Which book would you recommend?

If she hasn't seen the movie yet, I'd say Fight Club
If she has, then I'd say Invisible Monsters if you're not too sure about Survivor.

I'd say Invisible Monsters, it was my first Chuck book and made me want to read more.

Stranger Than Fiction. I am 100% confident in this. Find a topic that he will be interested in and let him read a story that fits the bill. There is so much variety in that book. Chuck tends to have a "love or hate" fan base and this book allows anyone to love his work

we at the cult....well, we don't cringe at the self love of chuck but we tend to belittle love struck fans that have little influence outside of the man himself.

Cause, there are far greater writers out there hitting you with something far superior than self destruction and that stupid jazz.

This doesn't speak for those who are paying or non paying members of The Cult: A chuck palahniuik official fan site.

But, a non fiction book as a reccommendation you would recommend.(sp) COME ON! I swear, there is far superior literature with the current events happening now than hearing about some stupid collection of interviews of american citzens hoping to compete in the next us olympic team.

Bah!

ps. When i referred to we.....I only meant myself since i'm the only person I'll ever represent in the now and ever present future.

[QUOTE=UbikRex;978364]we at the cult....well, we don't cringe at the self love of chuck but we tend to belittle love struck fans that have little influence outside of the man himself.

Cause, there are far greater writers out there hitting you with something far superior than self destruction and that stupid jazz.

This doesn't speak for those who are paying or non paying members of The Cult: A chuck palahniuik official fan site.

But, a non fiction book as a reccommendation you would recommend.(sp) COME ON! I swear, there is far superior literature with the current events happening now than hearing about some stupid collection of interviews of american citzens hoping to compete in the next us olympic team.

Bah!

ps. When i referred to we.....I only meant myself since i'm the only person I'll ever represent in the now and ever present future.[/QUOTE]

I've lurked in and out of this place for a while, posted a few pointless things, but I'd like to respond to this.

Personally, in case you are inclined to berate or belittle me after this post, I'm not intrigued by Palahniuk, nor was I ever. I found his stuff to be quite readable, though, and I enjoyed the research that he put into the novels. Just in case you might cast this post off as being another dim-witted "love struck fan."

Anyway, there are much better and intellectually stimulating conversations going on in the world right now than the ones I've witnessed this community having... there are much better films out there with a more mature or resolving theme than the ones that are being discussed on these forums... but, ask yourself, does the fact that there are, in our opinion, more eloquent writers than Chuck give you reason to believe you should belittle all people who are just starting in on him or, in this case, are trying to recommend a book to a friend?

I don't really give a fuck how many of you like him or not, if you make gay jokes about him or whatever. I don't know the guy. He's not my favorite author. But there was a time when I was really into him, reading his books and such. The fact that I've moved onto other writers and have matured in my tastes for literature doesn't make me want to slap or yell at people who are just coming onto him. The way that some of you people viciously attack new people isn't "cool", it's just ridiculous in all honesty.

The way that you posted to this person is not only unjustified, in my humble opinion, it's embarrassing. At least it should be, to you. It's sort of on par with some online middle school goth-punk-loser-geek cafeteria table.

Added Note: I love Baer and Clevenger's work as well, and am a part of the Velvet. The fact you like them and both of us can admit they're far better writers than Palahniuk still doesn't justify being rude to other people who are asking a simple question about reccomendations or like to read Chuck's books. You've read Chuck's books too, at some point, I'm assuming. Everyone has to start somewhere. You're not speaking for everyone, but a ton of people I've seen have that same mentality which makes this community, basically, a "clique" where outsiders are chastised, and makes what could have been a friendly community of like-minded people who're interested in literature into utter bullshit.

Toodles.

. .

actually, several of my friends started with Lullaby. my friend Tilley, he laughed for hours reading it. took it to the bathroom, ate lunch and dinner reading it. survivor is my favorite, maybe IM, but ive been reading palahniuk since survivor came out, just after the fight club movie and maybe six months, so i know they hold a soft spot for me. but some of those friends, they still like lullaby more. i think it's a great way to start with chuck. it's funny and abstract and remember, dennis himself couldnt get into fight club until after a few of his friends began talking about it incessantly. in other words, he didnt ”get it” upon the first read, and truthfully i dont think i would have either, what with Bob's bitch tits and project mayhem and I would have been lost of the luring. lullaby however starts with dread and just gets fucking funny..
-kabol

__________________

jesus, e-poo.. anger management maybe ?

Im not poking fun, just find it uncool how quick some are to push a moral on others. i read chris' post and then read it again after your response. there was no malace there.

[QUOTE=UbikRex]we at the cult....well, we don't cringe at the self love...

ps. When i referred to we.....I only meant myself since i'm the only person I'll ever represent in the now and ever present future.[/QUOTE]

he's only expressing a little wit and having a little fun. he's not attacking anyone. not everybody's going to get every joke, but every joke is not directed at every person. not you, not me. breathe a little, brother. offer room for people to make poor statements and even rich statements that you may or may not get. go organize a sock drawer or something, whatever keeps you calm.

ps. ^^^ that last part was a joke and not to be taken literally.. bty.
-kabol

For what it's worth, I agree with e-poo's larger points on the forum. There is a general air of arrogance about the older reader's of Palahniuk, and I'm not casting myself aside from that. It's called a writer's cult but aside from a couple of dilligent members, people have slacked. They may have put in all the time in the world in the past. But no longer. I know I look down on kids who quote Fight Club, and yet would smile whenever I read a quote of Baer's or Clevenger's in a signature. This is pretty much elitism, and it is a little harsh. I don't know how to deal with it. He's right, the cult has become far too much of a clique. It's full of the socially-repressed who instead of welcoming new members and encouraging posts, accepting differences and bonding over a love of reading. Instead of offering new books to read, they just sit around and attack people. Tell them they're asses for liking Panic! At the Disco or whatever, and telling them to fuck off instead of keeping their mouths shut, or actually offering some proper insight as to why it's rude to write off all Christians as sheep. I'm one of the bigger culprits of this. As I said, I agree with e-poo. And I do mean to improve myself somewhat, and my attitude towards others. I'm a little schizo though, and should probably seek medication for constant mood-swings on and off the cult, so I'll try and keep this outlook on things. The sensible outlook, that is, and try to leave the angst and apathy to toilet-paper poetry.

[QUOTE=JKabol;978393] breathe a little, brother.[/QUOTE]

lets all practice now.

see, that wasn't too hard was it?

i'm relatively new so i don't know whether i should be getting involved in tiffs between others, but oh well.

anywho, i was really late onto the chuck bandwagon, and my first was haunted. it drew me in, so i'm sure it could do the same for your friend.

ive noticed a lot of people who have come here lately got into him via haunted. nice. it does not get the attention it deserves.

[QUOTE=JKabol;978398]it does not get the attention it deserves.[/QUOTE]

i very much agree.

[B]kabol:[/B] His post wasn't full of malice, yes. But, it's something that I've just seen a lot of, particularly in threads that are started by new people. It just seems there there's quite a lot of hostility, and especially considering this thread was about [I]book reccomendations[/I] and not even one of those "Fight Club" quote threads, Ubik's post seemed entirely disrespectful in that regard. I do stand by the words I said, though. I'm not hating on Ubik, neither am I really riled up or anything, I just feel that this place is, indeed, sort of a "clique."

[B]Correllion:[/B] Thanks, glad that my words can be confirmed from regulars such as yourself. And that I'm not the only one who feels that.

Also, to contribute to this thread: [I]Lullaby[/I] was the first book I read after a recommendation, and my favorite.

Why dont you offer them Survivor, Choke and Invisible Monsters. Let them read the backs of them and then decide since it wont seem that you are shoving something at them.

[QUOTE=e-poo;978372]

Anyway, there are much better and intellectually stimulating conversations going on in the world right now than the ones I've witnessed this community having... there are much better films out there with a more mature or resolving theme than the ones that are being discussed on these forums... but, ask yourself, does the fact that there are, in our opinion, more eloquent writers than Chuck give you reason to believe you should belittle all people who are just starting in on him or, in this case, are trying to recommend a book to a friend?
First off, if you're not liking the conversations or discussions that's easily fixed. Post your own! Start a thread to discuss that film you like that no one else had made mention of yet. Maybe it'll take off, maybe it won't. maybe it'll be bumped in a year or two by someone finally discovering it. That's the great thing about this place, it's what [i]you[/i] make of it. Then again, if you're not interested in adding anything to the mix then....fuck off?

Also, I don't see how giving an opinion as to [i]why[/i] you don't think a book should be recommended as a first is so bad. If he came on and just said "You ass, Stranger than Fiction sucked!" that would have been horrible.

[QUOTE=e-poo;978418]
Also, to contribute to this thread: [I]Lullaby[/I] was the first book I read after a recommendation, and my favorite.[/QUOTE]

You ass! Lullabye sucked!

[QUOTE=nathaniel parker;978427]You ass! Lullabye sucked![/QUOTE]

I hope the humour behind that is readily apparent.

Well, now that i'm hungover and not blistering drunk, let me just say this.

I'm not a huge fan of recommend threads in general. Not because there bad, but i feel it lets someone get away with being lazy and not having a opinion for themselves. Cause if you have read all of his books you would know which you would be able to push onto someone that is interested.

Now if you had only read fight club and say survivor and wanted to help someone get into palahniuk and you didn't want to just suggest those two then that is a different story, since your ability to suggest something is rather limited cause of knowledge of books of the author.

But that isn't the case.

Secondly, not everyone is going to like his stuff.

Third, everything I sad last night was a mix of dim thoughts, booze and humor.

And another thing, an elitist clique?

I've always been for new members, I hardly give people crap until they start picking on someone or acting extremely stupid in a consistent basis and that doesn't apply to this web site forum it applies to all general things in life.

I didn't even look at the screen name i just responded to the post. I still didn't look at it this morning till i read i was picking on some random new member.

[QUOTE=e-poo][B]kabol:[/B] His post wasn't full of malice, yes. But, it's something that I've just seen a lot of, particularly in threads that are started by new people. It just seems there there's quite a lot of hostility.[/QUOTE]

so you took that as a liberating reason to attack someone.. do you see the contradiction? someone says one thing that you misread or dont like and you start swinging, yacking about how we dont give people a chance..

i certainly dont get it. or maybe I do: youre being what you claim to hate. stop doing that. breathe and discuss. we arent here to attack one another. Dumbass.

and yes, that [i]dumbass[/i] part is said in wit because just prior to that word is the sentence [i]we arent here to attack one another[/i]. and now you know a little more about humor. or at least you will once you stop getting all riled up. and now this entire thread is ruined. i feel partially responsible and shouldnt have gotten involved because i generally ignore when people misread a post and act a fool in retaliation. this must mean i like you, Dumbass.

-kabol

I'd say Fight Club or Choke. Then again, I've only read Lullaby, Choke and am working on Fight Club now, but meh.

I recommend Invisible Monsters.

[QUOTE=JKabol;978503]so you took that as a liberating reason to attack someone.. do you see the contradiction? someone says one thing that you misread or dont like and you start swinging, yacking about how we dont give people a chance..

i certainly dont get it. or maybe I do: youre being what you claim to hate. stop doing that. breathe and discuss. we arent here to attack one another. Dumbass.

and yes, that [i]dumbass[/i] part is said in wit because just prior to that word is the sentence [i]we arent here to attack one another[/i]. and now you know a little more about humor. or at least you will once you stop getting all riled up. and now this entire thread is ruined. i feel partially responsible and shouldnt have gotten involved because i generally ignore when people misread a post and act a fool in retaliation. this must mean i like you, Dumbass.

-kabol[/QUOTE]

You took my post at face-value, but saw his as a joke... when I responded to you and said my post wasn't simply trying to attack him, you still didn't take my words at face-value though I said what I mean. You think my first post was an attack. I don't. I see it as a truthful observation. If you guys don't think it's true, that's okay. I'm fine with that. But, rather:

Not everyone starts with high-grade choices for literature. All of you, I'm hoping and assuming, have read Palahniuk at some point or another unless the lot of you have joined just to trash-mouth him. I just don't see the morality in being a part of a fan club and telling others, when asking for recommendations, to basically fuck off. Personally, I think it's fine if you can be here if you don't love his work anymore and rub yourself at night to the slimy words of Survivor. I don't think it's fine to try and tell everyone their taste sucks, though, just because they want to read Palahniuk. Why? Because it's Palahniuk site. Far be it from me to tell people what they can and can't do, I'm not commanding anything, I just feel it's pretty disrespectful to the runners of this website and Chuck himself to use his personal website to tell others that he sucks and there are much better and more important writers out there that need reading.

I'm not trying to be what I hate. I'm not trying to attack anything or anyone. I apologize.

[QUOTE=corellion;978395]For what it's worth, I agree with e-poo's larger points on the forum. There is a general air of arrogance about the older reader's of Palahniuk, and I'm not casting myself aside from that. It's called a writer's cult but aside from a couple of dilligent members, people have slacked. They may have put in all the time in the world in the past. But no longer. I know I look down on kids who quote Fight Club, and yet would smile whenever I read a quote of Baer's or Clevenger's in a signature. This is pretty much elitism, and it is a little harsh. I don't know how to deal with it. He's right, the cult has become far too much of a clique. It's full of the socially-repressed who instead of welcoming new members and encouraging posts, accepting differences and bonding over a love of reading. Instead of offering new books to read, they just sit around and attack people. Tell them they're asses for liking Panic! At the Disco or whatever, and telling them to fuck off instead of keeping their mouths shut, or actually offering some proper insight as to why it's rude to write off all Christians as sheep. I'm one of the bigger culprits of this. As I said, I agree with e-poo. And I do mean to improve myself somewhat, and my attitude towards others. I'm a little schizo though, and should probably seek medication for constant mood-swings on and off the cult, so I'll try and keep this outlook on things. The sensible outlook, that is, and try to leave the angst and apathy to toilet-paper poetry.[/QUOTE]

Everyone on this thread has a good point. I just joined yesterday. This is the best point. I got a "clique" impression the first couple of times I posted and was responded to. Not to mention from other posts I had read. Maybe it's a misconception, but one I could easily see having. It doesn't bother me. This site has some of the most entertaining people on it that I've talked to in a while. You'll never see me bash someone. You'll never seee me stick up for someone. Fuck em. Negative or positive, we are all part of the same site. There will always be ones you agree with, ones you don't. No opinion you have will ever change that. I keep them to myself.

Well there are those members that make like 1 to 8 posts and never say anything again and there are some like yourself that at least look like they may consistently post and stick around in the community. People may or may not like you but they aren't going to come out and treat you crappy until you done them or someone wrong consistently. (when i say you I mean any person)

I know people like and really dislike me. I've said things I shouldn't have said to people and there's no going back on those things and I have just moved on.

But I don't get how you guys are coming out with this arrogance about palahniuk readers. If you had just said older readers period i would tend to agree with you, but only that people continually evolve and grow with each moment to moment. I can tell you i'm not the same person i was when i first joined and that isn't cause of this site or what i say here it is the experience i've had and things i've learned from them. There are still things that are the same, but that is because i've been doing them since i was a wee child and those type of traits are hard to break or consistently control.

Do you dealing with people the same way you did several years ago?

I doubt it.

The older palahniuk crowd is just that, a crowd that is aging and not quite as young as it was before.

I didn't necessarily mean the older readers of CP (though I guess I kinda did by agreeing with the post) I just meant in general. Though I've read everthing Chuck has ever written, I'm just here to figure out the whole Rant thing, time travel, the Greene/Chester/Buster connection, the disappearance of Echo. the age of Greene, who was Charly Casey? Wrong forum I know but I need answers. Feel free to chime in on the "I'm so confused" thread under Rant. Much love to all my Cult peeps. Join together, ditch the hate (and especially the fuckin whining) and let's crack this fuckin Rant thing wide open (which is I'm pretty sure is what Chuck intended for us to do when he left a lot of questions unanswered). Don't give me the "the ?s will be answered in the sequels BS either. The answers are there, we have to find them. Please help.

[QUOTE=bigshrimpn;978734]Join together, ditch the hate (and especially the fuckin whining)[/QUOTE]

amen.

they're making a Rant 2???

Rant 2: Death Rant

I don't know if it will be Rant 2, but it has been confirmed by Chuck himself that Rant is the first of a trilogy. So if you have any clues to what the fuck just happened in the first one, join the "I am so confused" thread in the Rant forum, Thank you.

[QUOTE=bigshrimpn]I don't know if it will be Rant 2, but it has been confirmed by Chuck himself that Rant is the first of a trilogy. So if you have any clues to what the fuck just happened in the first one, join the "I am so confused" thread in the Rant forum, Thank you.[/QUOTE]

Whoa. Had no idea. usually, by the time chuck has finished writing the book, and especially after touring with it, the least fun thing he can think of doing is making a sequal to one of his books.

Maybe when he's finished, he can finally get to fight club 2: tyler takes new york
j/playin

as for a trilogy, man, that would be badass. but i have no answers for you as i have yet to read it. Im waiting until the clevenger intensive is finished to read rant and we just got the week four lecture and assignment. so, three weeks left of heavy hitting and then a little more fun. The cool thing is, i have a chuck book that i am very much looking forward to reading once this intensive has been made complete.
-kabol

I really need to get started on Rant then. Cause, a lot of people don't like it so far and I've read tons of reviews saying the same also. I'll form my own opinions on the darn thing. But i'm not excited about rant like I was when i first heard of it up until the last month before its release.

JKabol - You don't know how much of a favor you are doing yourself by not reading Rant while in the process of accomplishing other priorities. Rant will eat away at your mind until it eventually consumes you. This in turn will make anything in your life that used to feel important pale in comparison to the significance of figuring out the riddles that Chuck has bestowed upon us. It is LIFE CONSUMING!!! Or at least very time consuming. Thought consuming?

UbikRex - I thought is was one of his best. Reading it the second time confirmed this.

[QUOTE=UbikRex;978777]they're making a Rant 2???

Rant 2: Death Rant[/QUOTE]

starring...[b]Keith David![/b]