[Solle]

I'm sure you've all heard of Fight Club, the Palahniuk book made into an amazing movie by David Fincher. It's Palahniuk's most famous novel, but his other works usually get overlooked.

Palahniuk has written six novels so far, three of which can be considered 'gay literature': Fight Club, Invisible Monsters and Diary.

Fight Club is the story of an average middle-aged man who meets Tyler Durden, free-spirited rebel extraordinaire. Together they start Fight Club, a way for angry men with absent fathers to regain their confidence and possibly change the world. Things go wrong when Marla Singer, the narrator's archenemy, starts screwing Tyler. Quote Narrator: "I want Tyler. Tyler wants Marla. Marla wants me.". It's possible to read this book without seeing The Gay (tm), but then, the same goes for Anne Rice.

Invisible Monsters is the story of a young, beautiful fashion model who gets her face shot off in a car 'accident'. Her best friend starts screwing her not-quite-straight fiancee, and the only one who cares about her is 'Brandy Alexander', a transitioning MtF with issues.

Diary is, in my opinion, one of Palahniuk's worst books-- but still a nice read. Misty Marie Wilmot, nearing fifty and bored with life, one day finds her prettyboy husband Peter in a coma. As her small island hometown slowly evolves into a Stephen King-esque nightmare, Misty wonders why this niceguy dandy called Angel Delaporte is so interested in her comatose love.

Chuck Palahniuk is a sexually unlabelled Portlander, and has been living with his male partner for 11 years now. He accidently de-closeted himself September last year. People often compare him to Bret Easton Ellis, another unlabelled minimalist author. His books are absolutely amazing.
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"Spaghetti: the ultimate phallic symbol."
~Rafael Badilla

[DrtyMrtni]

I just finished reading 'Diary', and I must admit that I too, thought it a good read. The affect of Mr. Palahniuk's style reminds me very much of Evelyn Waugh's--- you're sort of wafting along with this nihilist, infectious, bleak (but not drab) dialogue when all of a sudden you're impacted with one or two sentences of a fierce and acute emotion. As if everything is just endured and numb, categorized and documented, and for a split second something triggers in your mind and for that one moment you feel as never before, and that feeling, be it rage, disgust, happiness, terror, is tripled. No wonder so many of his characters stumble, have headaches, shit themselves, collapse, and act otherwise in absurd ways.

I'll admit that I sensed this much more in Invisible Monsters than in Diary, but I still couldn't put the latter down. I also enjoy his writing because, as with C S Lewis or Racine, no single word is abused or extraneous. It's simple, but not easy, and I admire his discretion. I'm personally sorry that he is so-called outed now, because my hope has always been that he be merited not for being a Gay Writer, but for simply being a Brilliant one.

[Quetzalli]

I'm currently reading "Haunted" by chuck Palahniuk. He is one of my favorite authors, and I absolutly love his style and dark humor. Funny thing, I didn't know he had a male partner! That's excellent.

[Paloma]

I have only read Fight Club and I did not like his style very much. I did think about the quote: "I want Tyler. Tyler wants Marla. Marla wants me." You could consider it gay, but as far as I remember the story was really about this one guy with a personality disorder. The Narrator and Tyler is the same person. It is not really gay, it is more narcissistic. You could consider Narcissism and homosexuality to have some things in common, but I still don't think it really is gay. In Anne Rices literature, on the other hand, the gay themes are much more explicit. In some ways you are right they are not completely explicit. It is much less a matter of same gender as it is a matter of no gender. They do not fall in love with people of their own gender, they fall in love with people who have no gender. They are dead and have no sexual pleasure. The orgasmic pleasure they have is the same for males and females. Now that they are dead there are no difference in gender.