Authors Like Chuck
Ok gang i am new to board and am looking for some ideas. I tried last year to read Haunted and couldn't make it through it. So at that time i worte of Chuck as anything i would like to read. Then Rant came along and tried it agian.... I LOVED IT!!!! It was amazing written and kept me going back to try to understand the whole thing. Now since i have to wait awhile for Shuff to come out... i was wondering if some of you could post authors and their books that write along the same lines as Chuck.... im sure there aren't many that can dupuilcate his style but im sure some of you have good ideas. Thanks
[url]http://www.awriterscult.com/features/palahniukesque/index.php[/url]
Enjoy, though I should warn you, they're not Chuck Palahniuk, each of them writes in their own way. Also worth checking out, if you're looking for good books in general, are these pages: [url]http://www.awriterscult.com/community/showthread.php?t=30337[/url] and [url]http://www.awriterscult.com/recommendations/index.php[/url]. Also worthy of note are [URL=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312368461/officchuckpalaha/]Chelsea Cain[/URL] and [URL=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/0976631156/officchuckpalaha/]Monica Drake[/URL], who both shared a workshop with Chuck, if the writing style is what you're after.
I think Clevenger is most similar to Chuck in terms of writing style. But that's just me.
I'd say they're quite dissimilar. The Handbook in places, especially when John Vincent was talking to the shrink, they had the same sort of insider's knowledge thing going on, but a lot of writers do that. I wouldn't call them similar in style. Dermaphoria was very far removed from anything Chuck has done.
i can see where tom is coming from... i did find something a little familiar when reading the Handbook... but they're still recongnisably different, both excellent.
well...nobody writes like chuck
but clevenger is one i always suggest, as well as will christopher baer and stephen graham jones over at [url]http://www.welcometothevelvet.com[/url]
bret easton ellis is one i always think of (american psycho is the best)
monica drake was mentioned since she workshopped with CP and spanbauer
went to amazon, and picked SURVIVOR, my fav, and here's what people bought that also bought that book:
hunter s. thompson (ie., fear and loathing)
anthony burgess (ie., a clockwork orange)
irvine welsh (ie., trainspotting)
kurt vonnegut (slaughterhouse five)
danielewski (ie., house of leaves)
bukowsi (ie., post office)
jg ballard (ie., crash)
Angel Dust Apocalypse by Jeremy Robert Johnson
Requiem for a Dream: A Novel by Hubert Selby Jr.
Geek Love: A Novel by Katherine Dunn
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture... by Chuck Klosterman
Click by Kristopher Young
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
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The stuff from amazon touches on most of it.
Though I would recomend Clown Girl by Monica Drake.
I often recommend Craig Davidson. I haven't read [I]The Fighter[/I] yet, but his [I]Rust and Bone[/I] story collection is very much in that Chuck vein, packing a highly-visceral, verby punch. And he's a heckuva nice, humble guy.
That "Palahniuk-esque Authors" feature, while still relevant, is long overdue for an update.
I'll admit, i've bought books (i wrote several, but then deleted that after remembering that i only buy a couple of books a year) based purely on the publisher writing "like a cross between Chuck Palahniuk and (other famous author)" with varying success.
I HIGHLY recomend Hary Kunzru's Transmission. I've said that in some other thread or threads, but its my favorite book.
I forget who wrote Bottomfeeders but that book was lame. I got about half way through it, got annoyed at how predictable (and racist) it was, so i skipped to the end, and was relieved to find out that I had guessed the "twist" ending ten pages into the book. avoid.
I really want to try James Gunns The Toy Collector. has anybody read this?
Another author that seems to appear in shadow behind Palahniuk's name is Bret Easton Ellis, though his style and Chuck's style are very different.
I'd recommend "American Psycho" or "The Rules of Attraction". But other than that, I'm so fucking sick of Ellis.
I would not compare Ellis and Chuck...
Ellis`s writing style is pretty poor.I`m reading " American Psycho" at the moment .
I don`t think that it`s great book...pretty boring. You can overjump 4-5 pages and you will not miss it.But "Psycho"`s subject is OK.But it looks like very-very bad "Crime & Punishment" `s version.
After reading Kafka and Hesse - Ellis is mediocre.
Hey Tina! Its nice to read a post like that from you :-)
Anyway, I can't say anyone is like chuck, but I cant name authors and books that lots of chuck fans, myself included, love.
VONNEGUT (Slaughterhouse-Five ro Cat's Cradle)
Geek Love by Kathrynn Dunn
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
Kiss Me, Judas by Will Christopher Baer
And I'm sure there are many more.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
Hey!
See you I can be diverse...
I agree with you that anyone could be like Chuck...Perhaps therefore we all love him.
I thought Ellis will be like him(you all have been talking about him a lot),but I was wrong...
I think Vonnegut is modern classic,he is classic
Maybe Palahniuk = D.Coupland`s writing style + Sarcasm & harsh lingo & black humour by Bukowski + of course William S. Burroughs.
Chuck is our new Burroughs of Generation X.
I'm going to second the Craig Clevenger recommendation - not because they're very alike, but because i thinkif you appreciate one you'll probably appreciate the other.
Start with The Contortionists Handbook if you fancy giving it a go. It's more accessible than his second novel, Dermaphoria. Which by the way is also great.
i always reccomend these guys but Craig Clevenger is a good author and so is Douglas Coupland.
welcome to the Cult.