Comments on pink india ink: The first rule of Palahniuk is, you do not talk ab...

Hi, Chuck Palahniuk's editor here. Yes, I've seen ...

2010-04-07T21:52:33.890+02:00

Hi, Chuck Palahniuk's editor here. Yes, I've seen this happen to three people at three separate readings, but never on the subway. Glad you are all right . . . Chcuk has a physiological theory having to do with the body's response to a sudden shift from laughter to fear and extreme loathing.

I've just finished reading a new story by Chuck that he'll be reading on the tour for TELL-ALL. I didn't faint, but I did laugh so hard that I had a mild asthma attack and had to resort to my inhaler. Maybe we can have his tour underwritten by some Big Pharma company.

See you at the reading?

I did NOT just read a synopsis of Guts. Because I ...

2009-11-10T18:38:35.544+01:00

I did NOT just read a synopsis of Guts. Because I AM a serious pussy when it comes to all things graphically gory. Saw 1-6? Hostel? No. Even worse in the written form thanks to said imagination. You get big ole badass points for me for simply picking the book up.

I'll hold onto the erotica and fabulous movie sex though, thanks.

Also, Gawker? Hilarious.

O.K. so I just read a synopsis of guts and YUCK! ...

2009-10-10T04:55:26.058+02:00

O.K. so I just read a synopsis of guts and YUCK! I am feeling nauseous... It is crazy that it is based on a true story...

Chuck Palahniuk is a one-hit wonder. Fight Club is...

2009-05-03T02:21:00.000+02:00

Chuck Palahniuk is a one-hit wonder. Fight Club is great but the movie and the book are interchangeable, the novel is very cinematographic and written like a movie anyway.

Haunted is fucking disgusting. They published that story Guts in the Guardian newspaper in England for just anyone to come across and read... Bastards..

I just came upon your site andcan empathize titall...

2007-05-19T04:20:00.000+02:00

I just came upon your site and
can empathize titally with your reaction to "Guts." In April, 2006, at the Cuirt Literary Festival in Galway, Ireland, I was
a member of large audience when Pahlaniuk read the story. As the reading progressed,I experienced a series of symptoms similar to yours, and including a closeness of the air, serious wooziness, and a sense of physical isolation from my surroundings, right up to the swimming pool scene. Seated about ten seats from the aisle, I realized I had to stay put and deal, even as the images got even harder to deal with. I went out for a minute or two and, sweating profusely, came back to conscious- ness and tried desperately to concentrate on the humor of what was being read. To no avail.
I went out again and missed a good chunk of the story, just catching the last paragraph or so. I never could tell if those near me had realized what had happened. I was
pretty unsteady leaving the auditorium, and heard later that three others had fainted during the reading. It is incredibly visceral stuff.

I know it's petty to correct other people's spelli...

2007-04-13T10:48:00.000+02:00

I know it's petty to correct other people's spelling on the internet, but I'll take Walter's literary advice when he learns to spell "rite of passage." "Right of passage" is something different (the legal right to pass through an area that would otherwise be restricted). And the word for me is "pedant."

As far as the rest of it... what Ted said, primarily F.

I skimmed "Guts" some time ago. I won't say, "It didn't bother me!" - because the concept bothers me a lot. But the concept was a staple of shows like Dateline and 20/20 in the 1990s, which always featured interviews with the surviving hapless children living with almost no intestines.

I think Chuckie P. is really overrated (not bad, just overrated by my fellow hipsters), & prefer Ishiguro, Murakami, David Mitchell, Pynchon... well, a LOT of people. I liked "Fight Club" The Movie; I haven't liked any of his other books that I've picked up, and actively disliked both "Lullaby" & "Diary." FWIW, for some reference on the sort of anonymous person who is leaving this comment.

Grow a pair...finish reading the book. I will adm...

2007-04-13T02:44:00.000+02:00

Grow a pair...finish reading the book. I will admit, while reading GUTS I vomitted and had to explain to my roomates why. Which was an equally embarassing story. But I finished it. I can safely say that GUTS is by far the most graphic story in the bunch. I finished the book about a year ago and to this day only remember a two things about it. The first is the name of the character about whom GUTS is written: St. Gut Free. The second being nearly the entire story verbatim. Not because I had read it twice or think about it often, but because as the books title suggests, I am haunted by it. I think that's what the book is about. I think that's why the title is HAUNTED. These stories will be with you for a long time. A looong, looooong time.

Now that I think about it I can remeber nearly all the stories in the book. And each brings a sense of nausea, nostalgia, disgust, and a dark pleasure that I am one of the few "in the know". These stories are almost like a right of passage. I am one of the few people who was thrust into the dark and came out dirty, sick, crying, but changed. Forever changed.

Finish the book. It's its own reward!

Hello Kat, I read about this on Ed Champion's blog...

2007-04-12T08:12:00.000+02:00

Hello Kat, I read about this on Ed Champion's blog - welcome to your 15 minutes of fame. Just wanted to let you know that while I haven't read
'Guts' yet, I have an aunt who told me a remarkably similar story about twelve years ago, at a family party, when my son stuck his arm into a pool filter just because he has autism, and it was there.
Yes, he did get his arm out - there were about four Physical Education teachers there, one of whom had worked in a Special Rescue outfit. And he was fine. But the story my aunt told me wasn't. And I have every reason to believe Palahniuk's story is creepy too.

I'll have to read it, though I must admit that now...

2007-04-11T21:51:00.000+02:00

I'll have to read it, though I must admit that now I'm terrified. Glad to hear you survived your near death experience!

When I went to Gawker to check out the link to thi...

2007-04-11T18:25:00.000+02:00

When I went to Gawker to check out the link to this story I vomited all over my computer. Thanks Gawker. Thanks for being so gay.

I feel for you. After reading too much Palahnuik ...

2007-04-11T17:23:00.000+02:00

I feel for you. After reading too much Palahnuik (sp. whatever) someone reccommended Crash by JG Ballard. It's all a bunch of crap and a waste of time in retrospect.

Dave Eggars is my hero.

well, now i'm going to have to get a copy of the s...

2007-04-11T15:28:00.000+02:00

well, now i'm going to have to get a copy of the short stories...but i'll make sure i'm at home sitting down when i read it :-)

First: Yes, Chuck Palahniuk is a genius! Second: ...

2007-04-11T05:16:00.000+02:00

First: Yes, Chuck Palahniuk is a genius!

Second: You have to read Choke, it is disturbing and dark and hilarious.

Calm down; the important thing is they posted it. ...

2007-04-11T03:24:00.000+02:00

Calm down; the important thing is they posted it.

A friend of mine organized a book tour for Palahniuk through Canada and I think seven people fainted. If I remember right, four fainted in Calgary alone. Albertans are pussies.

Also, he began the evening by throwing a real severed leg into the audience. Helluva warmup.

and another thing...if the people at Gawker are po...

2007-04-11T02:22:00.000+02:00

and another thing...

if the people at Gawker are posting your story, despite them viewing it as out of date and fake, then what does that say about the value of their site as a source of "media news and gossip." A supposedly fake and out of date story is the best they have for their front page and yet they debase your post? bastards.

damn, in my rage i misplaced "your" with "you're"....

2007-04-11T01:57:00.000+02:00

damn, in my rage i misplaced "your" with "you're". now i feel like a moron.

all i have to say is, HOW 2004... AND FAKE. geez ...

2007-04-11T01:55:00.000+02:00

all i have to say is, HOW 2004... AND FAKE. geez kat, you're real life experiences are SOOOOO out of date. get with the times. way to faint 3 years late, loser. and that outfit? puhLEASE. 2006 called, they said they wanted their clothing back.

what a bunch of assholes.

i went to one of his readings in san francisco. a...

2007-04-11T00:17:00.000+02:00

i went to one of his readings in san francisco. a girl DID pass out while he read "guts." all we heard was a "thud." later he sort of smiled and admitted that it happened at every reading.

Dang, I could have sworn I recalled you fainting i...

2007-04-10T23:36:00.000+02:00

Dang, I could have sworn I recalled you fainting in another post but I must be mistaken; a search came up with nada. Must be my own graphic imagination.

Wow. Is that how Anna Karenina gets offed?Whut?

2007-04-10T23:33:00.000+02:00

Wow. Is that how Anna Karenina gets offed?

Whut?

A. If anything, seeing FIGHT CLUB: the movie shou...

2007-04-10T23:25:00.000+02:00

A. If anything, seeing FIGHT CLUB: the movie should have given you the parental warning (for the record, the shot of Jared Leto's nose splintering open is probably my least favorite visual in any movie ever).
B. That said, I'm glad you didn't die.
C. Don't read AMERICAN PSYCHO.
D. You can download MP3s of Palahniuk reading the story. The audience seems to be enjoying it.
E. His previous book, LULLABY, was about a poem that killed whoever heard it. Life imitates art.
F. He's not as good as your friends think he is.

Admit it. You tried to hold your breath, didn't yo...

2007-04-10T22:45:00.000+02:00

Admit it. You tried to hold your breath, didn't you?

I read this book last summer and I must say that w...

2007-04-10T22:42:00.000+02:00

I read this book last summer and I must say that while "Guts" is mind-bendingly horrific, that is pretty much the worst of the worst.

Nevertheless, I knew the book was going to be effed-up after I had bought it in Grand Central: the moment I sat down to read the first page some crazed hipster girl came out of nowhere and was like "How far are you into it?? THAT BOOK WILL SCREW YOU UP."

Beautiful advertising.

I hope that you're enjoying the novel...I was just...

2007-04-10T21:58:00.000+02:00

I hope that you're enjoying the novel...I was just explaining to someone else that it's an easy book to pick up and put down. Sometimes you do have to put it down quickly!

I loved Haunted and given copies to at least 3 of my closest friends and family (lest anyone else discover how twisted I really am).

If you tend to react to extremely descriptive prose, let me give you a copy of Piers Anthony's FIREFLY and sit next to you on the ride home ;)

Definitely not the only one. I was reading a parti...

2007-04-10T21:45:00.000+02:00

Definitely not the only one. I was reading a particularly graphic passage describing brain surgery in Ian McEwan's Saturday on my commute home a few weeks ago on the C train, and this very nearly happened to me. My vision whited out, I got real dizzy and floaty-feeling, and suddenly became overheated and claustrophobic. I knew the potential outcome of these symptoms so I quickly got off at the next stop, sat on a bench and waited for the feeling to pass. I'm really glad I was able to prevent an actual fainting episode, but I'm sorry to hear what you went through.

I'm just glad I'm not the only person who can be so strongly affected by a freakin' book.