I ran across this today over on boingboing.net, apparently Chuck Palahniuk has a new short story he is reading at public events that is causing people to puke/faint. (I have heard people are faking this, but just a new short story from him is news enough for me)
If you don’t know, Chuck Palahniuk is the author of a number of excellent books, his most popular being Fight Club. He is rather unique in both his writing style and subject matter, and I have to say that I was not that shocked to find that people could be fainting at a reading of his. Chuck is actually quite popular with tech bloggers, I have seen quite a few people blog about his books before. (I can’t find the posts though, always seems to work that way)
But anyway, I am not going to point to an MP3 of it, but you can find one from this page. (The second link is complete, the first cut off on me but has some extra stuff in the beginning) This story is vintage Chuck, and I can see how it would cause someone to puke or faint, so consider yourself warned. (Playboy might be picking it up as well)
If you are completely alien to Palahniuk’s writing then I would suggest starting with Fight Club and working your way through his collection, every one of his books is good.
-James
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All I can say is Mne eto nado kak zuby zadnitse.
I will never take a crap the same way again, thanks to Chucky P.
swear to god, i was at a reading in san fransisco where chuck read this story in this overly crowded, stuffy, hot, library basement… and sure enough, where he starts talking about his pool experience, someone fell out of their chair and into the aisle. I havent listened to the bootleg yet, but being there was just an eerie/ creepy experience.
haha
is this book for sale yet? if not do you know when it will be?
AWESOME STORY…Woot Woot!
does anyone know were i can find this story????
just saw him last night at Borders in el cajon, ca. six people fainted. he says it tied with a reading he did in spain. i’m sure there were some fakers though. but the story is a must read if you can get a hold of it. one of the most digusting hilarious stories i have ever heard.
i just did a search for this story because at camp i just got back from, someone there told them to me. he said he couldn’t even begin to tell it as well as its written, and i though the first funny, and the second just strange, but i passed out for about 10 seconds while hearing the pool one. yet now im looking for the true version haha.
I read this several months ago in April when he did a reading in London, The Times newspaper published it, thought it was awesome then and still do.
for those trying to get hold of the story here’s a link i found. dont know
http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html“>http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html
anyways i just finished the story like 2 min. ago
that was one of the sickest things ive ever laughed my ass off (no pun intended) at.
good shit
wow i really cant think of anything else to say
oh well
peace
heres the site again
http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html“>http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html
and check out
i love chuck he is a great writer and i want to marry him..
just an fyi. it sounds like guts is still coming out as part of a book of shorts, early 2005.
another good llink for stuff is here:
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Chuck_Palahniuk
brilliant. i love this man chuck. his twisted way of taking an idea and regurgitating it into a masterpiece is a talent i wish to someday inherit. i want more.
ahhh so disturbing.
just awwwwww cmon thats sick but very well written
None of this crap he talks about is possible…especially the pool experience……..
…
.
right?
That was phenominal writing. I love his style. He is creepy and brilliant all at the same time. Great Stuff!!!
JUST GOOD.
BUT GOOD GOOD.
yawn yawn yawn. people love to claim to have been shocked by something and hacks love the publicity of people ‘fainting’ at their lame assed grue fests. meaningless, bland and as satisfying as fast food, palahniuk has long since gone past the ability to write anything worth reading. far more shocking is the way so many kneel before such cripplingly juvenile mediocrity. go die your hair red to get back at the folks, who you hate because they don’t understand you.
zzzzzzz.
ok, i am a bit slot, please some one tell me its fiction
I saw Chuck perform Guts in SF and the fainting was for real. More importantly, it’s a good story and he’s a good speaker.
For those of you who like dark humor and satire, check out http://midnightpudding.com when you get a chance.
This story is not about chuck its about 3 of his freinds. and with all this hoopla about haunted being all true short stories it has to be real if the book has the word true on it or else he will be sued. His agent and lawyers would never let chuck go runnin around claiming this is a true story if it wasnt. just like the way he did stranger than fiction i would bet good money he has recordings of these 3 people telling there tale.
oh man what a disturbing read. haha. I like Chuck but that’s just messed.
I was eating a burrito when I read it and the burrito started to taste gritty. EWWWWW
That guy who doesn’t like chuck thanx for nothing but a ton of b.s. Ur a Nigger right?
My friend sent me the story over e-mail. The first two I got through fine, but when I got to the part with the pool, I had to read it in three different sittings. I actually got a head-ache just from reading it, which I didn’t even know was possible
Awesome story kind of feel sick now but awesome story.
Just saw chuck on Craig Ferguson, discussing the book. He said people don’t read anymore and I think it may be sick stories like that one that ruin reading for people. I almost puked!!! Funny, disgusting and very disturbing! Oh and its all very possible, be careful!
I think that’s either based on his friends or this chick that got her guts sucked out of a pool here in NC. John Edwards represented her and won millions from the company that manufactured those pool pumps.
i read the book today and it gave me a head rush. please dont comment on this site because you dont have anything better to do than bash the man. try writing a story instead, its not that easy (high school dropouts).
Not his most literate or intellectually engaging work (The reason I dig his books so much is his ability to work on 4 different levels, but the visceral aspects certainly are cool.) but certainly a flooring read.
Hell… I cant decide if I loved that story or hated it. It was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever read – I wish I could have heard it, though I probably would have vomited. Ughhhh. It was brilliantly written, but… uggh. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh.
never going to eat calamari again =)
The kind material you’d find on snopes.com, told in the fashion of any amateur online erotic fiction author — the only difference is Chuck runs his stuff through a spellchecker first. Hopefully "Guts" isn’t indicative of his full body of work, or he is highly overrated.
While the story is gross, the only reason I can see people passing out during a reading is if they’ve been living a really sheltered life or if they actually follow the opening instruction to hold their breath for the duration.
… i havent been sick like this since Stephen King’s Survivor Type from Skeleton Crew…
… correction, since Pasolini’s Salo…
brrrrr
i was just reading this story and just near the end i needed a crap, no kidding. My ass hurt when i had the crap (because it was nutty and dry) and i have never felt as sick as i did then. I curse Chuck Palahniuk (not really though) for being able to harness the power of words so well and using it to make a story that can actually make you feel physically sick.
he should use his power for something good…yeah right.
Fight Club intrigued me. Survivor broke my heart. Guts just made me want to read Survivor again.
Chuck’s getting good at writing this kind of story. And while he perfects his formula, his stories, unfortunately for all of us, fail to improve, impress.
He is absorbed in the only character he can write. He cannot see beyond this person. And we should all know who that character is.
When I read Survivor, I immediately knew why I resented finishing it. I could never read it again. Why? Because it was specific to time and place, and most importantly, age. If I were to read it today, I would be grossly disappointed. The world has changed and left that person reading that book light years in the past.
So fuck all of you. Read Delillo, read Underworld. It puts Chucky, and all of us for this matter, back in our diapers.
In fifty years, chuck will be dead and his works will die in the hearts of this generation. And if someone somewhere a hundred years from now stumbles onto Fight Club, they’ll use it to wipe their ass.
Oh yeah, and all of you know me, even though you dont.
F*ckin’ fantastic read. I just heard about this so randomly – so decided to download an mp3 reading of the story. However, i found it more gross when i actually read a copy of it online.
Oh yeah. Check out "Haunted." It’s great. Includes "Guts" and other great short stories.
I loved this short story to peices!! It was really interesting to read and the imagery was great. I really can’t see how people faint though? But who cares it was still a good read. Still havent managed to finish Fight Club but i have seen the film a fair few times.
[ http://www.danx3.co.uk ]
that is my website.. It has a few fight club things that I’ve done. I will probably put extracts from the story into some "art work" so have a look when you get the chance.
Dan
My asshole hurts. And I realize how strange my name must be after a story like this, but that has been my screen name for years.
Wow, Nathan, you’re kind of harsh. I respect the honesty, but it’s a lil melodramatic, my friend. May I point out a blindspot in your intellectual proclaimations and profound wisdom? Your criticism is contributing even less to the world.
If it makes you feel better, you can trash my writing too:
http://midnightpudding.com
In the words of chuck P. straight off the pages of "choke"
"We spend so much time judging what other people created we have created very little of our own"
"We use criticism as kind of a fake participation"
You wanna acuse chuck of using the same charector for every book fine do it, but that doesnt make the books less enjoyable, he seems to have a knack for showing many different culturals dysfunctions through this vehicle and has turned many of this anti reading generation into aspiring writers all because hes smart enough to stick with his bread and butter. Hes good at it they are enjoyable books and seem to find a way to offer something to every open minded person out there. Which in my opinion is something this culture needs real bad.
You think your better than that, cool whatever works for you all i know is this works for me right now and i could give two fucks what anybody does with fight club in 50 years cause i will be dead.
Right on.
This is a short out of the novel ‘Haunted.’ It’s part of St.Gutfree’s story, I’m pretty sure.
that story is just disturbing
but chuck is amazing
just read “guts”…yea who is that much of a pussy?
granted, it was pretty disgusting, but not even upset stomache-like…nevermind puking our fainting.
RE: “Guts” by Chuck Palahniuk
Pingback from guts chuck
This story is a piece of crap, no pun intended it is a sad piece of garbage with very little wit or imagination.
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