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''Fight Club'' is a 1996 novel by
Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael Palahniuk (;, , born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist of Ukrainian and French ancestry who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two ad ...
. It was Palahniuk's first published novel, and follows the experiences of an unnamed
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
struggling with
insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...
. The protagonist finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups, after his doctor remarks that insomnia is not "real suffering" and that he should find out what it is really like to suffer. The protagonist then meets a mysterious man named
Tyler Durden The Narrator is a fictional Character (arts), character and the protagonist and Antagonist, main antagonist of the 1996 Chuck Palahniuk novel ''Fight Club (novel), Fight Club'', its 1999 Fight Club, film adaptation of the same name, and the com ...
and establishes an underground fighting club as radical
psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
. In 1999, director
David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...
adapted the novel into a film of the same name, starring
Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...
and
Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. After graduating from Yale College in 1991 with a degree in history, he worked for a few months in Japan before moving to New York City ...
. Despite underperforming financially, the film acquired a
cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
; it also heightened the profile of the novel.


Plot

An anonymous narrator works as a
product recall "Product Recall" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the American comedy television series '' The Office'' and the show's forty-ninth episode overall. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton b ...
specialist for a car company. Due to the stress of his job and the
jet lag Jet lag is a temporary physiological condition that occurs when a person's circadian rhythm is out of sync with the time zone they are in, and is a typical result from travelling rapidly across multiple time zones (east–west or west–east). ...
brought upon by frequent business trips, he begins to suffer from recurring
insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...
. When he seeks treatment, his doctor advises him to visit a support group for
testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...
victims to "see what real suffering is like". He finds that sharing the problems of others—despite not having testicular cancer himself—alleviates his insomnia. The treatment works until he meets Marla Singer, another "tourist" visiting the support group under false pretenses. The disturbed Marla reminds the narrator that he is a faker who does not belong there. He begins to hate Marla for keeping him from crying, and, therefore, from sleeping. After a confrontation, the two agree to attend separate support group meetings to avoid each other. The truce is uneasy, and the narrator's insomnia returns. While on a plane, the narrator meets
Tyler Durden The Narrator is a fictional Character (arts), character and the protagonist and Antagonist, main antagonist of the 1996 Chuck Palahniuk novel ''Fight Club (novel), Fight Club'', its 1999 Fight Club, film adaptation of the same name, and the com ...
, an extremist of mysterious means. After an explosion destroys the narrator's
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
, he asks to stay at Tyler's house. Tyler agrees, but asks for something in return: "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."Palahniuk, ''Fight Club'', 1999, p. 46. Both men find that they enjoy the ensuing fistfight. They move in together and establish a "fight club", drawing men with similar temperaments into bare-knuckle fighting matches, set to eight rules: A mechanic later tells the narrator about two new rules: nobody is the center of the fight club except for the two men fighting, and the fight club will always be free. Marla, noticing that the narrator has not recently attended his support groups, calls him saying that she has overdosed on
Xanax Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of moderate duration within the triazolobenzodiazepine group of chemicals called benzodiazepines. Alprazolam is most commonly prescribed in the ...
in a half-hearted suicide attempt. Tyler returns from work, picks up the phone to Marla's drug-induced rambling, and rescues her. Tyler and Marla embark on an affair that confounds the narrator and confuses Marla. Throughout this affair, Marla is unaware both of fight club's existence and the interaction between Tyler and the narrator. As Tyler and Marla are never seen at the same time, the narrator wonders whether Tyler and Marla are the same person. As fight club attains a nationwide presence, Tyler uses it to spread his
anti-consumerist Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology. It has been described as "''intentionally'' and ''meaningfully'' excluding or cutting goods from one's consumption routine or reusing once-acquired goods with the goal of avoiding consumption". The ...
ideas, recruiting members to participate in increasingly elaborate pranks on corporate America. He eventually gathers the most devoted fight club members and forms "Project Mayhem", a
cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
-like organization that trains itself to bring down modern
civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...
. This organization, like fight club, is controlled by a set of rules: While initially a loyal participant in Project Mayhem, the narrator becomes uncomfortable with the increasing destructiveness of its activities. He resolves to stop Tyler and his followers when Bob, a friend from the testicular cancer support group, is killed during one of the sabotage operations. One day, Marla inadvertently reveals to the narrator that he and Tyler are the same person. As his mental state deteriorated, the narrator's mind formed a new personality that could escape from his life's problems. Tyler's affair with Marla—whom the narrator professes to dislike—was the narrator's own affair with Marla. The narrator's bouts of insomnia had been Tyler's personality surfacing; Tyler was active whenever the narrator was "sleeping". The Tyler personality created fight club and blew up the Narrator's condo. Tyler plans to blow up a skyscraper using homemade bombs created by Project Mayhem; the target of the explosion is the nearby national
museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
. Tyler plans to die as a
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
during this event, taking the narrator's life as well. Realizing this, the narrator sets out to stop Tyler. The narrator makes his way to the roof of the building, where Tyler holds him at gunpoint. When Marla comes to the roof with one of the support groups, Tyler vanishes, as Tyler "was his hallucination, not hers".Palahniuk, ''Fight Club'', 1999, p. 195. With Tyler gone, the narrator waits for the bomb to explode and kill him. The bomb malfunctions because Tyler mixed
paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid (also in liquid form) that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for med ...
into the explosives. Still alive and holding Tyler's gun, the narrator puts the gun in his mouth and shoots himself. Some time later, he awakens in a mental hospital, believing he is in
Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
, and imagines an argument with God over
human nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
. The narrator is then approached by hospital employees who reveal themselves to be Project members. They tell him their plans still continue, and that they are expecting Tyler to return.


History

Palahniuk once had an altercation while campingJemielity, Sam.
Chuck Palahniuk:The Playboy.comversation
and, though he returned to work bruised and swollen, his co-workers avoided asking him what had happened on the camping trip. Their reluctance to know what happened in his private life inspired him to write ''Fight Club''. In 1995, Palahniuk joined a Portland-based writing group that practiced a technique called "dangerous writing". This technique, developed by American author Tom Spanbauer, emphasizes the use of minimalist prose, and the use of painful, personal experiences for inspiration. Under Spanbauer's influence, Palahniuk produced an early draft of what would later become his novel '' Invisible Monsters'' (1999), but it was rejected by all publishers he submitted it to. Palahniuk then wrote a second novel, expanding on his short story, "Fight Club". Initially, ''Fight Club'' was published as a seven-page short story in the compilation ''Pursuit of Happiness'' (1995), but Palahniuk expanded it to novel length (in which the original short story became chapter six); ''Fight Club: A Novel'' was published in 1996. ''Fight Club: A Novel'' was re-issued in 1999 and 2004; the latter edition includes the author's introduction about the conception and popularity of the novel and movie, in which Palahniuk states:
...bookstores were full of books like '' The Joy Luck Club'' and '' The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' and ''
How to Make an American Quilt ''How to Make an American Quilt'' is a 1995 American drama film based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Whitney Otto. Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, the film features Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan and Alfr ...
''. These were all novels that presented a social model for women to be together. But there was no novel that presented a new social model for men to share their lives.
He later explains:
Really, what I was writing was just ''
The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...
'' updated a little. It was 'apostolic' fiction—where a surviving apostle tells the story of his hero. There are two men and a woman. And one man, the hero, is shot to death.
One critic has noted that this essay can be seen as Palahniuk's way of interpreting his own novel. According to this critic, Palahniuk's essay emphasizes the communicative and romantic elements of the novel while it deemphasizes its transgressive elements.Jensen, Mikkel. 2014. ""There had to be some kind of chorus": Re-interpretation by Postscript in ''Fight Club''" in ''Le Post-scriptum ou la rhétorique de l'ajout'' (eds. Christelle Serée-Chaussinand & Sylvie Crinquand) Lyon: Merry World Éditions Productions. In interviews, the writer has said he is still approached by people wanting to know the location of the nearest fight club. Palahniuk insists there is no such real organization. He has heard of real fight clubs, some said to have existed before the novel. Project Mayhem is lightly based on The Cacophony Society, of which Palahniuk is a member, and other events derived from stories told to him.Palahniuk, ''Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories'', pp. 228–229. ''Fight Club''s cultural impact is evidenced by the establishment of fight clubs by teenagers and "techies" in the United States.Fight club draws techies for bloody underground beatdowns
.
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
. May 29, 2006.
Pranks, such as food-tampering, have been repeated by fans of the book, documented in Palahniuk's essay "Monkey Think, Monkey Do",Palahniuk, ''Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories'', pp. 212–215. in the book '' Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories'' (2004) and in the introduction to the 2004 re-issue of ''Fight Club.'' Other fans have been inspired to undertake prosocial activity, and told Palahniuk that the novel had encouraged them to return to college.Tomlinson, Sarah.
Is it fistfighting, or just multi-tasking?
. Salon.com. October 13, 1999.


Adaptations

In addition to the feature film, a stage adaptation by Dylan Yates has been performed in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
and in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
. In 2004, work began on a musical theater adaptation by Palahniuk, Fincher, and
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...
, to premiere on the film's 10th anniversary. In 2015, the project was still in development, with
Julie Taymor Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King (musical), The Lion King'' debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Awards, Tony Award nominations, with ...
having been added to the creative team.


Characters


The Narrator

A modern-day
everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...
figure as well as an employee specializing in recalls for an unnamed car company, the Narrator—who remains unnamed throughout the novel—is extremely depressed and suffers from insomnia. Some readers call him "Joe", because of his constant use of the name in such statements as, "I am Joe's boiling point". The quotes, "I am Joe's lank, refer to the Narrator's reading old ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' articles in which human organs write about themselves in the first person, with titles such as "I Am Joe's Liver". The
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
replaces "Joe" with "Jack", inspiring some fans to call the Narrator "Jack". In the novel and film, the Narrator uses various aliases in the support groups. His subconscious is in need of a sense of freedom, he inevitably feels trapped within his own body, and when introduced to Tyler Durden, he begins to see all of the qualities he lacks in himself: "I love everything about Tyler Durden, his courage, his smarts, and his nerve. Tyler is funny and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not."Palahniuk, ''Fight Club'', 1999, p. 174. In the unofficial meta sequel comic book series also penned by Palahniuk (with art by Cameron Stewart), '' Fight Club 2'', it is revealed that the Narrator has chosen to be identified by the name of Sebastian.Fight Club 2 #1, Chuck Palahniuk & Cameron Stewart, Dark Horse Comics, May 2015


Tyler Durden

"Because of his nature",Palahniuk, ''Fight Club'', 1999, p. 25. Tyler works night jobs where he sabotages companies and harms clients. He also steals left-over drained human
fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...
from
liposuction Liposuction, or simply lipo, is a type of fat-removal procedure used in plastic surgery. Evidence does not support an effect on weight beyond a couple of months and does not appear to affect obesity-related problems. In the United States, lip ...
clinics to supplement his income through soap making and to create the ingredients for bomb manufacturing, which will be put to work later with his underground brawling circuit famously known as ''Fight Club'' in which he is the co-founder of, as it was his idea to instigate the fight that led to it. He later launches Project Mayhem, from which he and the members commit various attacks on consumerism. Tyler is blond, according to the Narrator's comment "in his everything-blond way".


Marla Singer

A woman whom the Narrator meets during a support group. The Narrator no longer receives the same relief from the groups when he realizes Marla is faking her problems just as he is. After he leaves the groups, he meets her again when she becomes Tyler's lover. Marla is shown to be extremely unkempt, uncaring, and sometimes even suicidal. At times, she shows a softer, more caring side. Coinciding with the novel's neo-noir themes, Marla plays the role of the femme fatale, not only in her appearance but also in her role, serving firstly as a source of problems for the Narrator.


Robert "Big Bob" Paulson

The Narrator meets Bob at a support group for
testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...
. A former
bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...
, Bob lost his testicles to cancer caused by the
steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...
he used to bulk up his muscles. His treatment with testosterone injections and resultant increased
estrogen Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three ...
levels have caused him to grow breasts and develop a softer voice. Because of his "bitch tits", Bob is the only member who is allowed to wear a shirt during fights. The Narrator befriends Bob and, after leaving the groups, meets him again in fight club. Bob's death later in the story, while carrying out an assignment for Project Mayhem, causes the Narrator to turn against Tyler because the members of Project Mayhem treat it as a trivial matter instead of a tragedy. Bob was the only member of Project Mayhem that didn't fully complete the three-day initiation phase. The Narrator goes and convinces him to stay. He's also the only one to get killed. He didn't follow Tyler's direct orders.


Angel Face

A man who joins Fight Club. He is very loyal to Project Mayhem, laughing at the vandalism he and a group of "space monkeys" have caused as their crimes appear on the evening news. Angel Face is considered very beautiful, hence his name. The blond-haired beauty suffers a savage beating at the Narrator's hands during a Fight Club session; the Narrator states that he "wanted to destroy something beautiful." The next time Angel Face is heard of in the novel, he is described as not being quite as beautiful anymore. Whereas in the book it is that excessive beating which triggers the foundation of Project Mayhem, (Fight Club no longer being a sufficient outlet), in the movie the beating seems to be caused primarily by the Narrator's jealousy.


Motifs


Destruction of Art

At two points in the novel, the Narrator claims he wants to "wipe isass with the
Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...
"; a mechanic who joins fight club repeats this to him in one scene.Palahniuk, ''Fight Club'', 1999, pp. 124, 141 & 200. This motif shows his desire for chaos, later expressed by the Narrator as an urge to "destroy something beautiful". Additionally, he mentions at one point that "Nothing is static. Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart."Palahniuk, ''Fight Club'', 1999, p. 49. This is most explicitly stated in the scene the mechanic appears in: Kennett further argues that Tyler wants to use this chaos to change history so that "God's middle children" will have some historical significance, whether or not this significance results in "damnation or redemption".Kennett, pp. 51–52. These endeavours will figuratively return to them their absent fathers, as judgment by future generations will replace judgment by their fathers.


Reader's Digest

After seeing ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' articles written from the perspective of the organs of a man named Joe, the Narrator begins using similar quotations to describe his feelings. He often replaces organs with feelings and things involved in his life (such as "I am Joe's smirking revenge").


Cornflower Blue

Cornflower blue Cornflower blue is a shade of medium-to-light blue containing relatively little green. This hue was one of the favorites of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The most valuable blue sapphires are called cornflower blue, having a medium-da ...
is a color associated with the Narrator's boss; it is revealed that he chose that particular shade of blue to highlight an icon. It is also mentioned later on that the Narrator's boss has eyes which are exactly the same color. All of Palahniuk's subsequent novels have featured references to cornflower blue.


Isolationism

Isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...
, specifically directed towards material items and possessions, is a common theme throughout the novel, especially in relation to consumerism. Tyler acts as the major catalyst behind the destruction of our vanities, which he claims is the path to finding our inner selves. "I'm breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions," Tyler whispered, "because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit."


Mental Illness

One of the multiple motifs within the novel is mental illness. David McCracken discusses in his article “Disability Studies Simulacra in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club(s)” about how within the context of Fight Club, there is a “"spiritual depression"
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
is congruent with spiritual disability, a malaise that impairs men and women from feeling an inner peace, a mystical transcendence, a euphoric sense of connection with a greater entity.” McCracken points out the importance of the support group chapters as it depicts victims overcoming biological and/or psychological diseases. McCracken claims that Fight Club can be seen as a ‘recovery text’, as “Fight Club may indeed be considered a story about the transition from spiritual deficiency, or spiritual bankruptcy as it is termed in a discussion of the first step in Alcoholics Anonymous (21), to spiritual awakening and consequently spiritual empowerment--the move from disability (spiritual depression) to ability (spiritual vitality).” In the support group chapters, Palahniuk depicts, for the most part, the traditional protocols within existing recovery communities, "the reflection of a profound reality." McCracken continues to highlight how Palahniuk juxtaposes the support group with fight club, and this is utilized to continue to show the mental illness parallels between the characters participating within the club. A comparison that is seen between the two groups, that actually shows their similarity more than anything, is anonymity. The practice of remaining anonymous is to ensure that everyone is equal, “at least in terms of identifiable status designations, and along the lines of disablism/ableism, legislated mediocracy rules.”


Themes

Jesse Kavadlo, a professor at
Maryville University Maryville University of St. Louis is a private university in Town and Country, Missouri, United States. It was founded on April 6, 1872, by the Society of the Sacred Heart and offers more than 90 degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate ...
of St. Louis, argues that the Narrator's opposition to emasculation is a form of projection, and the problem that he fights is himself.Kavadlo, p. 5. He also argues that Palahniuk uses
existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...
in the novel to conceal subtexts of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and romance, in order to convey these concepts in a novel that is mainly aimed at a male audience.Kavadlo, p. 7. In an essay titled "''Fight Club'' and the Disneyfication of Manhood," Cameron White and Trenia Walker suggest that Project Mayhem's ultimate goal, through the destruction of financial institutions, is to shatter what society deems "real" manhood, reducing manhood to survival instincts. Paul Skinner has also echoed this sentiment, stating, "the anger and dissatisfaction of the male characters is against one type of masculinity being suppressed by
post-industrial In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy. The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related t ...
consumerist society". Palahniuk gives a simpler assertion about the theme of the novel, stating "all my books are about a lonely person looking for some way to connect with other people."Palahniuk, ''Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories'', p. xv. Paul Kennett argues that because the Narrator's fights with Tyler are fights with himself, and because he fights himself in front of his boss at the hotel, the Narrator is using the fights as a way of asserting himself as his own boss. These fights are a representation of the struggle of the
proletarian The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist philo ...
at the hands of a higher
capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
power; by asserting himself as capable of having the same power he thus becomes his own master. Later when fight club is formed, the participants are all dressed and groomed similarly, allowing them to symbolically fight themselves at the club and gain the same
power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...
.Kennett, pp. 53–54. Tyler becomes nostalgic for patriarchal power giving him control and creates Project Mayhem to achieve this. Through this proto-fascist power structure, the Narrator seeks to learn "what, or rather, who, he might have been under a firm patriarchy."Kennett, p. 55. Through his position as leader of Project Mayhem, Tyler uses his power to become a "God/Father" to the "space monkeys" (the other members of Project Mayhem), although by the end of the novel his words hold more power than he does, as is evident in the space monkeys' threat to castrate the Narrator when he contradicts Tyler's rule. According to Kennett, this creates a paradox in that Tyler pushes the idea that men who wish to be free from a controlling father-figure are only self-actualized once they have children and become a father themselves, thus becoming controllers themselves in an endless cycle of patriarchal repression.Kennett, p. 56. Johannes Hell argues that Palahniuk's use of the Narrator's somnambulism is a simple attempt at emphasizing the dangerous yet daring possibilities of life. Hell enforces the importance of the Narrator's sleepwalking and intense deprivation, for they have a firm influence on suffering readers,"Hell, p.3. from a twisted perspective this is solace for everybody who suffers from somnambulism in a sense, that things could be worse, much worse in fact.Hell, p.3. Project Mayhem's terrorism in ''Fight Club'' has been analyzed within the context of the terrorist attacks of
September 11th, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...
. In 2007, Ruth Quiney examined this link, stating that ''Fight Clubs depiction of disaffected Western men joining a homegrown terrorist group anticipated some aspects of the War on Terror''.'' Jesse Kavadlo, in his essay "With Us or Against Us: Chuck Palahniuk's 9/11," claims that Palahniuk was almost prophetic in predicting future acts of terror. He writes, "Palahniuk's work demonstrates the disturbing intersections between the multiple meanings of the word "plot": narrative, conspiratorial, and funereal, the word reminding us of the linguistic connections between our stories, our secrets, and our entombment." Olivia Burgess believes that the necessity of violence as revolution is evident in how bodies are described in the novel. The fight club “allows men to fiercely embody revolution and desire and rejuvenate utopia”, experiencing sensations through their own aging, injured bodies. In the fight club, physical violence is consensual, and the self is liberated through immediate “violence and pain”. Characters do not have to wait for a possibility of a utopia, when they can fight for a utopia in the moment. Burgess argues that the violence of fight club is necessary for revolution, while Project Mayhem is malicious violence that does not liberate anybody. On the other hand, Barker believes that the fight club is just as malicious as Project Mayhem, proclaiming that both perpetuate fascist systems.


Reception

At the time of its publication, ''Fight Club'' was well-received critically. It was called "brilliantly creepy" by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
,'' and "unsettling and nerve-chafing" by ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
.
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'' commended its very publication, stating, "bravo to Norton for having the courage to publish it." For many critics, ''Fight Club'' is considered the embodiment of Palahniuk's writing style and thematic concerns. The "forecasts" section of a 1996 ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' praised the novel:
Writing in an iconic deadpan and including something to offend everyone, Palahniuk is a risky writer who takes chances galore, especially with a particularly bizarre plot twist he throws in late in the book. Caustic, outrageous, bleakly funny, violent, and always unsettling, Palahniuk's utterly original creation will make even the most jaded reader sit up and take notice.
Some critics have condemned ''Fight Club'' because of its violent, heteronormative themes and cult philosophy. Peter Matthews, however, argues that these critics often overlook the novel's ironic critique of its characters' violent worldview. The book received critical interest and eventually generated cinematic-adaptation interest. In 1999, screenwriters Jim Uhls, August Olsen, and co-producers Conor Strait and Aaron Curry joined director
David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...
. The film "failed" at the box office, but a
cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
emerged with the DVD edition and as a result, an original, hardcover edition of the novel is now a collector's item.Offman, Craig.
Movie makes "Fight Club" book a contender
".
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...
. September 3, 1999.
Following its film adaptation, the novel gained popularity among young, male American readers. Critics have attributed ''Fight Clubs popularity with this audience to its critique of an emasculating consumerist culture, and to the implied message that modern men need revert to their primal, aggressive nature. ''The Evening Standard'' said the novel was the origin of the term "
snowflake A snowflake is a single ice crystal that is large enough to fall through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 100–107.Hobbs, P.V. 1974. Ice Physics. Oxford: C ...
". "I coined 'snowflake' and I stand by it", Palahniuk said in 2017. "Every generation gets offended by different things but my friends who teach in high school tell me that their students are very easily offended ... The modern Left is always reacting to things. Once they get their show on the road culturally they will stop being so offended." The novel won the following awards: * 1997 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association AwardPacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards. . Retrieved June 20, 2005. * 1997 Oregon Book Award for Best NovelOregon Book Awards
Literary Arts, Inc. Retrieved June 20, 2005.


Sequels

Palahniuk was convinced to continue ''Fight Club'' in comic book form by fellow novelist Chelsea Cain and comic writers
Brian Michael Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an Americans, American comic book writer and artist. Starting with crime fiction, crime and hardboiled, noir comics, Bendis eventually moved to mainstream superhero fiction, superhero work. While a ...
,
Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' FF'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', '' Uncanny X-Men'', an ...
and
Kelly Sue DeConnick Kelly Sue DeConnick (born July 15, 1970) is an American comic book writer and editor and English-language adapter of manga. Career Kelly Sue DeConnick was first introduced to the comics industry by writing copy for photos in adult magazines. Sh ...
. At the 2013
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
, Palahniuk announced that a sequel to ''Fight Club'' is in the works and will take the form of a serialized graphic novel. According to Palahniuk, "It will likely be a series of books that update the story ten years after the seeming end of Tyler Durden. Nowadays, Tyler is telling the story, lurking inside Sebastian, and ready to launch a come-back. Sebastian is oblivious. Marla is bored. Their marriage has run aground on the rocky coastline of middle-aged suburban boredom. It's only when their little boy disappears, kidnapped by Tyler, that Sebastian is dragged back into the world of Mayhem."
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
published this new story in a 10-issue maxi series, written by Palahniuk and illustrated by Cameron Stewart, starting in 2015. Artist
David W. Mack David W. Mack is an American comic book artist and writer, known for his creator-owned series ''Kabuki (David W. Mack comic), Kabuki'' and for co-creating with Joe Quesada the Marvel Comics superhero Echo (Marvel Comics), Echo. Early life Mack ...
, who is friends with Palahniuk, illustrated the covers for the series and has said of the material, "The twists and turns are just primo artifacts of Chuck Palahniuk's brain material." A teaser was released by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
for
Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and has historically been cross ...
2015, with '' Fight Club 2'' #1 following in late May of that year. The series explores
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...
's concept of the 'second father' as being vital to the hero's journey, which is something that has always fascinated Palahniuk. On the ''Orbital In Conversation'' podcast, Chuck stated that he is already working on ''Fight Club 3'', which will also be in comic form. He also confirmed that he is working on a series of original short stories for comics which will appear as one-shots before eventually being collected into a single book. '' Fight Club 3'' consists of 12 issues, with the first one being released on January 30, 2019.


Prequel

''Expedition'' is a short-story prequel to ''Fight Club'', released in Palahniuk's ''Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread''.


U.S. editions

* New York: W. W. Norton & Company, August 1996.
Hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...
first edition. * New York: Owl Books, 1997. First trade paperback. * New York: Owl Books, 1999. Trade paperback reissue (film tie-in cover). * Minneapolis, MN: HighBridge Company, 1999. Unabridged
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
on 4 cassettes, read by J. Todd Adams. * Minneapolis, MN: Tandem Books, 1999. School & library binding. * New York: Owl Books, 2004. Trade paperback reissue, with a new introduction by the author (bloody lip cover). * New York: Owl Books, 2004. Trade paperback reissue, with a new introduction by the author (film tie-in cover). * New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005. Trade paperback (first cover). * New York: Recorded Books LLC, 2008. Unabridged
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...
on 5 CDs, Read by James Colby.


See also

*
1996 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1996. Events *July 8 – Harper Lee's ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', Mark Twain's '' Huckleberry Finn'' and 30 other books are struck from an English reading list in ...
* Dissociative identity disorder *
Transgressive fiction Transgressive fiction is a genre of literature which focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual or illicit ways. Literary context Because they are rebelling ...
* What Would Tyler Durden Do?—gossip blog named after the character; in turn a play on the popular phrase " What would Jesus do?"


Notes


Footnotes


References

* * * "Fight Club opera is coming from Fincher, Reznor and Palahniuk". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-03-30. * Giroux, Henry A..
Private Satisfactions and Public Disorders: Fight Club, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Masculine Violence.
. henryagiroux.com Online Articles. Retrieved October 10, 2008. * Jemielity, Sam.

.
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
.com. Retrieved September 28, 2006. * * * * Offman, Craig.
Movie makes "Fight Club" book a contender
.
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...
. September 3, 1999.
Oregon Book Awards
Literary Arts, Inc. Retrieved June 20, 2005. * Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20050721030452/http://www.pnba.org/awards.htm. Retrieved June 20, 2005. * * Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Stranger Than Fiction : True Stories''. Garden City: Doubleday, 2004. * Straus, Tamara.
The Unexpected Romantic: An Interview with Chuck Palahniuk
". AlterNet. June 19, 2001. * Tomlinson, Sarah.
Is it fistfighting, or just multi-tasking?
. Salon.com. October 13, 1999. Following editions of the novel were used as references for this article: * Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Fight Club''. New York: Henry Holt, 1997. * Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Fight Club''. Clearwater: Owl Books, 2004.


Further reading

* * *


External links


Chuck Palahniuk.Net section for ''Fight Club''

Fight Club on Internet Archive
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