it foreign that someone had spilt on it. i could never place it. probably jizz

I was in a library and I saw Survivor. I tought that it is a second part of a horror book called Survivors - so I took it. The best decision of my life! When I think about it now, that horror book was crap.

The first book I bought was Fight Club. I bought it after University test this year. I bought for good luck, to read it while I'm waiting for test results. Anyway, it brought me good luck. I got in and now I am officially Japanese student.

I have a friend who used to work at a Tower bookstore. I had heard on the news that Brad Pitt was starring in a controversial new movie. So I say to my friend, "Have you heard about Fight Club?" And she says, "Yeah, I already read it. It's really good, you wanna read it?" And I go, "Oh, its a book, too? Sure, why not?"
So the next day I go and meet her at work, I grab a copy off the shelf and hand it to her at the register. With security cameras and customers looking on and even other bookstore staff all around, she drops it in a bag and hands it back to me saying, "See ya later."
Stealing a book made me uncomfortable, but I didn't wanna draw attention to the situation so I just split. I took it back to her apartment, and read it cover to cover. She came home from work, we hung out, discussed the book and she returned the book the next day.

First I watched Fight Club at 5 on the morning, after 6 other movies with a friend.
I didn't understand a thing. Then I bought it,it was my first DVD. Then I watched it again. Then I noticed that it was based on the book. So I looked for the book. And found it on a bookshop with the cover with the movie's soap. So I read it. And I liked it. And I forget about it. And a few months later, I found Survivor. And I read it and I liked it, and then Lullaby, and then Choke and now Diary but I have troubles with the reading of this book.

I remember not wanting to pick up fight club (book/movie) because I thought it was going to some pointless book with some cockdispencers fighting and nothing else.
I WAS WRONG!
SO WRONG!!!!!!!
I finally pick up both book and movie because an older friend of mine was telling me how awsome it was.
And now FightClub is my favorite book. I just finished it this summer about 3 months ago (noobs gotta start somewhere)
I finished Survivor and Im close to being done with Invisible Monsters.
Im gonna try to read all of Chuck's books in order.

My senior year in High School I was taking an AP English class. Our teacher had left because of problems at home so we had to finish the year with a substitue teacher who had retired the year before from the same school. She had decided that we got to pick that last book we wanted to read. We all gathered at Barnes and Noble and each student picked a book they might be interested in reading. Invisable Monsters was in the pile. The class voted we read Invisible Monsters and I loved it. It is still my favorite book today.

Another guy dragged into Chuck's work via Fight Club, the movie. The movie was so different then what I had been seeing, that when I found out it was based on a book, I decided to see who this Palahniuk guy was. Since I'd just seen the movie, I didn't want to read the book, wanted to distance myself from it. So, I picked up Survivor, and was hooked - what an original voice. Then Choke, then Diary, then Lullaby. Started Invisible Monsters, and could NOT get into it. I have to revisit that book since so many people here say it is their favorite. Still haven't read Fight Club, but after many comments by people here saying it is still worth reading after seeing the movie first, I'll have to go do that too. Here's my ranking of his work:

Survivor/Choke: 10/10
Diary/Lullaby: 9/10
All Non-Fiction: 8/10
Haunted: 7/10

Really looking forward to Rant. And Godspeed by Will Christopher Baer at about the same time in May 2007.

It was fate for me! I found an old Hardcover Lullaby in my grandma's house, and just a couple days before that, a senior friend at school was telling me about this amazing author she was reading: chuck palahniuk. I probably wasn't going to read his stuff on my own, but when I found Lullaby, I regconized the name, and thought, Eh, why not. So I did, got hooked, and here I am.

I've read them all. Loved them all. Favorite = First, Lullaby.

I first read diary. Bought it at the airport. It was an airport novel!

[QUOTE=LeHaHi;902855]It was fate for me! I found an old Hardcover Lullaby in my grandma's house, and just a couple days before that, a senior friend at school was telling me about this amazing author she was reading: chuck palahniuk. I probably wasn't going to read his stuff on my own, but when I found Lullaby, I regconized the name, and thought, Eh, why not. So I did, got hooked, and here I am.

I've read them all. Loved them all. Favorite = First, Lullaby.[/QUOTE]
Your granny reads Chuck?

[QUOTE=xec8;902857]Your granny reads Chuck?[/QUOTE]

funny, that's what i was thinking - if levi is 16, and his parents were say 25 when they had him, making them about 40, that'd make grandma about 65? is my math right? wow, that is surprising, although i hope when i'm 65 i'm discovering cool writers like cp

No, my aunt loves to read. She buys all these new books when they come out, and she doesn't check what they are about. Lullaby was one of these. My aunt then gave it to my grandmother, unread, and my grandma tried to read it. She does this ridiculous thing where she opens a book in the middle, and reads, and if she's not interested in like, 5 pages, she quits. Ludacris! She read the part where Carl is pulling things out of his foot, and all the blood and puss just made her sick. So, she gave it to me when I found it.

did anyone else think Chuck was some sort of Eskimo or something before they started reading him ?
or was that just me

[QUOTE=nathaniel parker;902870]did anyone else think Chuck was some sort of Eskimo or something before they started reading him ?
or was that just me[/QUOTE]

totally - although i thought american indian or something

PA-LA-KNEE-UK was what i thought

It was survivor, it was the second printing and it was sitting in my school library.
Damnit chuck, you ruined my 10th year of school.

I never was much into reading, mainly because in high school they make you read half a dozen books that suck. Last year, my boss gave me a gift card to Borders and I randomly bought Invisible Monsters, not knowing that he had also written Fight Club. After reading it, I was so thrilled to have found a book/author that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was an epiphany in my life. Since then, I've found quite a few other authors that I am hooked on as well.

I've also read Survivor and Choke, but Invisible Monsters remains my favorite Chuck book. I've got Haunted and Lullaby on my shelf as well, but I didn't want to read all of his books at once, so I'm saving those for later.

My first was Survivor probably 2-3 years ago. I didn't want to read Fight Club first cos I'd already seen the film and wanted to read something I didn't know anything about. I randomly chose Survivor from the selection they had in Waterstones. I then foolishly lent it to an ex and of course never got it back. Next was Choke, and so on. I have read Rant - you guys are gonna love it!!

I used to write short stories blog-type things from a first person perspective. I rely on dark humour a lot and believe that short snappy sentences work well in FP fiction.

Anyway, that's a different story. I was a massive David Fincher fan so I watched Fight Club and it immediately became one of my favourite films. Later somebody recommended the book to me, but I didn't want to read it incase comparing the two would take something away from the film and just wind me up. Instead, I bought Survivor.

What can I say? Absolutely brilliant. Just everything about it is great. I felt like I instantly clicked with Tender Branson, despite having nothing in common with him. That's what I like with Chuck's characters; you totally empaphise with them, despite their OTT personalities.

And I'll try not to use 'OTT' again.

my first CP experience was, of course, the movie version of Fight Club. A couple years later I was working in a discount bookstore and they had a copy of Choke. My boss told me about it and that it was written by the guy who wrote Fight Club. Well, of course it was gone when I went to get it. Several years after that I was perusing a bookstore looking for something to read and I came across Choke again, so I bought it. I was immediately infatuated. I still have the receipt somewhere. Then I read Invisible Monsters (which is one of my favourites), then Survivor (the only one I don't actually own, I read my ex's copy...should've stolen it from him), Lullaby, Diary, Fight Club, then Haunted. I'm slowly working my way through Stranger Than Fiction also. I have the release date for Rant in my planner, programmed into my phone, and on my e-mail calendar at work. There's a Barnes and Noble very close to my office, so I'm taking time off of work to go get it. The man is a genius.

[QUOTE=Anyushka;960826] then Survivor (the only one I don't actually own, I read my ex's copy...[b]should've stolen it from him)[/b],[/QUOTE]

going by this alone I am going to stereotype you as a female

i don't remember my first Chuck book. just ... totally forgot it man. gone.

I remember picking up Fight Club and Invisble Monsters together
the first because of the movie, the second because it sounded like Thelma and Loiuse meets Fight Club

My first chuck book was the under-appreciated [I]Patchwork Granny[/I], the story of a big breasted mannish hill woman eeking out a living as a stars map seller in the beverly hills flats, this book moved me and inspired me so much its why i reloacted to L.A. and attended film school, just like granny, but also just like the granny after years of struggle and strife i ended up spit out the bottom of the porn industry! So thanks but no thanks Chuck for [I]Patchwork Granny.[/I]

I went to one library that sells books in english, and bought a lovecraft book, "watcher out of time" and asked for a Palahniuk book...to my surprise they had one! it was choke. I had my doubts about buying it or not... I knew that I love Fight Club...but don´t know at the time if any of the other books were good..so I read the firs line of the book. "if you ´re going to read this..don´t bother" OK... I knew that I had to read that book! Thanx god I did.
In the end "Watcher out of time" was a book by some idiot who tried to copy lovecraft book... It sits on my bookshelf since I bought it.

[QUOTE=morey;960843]My first chuck book was the under-appreciated [I]Patchwork Granny[/I], the story of a big breasted mannish hill woman eeking out a living as a stars map seller in the beverly hills flats, this book moved me and inspired me so much its why i reloacted to L.A. and attended film school, just like granny, but also just like the granny after years of struggle and strife i ended up spit out the bottom of the porn industry! So thanks but no thanks Chuck for [I]Patchwork Granny.[/I][/QUOTE]

you know you're going to get people coming out of the woodwork asking where they can find this now don't you?

A few years ago my boyfriend at the time was given Invisible Monsters by this gay norweigen guy who was giving away all his stuff to go and live in prague in a train carriage and be a puppeteer with his partner. Anyway, to get to the point I got sick of watching my boyfreind take so bloody long to read a book I nicked it off him and read it. I loved it! And when I moved out I ended up taking it with me, and have read it a number of times, but it inspired me to read more of CP's books...

i first read lullaby, and its my favorite chuck book along with survivor.