Fight Club

By: Chuck Palahniuk

Narrated by: Jim Colby

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Internationally best-selling author Chuck Palahniuk's uproarious and irreverent debut novel Fight Club was transformed into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt.

When a listless office employee (the narrator) meets Tyler Durden, his life begins to take on a strange new dimension. Together they form Fight Club - a secretive underground group sponsoring bloody bare-knuckle boxing matches staged in seedy alleys, vacant warehouses, and dive-bar basements. Fight Club lets ordinary men vent their suppressed rage, and it quickly develops a fanatical following. Before long it takes on all the trappings of a quasi-religious cult, replete with a devastating ideological mission to accomplish.

A masterpiece of raw violence and black humor, this exciting novel challenges listeners to see the world through a new - and quite possibly deranged - set of eyes. Acclaimed narrator Jim Colby brings out the dark satire in this tale of modern alienation.

©1996 Chuck Palahniuk (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

LOCAL FIGHT CLUB

This book is great. I enjoyed the story, and it was great to hear more the movie allowed. This ending is better then the movie. It is different but simular to the other Palahniuk books. Still a great read.

No-No, Ya-Ya

A skillfully turbulent novel that wields a wallop in relatively short order (less than 5 1/2 hours). Chuck P wrote this as a male counter to the plethora of novels on best seller shelves in the early 1990s in which women get together for a social gathering such as The Joy Luck Club, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and How to Make an American Quilt.

The first person narrator is struggling with insomnia and finds relief in impersonating a patient or survivor of a terminal illness and attending several support groups. He then meets Tyler Durden, a cinema projectionist, waiter and anarchist, who the narrator describes as "funny and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world." He moves in with Tyler after an explosive device destroys his apartment.

Together, they start a Fight Club where white collar guys get together on the weekend to pummel one another then show up at work on Mondays with the black and blues with a few teeth loose. The basic idea is:

"I see in the fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived... and I see squandering... an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars, advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy [crap] we don't need. We're the middle children of the history man, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives, we've been all raised by television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won't and we're slowly learning that fact, and we're very very pi$ $ed off.”

But underlying this rage against the Man, is a concept familiar in 12-step circles:

“Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. ...” "The lower you fall, the higher you fly." And, "only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit."

Things quickly evolve (or devolve) into a more exclusive club of the most loyal Fight Club members in Tyler Durden's anarchic "Project Mayhem." I won't spoil the rest if you are like me when buying this book, and have not read the book or seen the movie.


A remarkable rambunctious romp.

...the first rule of fight club...

...is you don't talk about Fight Club. Well, the book was very helpful in understanding the details of the mental illness that is present in the story. The movie left a lot to be desired in this realm. This is a well written story that helps one better understand the mind of a dissociative client.

good for context

I think I prefer the movie; the buildings blowing up is a better ending than the psyche ward. Other than that, the only difference between what was written and what was screened is the myriad recipes and a murder mystery dinner. They're worth almost as much as the context behind the film.

Excellent

Great book. Great narrator. The themes and issues raised are even more relevant today than when it was written. Read this one then see the movie.

Wow.

Okay so this was my third attempt at reading Fight Club. The other two were obviously not very successful. But this time I did it, thanks to audible! I didn’t expect to get out of it what I did. Everyone has their own takeaway though, I’m sure. Jim Colby did a great job as well. His voice is so soothing. I could hear it in my dreams. I highly recommend this book. Btw I have never seen the movie but I knew how it ended. So much more than just the big reveal.

love it

l absolutely enjoyed this book. even though I knew how it would end (because movie) I was still fascinated with how the story was told and the details. great read. Absolutely would read this again.

The Rabbit Hole Goes Much Deeper

Although I'd seen the movie dozens of times, it was great to hear the words in their rawest form by Chuck Palahniuk. Only 5 hours but well worth the listen.

Great story

Had seen the Movie a long time ago and decided to listen to the audiobook. Great performances and a really time audiobook to listen to.

unabridged love

loved the movie, loved the book, loved the audio book
theres so much love here.