Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Unavailable
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Unavailable
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Audiobook4 hours

Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

From the bestselling author of Fight Club and Diary, a collection of essays and journalistic pieces that prove that real life has imagination beaten cold in the strangeness and wonder departments

Chuck Palahniuk's world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. The pieces that comprise Stranger Than Fiction, his first nonfiction collection, prove just how different, in ways both highly entertaining and deeply unsettling. Encounters with alternative culture heroes Marilyn Manson and Juliette Lewis; the peculiar wages of fame attendant on the big budget film production of the movie Fight Club; life as an assembly-line drive train installer by day, hospice volunteer driver by night; the really peculiar lives of submariners; the really violent world (and mangled ears) of college wrestlers; the underground world of iron-pumping anabolic steroid gobblers; the immensely upsetting circumstances of his father's murder and the trial of his killer-each essay or vignette offers a unique facet of existence as lived in and/or observed by one of our most flagrantly daring and original literary talents.

Editor's Note

The stories behind stories…

Whether you’ve read Palahniuk’s other books or not, this collection offers a fresh perspective on both the ordinary & not-so-ordinary, while Chuck fans will enjoy a deeper understanding of the stories behind his stories.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 15, 2004
ISBN9780739312391
Unavailable
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories

Related to Stranger Than Fiction

Related audiobooks

Literary Biographies For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Stranger Than Fiction

Rating: 3.466057543211488 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

766 ratings20 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This might be a bit of a cheat but I'm going to consider this one done and finished even though I didn't read the entire book. The problem was that I lost the book before I could finish it. Actually I know exactly where it was last left: in the pocket of my airline seat on a flight to Washington D.C. I just plain forgot it there. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've ever done so. Anyway, if I was truly enjoying the book, I would hunt down a new copy or buy the ebook. However, I wasn't really enjoying it. The book is a collection of life experiences from Palahniuk; each chapter is a different experience. For example, in one chapter he describes what occurs at the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival while in another chapter he portrays unpublished authors and the steps they take for fame. In these experiences, he illustrates people's lives and their pretty crazy actions. Some of the experiences are simply crazy experiences to be taken as indicative of people's lives; others experiences are infused with insights that provide depth and pathos to those lives. An analysis that makes you analyze your own life and hopefully, at least to me, want to live a more fuller life. So why then, if I was gaining some insight into my life, would I not want to continue? Because it was not the fun, entertaining type of book that I normally want to read. I think that I can count the number of self-help books that I read on one hand; something that I'm sure an ex or two would really prefer I had read more. Self-help books just aren't my usual cup-of-tea. Before I lost this book, I already knew that it was going to be some time before I finished the book. Time enough to start and finish several other books between chapters. Now I can move on and get back to Adam Cesare or Stephen King or start that Brian James Freeman book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As with basically any collection of essays, there are hits and misses. All of them are written in classic Chuck Palahniuk fashion, and some of them are absolutely phenomenal. "Escort," in particular, is one that has been haunting me ever since I finished reading it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you are a writer, or an aspiring writer, this is a must-read (or in this case, a must-hear).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A collection of essays and interviews about isolation, personal mission, adventure, and mortality. These essays focus on great creatives and personal experiences but they have a lot of layers that would benefit any reader. Some of the topics seemed designed to shock or beggar belief, but they are all well executed and thoughtful.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I like Palahniuks writing and have read several of his novels. This I also enjoyed (on audio) but for the fact that many of the stories, including ones in the personal section, came across to me as backhandedly mocking. The people and events were laid out soundly enough and were entertaining but I couldn't get past the feeling he was secretly (or not so secretly) rolling his eyes at most of his subjects. Could've been the narration, though the author himself read some. Maybe I'm wrong.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are some essays in here which are definitely Palahniuk and some which read like any journalist could have written them (a few of the profile pieces). This is a good read for fans and it gives some insight into the author's thoughts on literary and social topics. Fans will also enjoy the personal essays in the third section. My favourite by far is "You Are Here." It's packed full of great lines and musings on the industry. The book is not boring by any means and shouldn't be overlooked, but it is not his best work... although I'm not sure it's intended to be anything more than a collection. If you find it, read it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Some great stories in here, like the ones about keeping perspective by being a hospice volunteer and letting an interviewee asking her own questions. Although varying in quality.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Stranger Than Fiction was indeed a strange one. One of only two nonfiction books by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk, this collection of previously published and personal stories are about as off-beat as one could expect from Palahniuk. Topics run the gamut from the author's dabbling in steroids, guys who build and live in real castles, an interview with Marilyn Manson, and anything else you might imagine. Of particular interest to me was the piece about Navy submariners in King's Bay, GA. A nice, quick, bizarre read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    thi book was great! i loved how all the stories were true and i could almost relate to all of them! I did not know palahnuik had such a dark past withhis father brought a lot of insight to the author!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A mixed bag this collection. Palahniuk's journalist pieces are fairly boring to be honest. He offers no commentary on the events covered, instead letting them speak for themselves. Yet the matters involved are a little too self-evident and as a result these pieces read as nothing more than bland reporting.The interview section is a lot better and Palahniuk illuminates some interesting characters in a surprising manner. The personal section of the book is equally good. Sure, one can't believe all of Palahniuk's self-hype, but there are some very good short pieces here and it's well worth reading overall.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A collection of Chuck's non-fiction, not as good or out there as his fiction but still contained some interesting and amusing observations. Some of the stories didn't hold my interest as they weren't on a subject interesting to me, most notably one on wrestling. But, its still Chuck and any fan will appreciate a different type of work from him and a sort of clue as to why he writes what and how he does.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I love Chuck Palahniuk's work, but this foray into the truly real didn't quite work for me. He's always been great at displaying true life with a bit of an edge. And while I know this is a series of non-fictional essays I felt I was missing that voice. The first part 'People Together' was actually rather enjoyable. It was very in your face of some of the just general weirdness that is people in groups and what they can do. 'Portraits' was kind of just...filler. I've never been one to be overly excited about the lives of celebrities. I am more than aware that under their make up that they are humans living real lives. It just seemed unnecessary. The last part, 'Personal' I really wish I could have liked. I know he was putting some of himself out there...but it just seemed rushed and hurried, which according to what he said about pushing the deadline with it, I believe might be true. Overall....it was a nice read. There were some things I enjoyed. But it wasn't quite what I was wanting or expecting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Sort of good if you like Palahnuik fiction. I dunno at times I enjoyed it, but it sorta became a chore and reminded me why collections of essay are not meant to be read front to back. Which I tried to do with this. About 3 times. It held me up when I could've been reading something else. So I dunno. I think its one of those 'it's not you, it's me' situations. Palahnuik seems like a fun guy to hang out with, not a shut in stuffy type. (Thinking about that, I bumped it up to 3 stars from 2 1/2)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Stranger than fiction moves outside of Palahniuk's normal literary fiction genre as a publication of collected personal stories and articles written by Palahniuk for magazine articles. While it did not prove to be as outlandishly strange as I expected, it proved to be something even warmer and more endearing than I would have imagined possible based on Palhniuk's novels, all the while he manages to keep the dark humor that at times made me laugh out loud.Prior to reading Stranger than Fiction I had always regarded Plahniuk's work in some sort of literature limbo. Something more than pulp, yet somehow something less than literary. This is not to say I do not love his works. I have two other unread Palahniuk novels that I refuse to pick up. There are only so many of his works available, and new Palaniuk experiences are not to be squandered frivolously. It is just that I did not know where or how to classify them within the spectrum if written material. With my reading of Stranger than Fiction I now have no doubt that his works are those of a literary writer.Imagine a small farming town, where the residents have an annual combine tractor crash derby. What types of images come to mind? Palahniuk includes a story on just such an event held each year in Washington, and the intimate portrait he paints of the event is simply amazing. It takes on a gritty and truthful level of realism, where people are not poor caricatures of small town rednecks. It is a portrait of competent hard working people who come together to escape the vicissitudes of a hard farming life.Another article contains the stories of some of the personalities involved in a set of wrestling matches held to win spots for an Olympic trial. In my mind I always had some dim and disdainful view of what Greco-Roman wrestling was, and I am sure that most other people have some similarly stereo-typed views of it. After reading Palahniuk's story however, I know I will never view wrestling the same way again. There is something there far deeper than I imagined. Something that is both tragic and in some ways inpspiring, and it took him giving it a face for me to recognize it.The stories cover oddities such as the combine derby, interviews and profiles of both famous and unknown people, and personal stories from Palahniuk's past. Each one has that same intimate personal feel. The interviews especially impressed me as they are not just a set of cheap question and answers. Palahniuk spends time with the interviewee, then tells a story that makes you feel as though you were sitting in the room with them experiencing their lives, not some outsider peering into someone's life picking over a pile of facts or pre-canned facades. They are masterful displays of his writing talent.If you are not familiar with Palahniuk's works, or only know of him from the movie adaptation of Fight Club, pick up his novels and start reading them today. If you follow his works but have not yet read Stranger than Fiction pick it up today. My only suggestion is that you should not sit down and read it all at once. Each story is like a rich dessert, and they should be savored one at a time and spread out through other readings rather than gobbling them up all at once.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    With this collection of short stories, Chuck Palahniuk manages to find the dark underbelly of America, specifically the Pacific Northwest, and express it in stories about seemingly common events. Palahniuk covers a wide range of topics and introduces us to wrestlers, body builders, and men who build their own stone castles. In addition to some stories about him and when Fight Club was released, all these stories could have happened anywhere. They all seem normal on the surface but turn darker after a closer inspection. Palahniuk has said that most of his characters and plot lines come from actual people and events and this book makes it easy to see why.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really enjoy Palahniuk so I decided to pick some of his short essays. Nothing special here though. I like his novels more than his journalistic approach towards writing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    good collection. provides a nice vacation from his novels.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A little spooky, especially the front cover which you'll understand once you read it. Makes a Palahniuk reader make more sense of what kind of a person could write Fight Club or his other books. This is a set of smaller stories, kind of like REM's Dead Letter Office LP. The one story about the dog finding victims was pretty upsetting...don't read this if you are emotionally affected by some gruesomeness.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I liked the Hollywood-type stories less than I thought I would, but the essays on writing really grabbed me. Also, his no-nonsense, "I was there" approach to his odd surroundings really bring out the stories and don't make him seem egotistical or trying to promote himself over his subjects. A quick, fun read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Being an avid Chuck reader, I couldn't pass this book up. With that being said, I was pretty disappointed. The stories are factual and they are pretty dull in comparison to his novels. He picks a few interesting stories from his life or the life of celebs but I don't think the writing style works as well as it does in his novels. I would say half the stories in this book are worth reading... so it's up to you if you want to spend the money for half a Chuck book?