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"Art never comes from happiness." So says Mancini's mother only a few pages into the novel. Given her own dicey and melodramatic style of parenting, you would think that her son's life would be chock-full of nothing but art. Alas, that's not the case. In the fine tradition of Oedipus, Stephen Dedalus, and Anthony Soprano, Victor hasn't quite reconciled his issues with his mother. Instead, he's trawling sexual-addiction recovery meetings for dates and purposely choking in restaurants for a few moments of attention. Longing for a hug, in other words, he's settling for the Heimlich.
Thematically, this is pretty familiar Palahniuk territory. It would be a pity to disclose the surprises of the plot, but suffice it to say that what we have here is a little bit of Tom Robbins's Another Roadside Attraction, a little bit of Don DeLillo's The Day Room, and, well, a little bit of Fight Club. Just as with Fight Club and the other two novels under Palahniuk's belt, we get a smattering of gloriously unflinching sound bites, including this skeptical bit on prayer chains: "A spiritual pyramid scheme. As if you can gang up on God. Bully him around."
Whether this is the novel that will break Palahniuk into the mainstream is hard to say. For a fourth book, in fact, the ratio of iffy, "dude"-intensive dialogue to interesting and insightful passages is a little higher than we might wish. In the end, though, the author's nerve and daring pull the whole thing off--just barely. And what's next for Victor Mancini's creator? Leave the last word to him, declaring as he does in the final pages: "Maybe it's our job to invent something better.... What it's going to be, I don't know." --Bob Michaels
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Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 1376805-n
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. 'Choke is Fight Club for sex addicts' Independent on SundayBY THE AUTHOR OF FIGHT CLUBVictor Mancini has devised a complicated scam to pay for his mother's hospital care- pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who 'saves you' will feel responsible for you for the rest of their lives. Multiply that a couple of hundred times and you generate a healthy flow of cheques, week in, week out.Victor also works at a theme park with a motley group of losers, cruises sex addiction groups for action, and visits his mother, whose Alzheimer's disease now hides what may be the startling truth about his parentage. Victor Mancini has devised a complicated scam to pay for his mother's hospital care: pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who 'saves you' will feel responsible for you for the rest of their lives. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780099422686
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780099422686
Book Description Condition: New. Victor Mancini has devised a scam to pay for his mother's medical care: pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who "saves" you will feel responsible for the rest of their lives. Multiply that by a couple of hundred times and you generate a healthy income. Num Pages: 304 pages. BIC Classification: FA; WH. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 199 x 131 x 19. Weight in Grams: 216. 2002. paperback / softback. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # 9780099422686
Book Description Softcover. Condition: new. Victor Mancini has devised a complicated scam to pay for his mother's hospital care: pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who 'saves you' will feel responsible for you for the rest of their lives. Multiply that a couple of hundred times and you generate a healthy flow of cheques, week in, week out.Victor also works at a theme park with a motley group of losers, cruises sex addiction groups for action, and visits his mother, whose Alzheimer's disease now hides what may be the startling truth about his parentage. Seller Inventory # DADAX0099422689
Book Description Condition: New. Victor Mancini has devised a scam to pay for his mother's medical care: pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who "saves" you will feel responsible for the rest of their lives. Multiply that by a couple of hundred times and you generate a healthy income. Num Pages: 304 pages. BIC Classification: FA; WH. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 199 x 131 x 19. Weight in Grams: 216. 2002. paperback / softback. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # 9780099422686
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 304. Seller Inventory # 5836939
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780099422686-GDR
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 304 pages. 7.76x5.12x0.75 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0099422689
Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780099422686_new