Choke By Chuck Palahniuk

I have recently finished reading Chuck Palahniuk “Choke”, even though Choke was released in 2001. I have recently just discovered it. Chuck Palahniuk is an American transgression fiction novelist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher. When I bought the book, what made me want to buy it was because he was the author of Fight Club. Due to the content of his works, Palahniuk has earned a reputation as a nihilist. However, Palahniuk claims he is not a nihilist, but a romantic, and that his works are merely mistaken for being nihilistic because they express ideas that others do not believe in.

When I first read the book I admit it took me a long time to get through the first 5 chapter, Palahniuk’s writing was different from the other author’s that I have read. His writing style was simple and yet provocative at the same time. Choke follows Victor Mancini and his friend Denny through a few months of their lives. The book has frequent flashbacks of Victor when he was a child. Victor's mother was found to be unfit to raise Victor due to that Victor grew up while going from one foster home to another. His mother Ida Mancini would kidnap him from his various foster parents. They would eventually be caught and he would again be re-handed over to the government child welfare agency.
The book is set in the present day, where Victor now is a man in his mid-twenties and has left medical school to help support mother who is now in a nursing home. Due of him dropping out college, he cannot afford the care that his mother is receiving Victor resorts to being a con man. He cons by purposely choking himself at various restaurants by him choking it will lure a "good Samaritan" into saving his life. Victor will keep a detailed list of everyone who saves him and sends them frequent letters about fictional bills he is unable to pay when in fact it is for his mother. The people feel so sorry for him that they send him cards and letters asking him about how he's doing and even continue to send him money to help him with the bills.

While growing up, Victor's mother taught him numerous conspiracy theories and obscure medical facts which both confused and frightened him. This and his constant moves from one home to another have left Victor unable to form lasting and stable relationships with women. Victor therefore finds himself getting sexual gratification from women in sexual addiction support groups. Just like his other successful book Fight Club, a film adaptation of Choke had just been released on September 26th 2008.