Fight Club 1060136 225981657 2008-07-16T09:07:45Z THobern 2086600 /* History */ {{About||the film based on the novel|Fight Club (film)|other uses|Fight Club (disambiguation)}} {{infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] --> | name = Fight Club | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[Image:Fightclubcvr.jpg|200px]] | image_caption = First edition cover | author = [[Chuck Palahniuk]] | illustrator = | cover_artist = Jacket design by Michael Ian Kaye<br>Photograph by Melissa Hayden<br>Soap by Proverbial Inc. | country = [[United States]] | language = [[English language|English]] | series = | genre = [[Novel]] | publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]] | release_date = August 1996 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print ([[hardcover]], [[paperback]], & library binding) & audio cassette | pages = 208 pp (first edition, hardcover) | isbn = ISBN 0-393-03976-5 (first edition, hardcover) | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''Fight Club'''''<ref name="lowercase">Throughout the novel, Palahniuk writes the name of the club in [[lowercase]]. The only occurrence of "Fight Club" as a proper noun is in the novel's title. Thus, all occurrences to "fight club" in this article refer to the fictional club, while all occurrences of "''Fight Club''" refer to the novel itself.</ref> (1996) is the first published [[novel]] by [[United States|America]]n [[author]] [[Chuck Palahniuk]]. The plot is based on an unnamed [[protagonist]] who struggles with his growing discomfort with [[consumerism]] and changes in the state of [[masculinity]] in [[American culture]]. In an attempt to overcome this, he creates an underground [[fighting]] club as a radical form of [[psychotherapy]]. It was made into a [[Fight Club (film)|movie of the same name]] in 1999 by director [[David Fincher]]. The movie became a pop culture phenomenon. In the wake of the film's popularity, the novel has become a target of criticism, mainly for its explicit depictions of [[Graphic violence|violence]]. ==History== When Palahniuk made his first attempt at publishing a novel (''[[Invisible Monsters]]''), publishers rejected it for being too disturbing. This led him to work on ''Fight Club,'' which he wrote as an attempt to disturb the publishers even more for rejecting him. Palahniuk wrote this story while working as a diesel mechanic for [[Freightliner LLC|Freightliner]]. After initially publishing it as a short story (which became chapter 6 of the novel) in the compilation ''Pursuit of Happiness,'' Palahniuk expanded it into a full novel, which, contrary to what he expected, the publisher was willing to publish.<ref name="tomlinson">Tomlinson, Sarah. "[http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/int/1999/10/13/palahniuk/index.html Is it fistfighting, or just multi-tasking?]". ''Salon.com''. October 13, 1999.</ref> While the original, hardcover edition of the book received positive reviews and some awards, it had a short shelf life. Nevertheless, the book had made its way to [[Hollywood]], where interest in adapting it to film was growing at a high velocity. It was eventually adapted in 1999 by screenwriter [[Jim Uhls]] and director [[David Fincher]]. The film was a box-office disappointment (although it was #1 at the U.S. box office in its first weekend and critical reaction was mostly favorable), but a [[Cult film|cult following]] soon emerged after the release of the film on DVD. As a result of the film, the original hardcover edition became a collector's item.<ref name="offman">Offman, Craig. "[http://archive.salon.com/books/log/1999/09/03/fight_club/ Movie makes "Fight Club" book a contender]". ''[[Salon.com]]''. September 3, 1999.</ref> This film is now popularly considered to be an uncompromising critique of humanity's loss of identity through mass consumerism. Two paperback rereleases of the novel, one in 1999 and the other in 2004 (the latter of which begins with an introduction by the author about the conception and popularity of both the novel and the movie), were later made. This success helped launch Palahniuk's career as a popular novelist, as well as establish a writing style that would appear in many of his future novels. The club itself was based on a series of fights that Palahniuk got into over previous years (most notably one that he got into during a camping trip).<ref name="jemielity">Jemielity, Sam. "[http://www.playboy.com/arts-entertainment/dotcomversation/palahniuk/ Chuck Palahniuk:The Playboy.Comversation]". ''[[Playboy]].com''. Retrieved June 30, 2005.</ref> Even though he has mentioned this in many interviews, Palahniuk is still often approached by fans wanting to know where their local fight club takes place. Palahniuk insists that there is no real, singular organization like the one in his book. However, he does admit that some fans have mentioned to him that some fight clubs (albeit much smaller than the one in the novel) exist or previously existed (some having existed long before the novel was written). Also, in the introduction to the current edition of the novel, Palahniuk refers to a few of the many actual instances of mischief being carried out in the style of fight club, most notably, a "waiter from one of London's two finest restaurants" alleging that he ejaculated into [[Margaret Thatcher|Margaret Thatcher's]] food on multiple occasions. Many other events in the novel were also based on events that Palahniuk himself had experienced. The [[support groups]] that the narrator attends are based on support groups to which the author brought terminally ill people as part of a volunteer job he did for a local hospital. Project Mayhem is loosely based on the [[Cacophony Society]], of which Palahniuk is a member. Various events and characters are based on friends of the author. Other events came as a result of stories told to him by various people he had talked to.<ref name="palahniukstf228229">''Palahniuk (''Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories''), pp. 228&ndash;229.''</ref> Outside of Palahniuk's professional and personal life, the novel's impact has been felt elsewhere. Several individuals in various locations of the [[United States]], ranging from teenagers to people in technical careers, have set up their own fight clubs based on the one mentioned in the novel.<ref name="usatoday">"[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-29-fight-club_x.htm Fight club draws techies for bloody underground beatdowns]". ''[[Associated Press]]''. May 29, 2006.</ref> Some of Tyler's on-the-job pranks (such as food tampering) have been repeated by fans of the book (although these same pranks existed well before the novel was published). Palahniuk eventually documented this phenomenon in his essay "Monkey Think, Monkey Do",<ref name="palahniukstf212215">''Palahniuk (''Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories''), pp. 212&ndash;215.''</ref> which was published in his book ''[[Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories]],'' as well as in the introduction to the 2004 paperback edition of ''Fight Club.'' Other fans of the book have been inspired to social activity as well; Palahniuk has claimed that fans tell him that they have been inspired to go back to college after reading the book.<ref name="tomlinson" /> Other than the film, a few other adaptations have been attempted. In 2004 ''Fight Club'' was in development as a [[musical theater|musical]], developed by Palahniuk, Fincher, and [[Trent Reznor]].<ref name="chang">Chang, Jade. "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A2799633 tinseltown: fight club and fahrenheit]". ''[[BBC]].co.uk''. July 2, 2004.</ref> [[Brad Pitt]], who played the role of Tyler Durden in the film, expressed interest in being involved. A [[Fight Club (video game)|video game loosely based on the film]] was published by [[Vivendi Universal Games]] in 2004, receiving poor reviews from gaming critics. ==Plot summary== The book centers on an unnamed narrator who hates his job and his life. The narrator works for a car company, also unnamed, organizing [[product recall]]s on defective models if, and only if, a [[cost-benefit analysis]] shows that the cost of the recall is less than the cost of [[out-of-court settlement]]s paid to relatives of the deceased (which parallels the 1970s story of the [[Ford Pinto#Safety problems|Ford Pinto's safety problems and recall]]). At the same time, he is becoming disenchanted with the "[[nesting instinct]]"<ref name="palahniukfc43">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 43.''</ref> of consumerism that has absorbed his life, forcing him to define himself by the furniture, clothes, and other material things that he owns. This dissatisfaction, combined with his frequent business trips across multiple time zones, disturbs him to the point that he suffers from chronic [[insomnia]]. At the recommendation of his physician (who does not consider his insomnia to be a serious ailment), the narrator goes to a support group for men with [[testicular cancer]] to "see what real suffering is like." After finding that crying at these support groups and listening to emotional outpourings from the suffering allows him to sleep at night, he becomes dependent on them. At the same time, he befriends a cancer victim named Bob. Although he does not really suffer from any of the ailments that the other attendants have, he is never caught being a "tourist" until he meets Marla Singer, a woman who also attends support groups for alternative reasons. Her presence reflects the narrator's "tourism," and only reminds him that he doesn't belong at the support groups. He begins to hate Marla for keeping him from crying, and therefore from sleeping. After a short confrontation, they agree to begin going to separate support groups in order to avoid meeting again. Shortly before this incident, his life changes radically upon meeting Tyler Durden, a charismatic [[psychopath]] who works low-paying jobs at night in order to perform deviant behavior on the job. After his confrontation with Marla, the narrator's condo is destroyed by an explosion and he asks Tyler if he can stay at his house. Tyler agrees, but asks for something in return: "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."<ref name="palahniukfc46">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 46.''</ref> The resulting fight in a bar's parking lot attracts more disenchanted males, and a new form of support group, the first "Fight Club," is born. The fight club becomes a new type of therapy through [[Bare-knuckle boxing|bare-knuckle]] fighting, controlled by a set of rules: <!-- NOTE: The rules below are given just as they appear in the novel (see page citations). The film has a slightly different version of the rules. Please don't change this list, or any part of it, to the film version. If you do, your changes will be reverted. --> {{quotation| #You don't talk about fight club. #You don't talk about fight club.<ref name="2rules">The first rules of both fight club and Project Mayhem are repeated for emphasis. Fans of the novel and the film have latched on to the first two rules of fight club as a [[meme]] and have made it into a [[catchphrase]] (although slightly changed to "you do not talk about fight club", based on the variation in the film).</ref> #When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he's just faking it, the fight is over.<ref name="lostrule">Shortly after the third rule is introduced, it is dropped from the club and the other rules move up one numbered position. It is mentioned by the narrator the first time he states the rules, but it is not mentioned by Tyler when he states them. Tyler also adds the eighth rule, which becomes the seventh rule in his version of the rule set. This may have been the result of a [[continuity error]], though it is also possible that Tyler changed the rules to allow the narrator to break the third rule later in the novel. Another interpretion could be that the first set of rules are easier on combatants than the amended rules (ways out if unconscious and not having to fight compared to no ways out and having to fight), proving the more aggressive Tyler is taking a stronger hold of the narrator. Palahniuk (1999), pp. 49&ndash;50.</ref> #Only two guys to a fight. #One fight at a time. #They fight without shirts or shoes. #The fights go on as long as they have to. #If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight. |''Fight Club''|pages 48&ndash;50<ref name="palahniukfc4850">Palahniuk (''Fight Club,'' 1999), pp. 48&ndash;50.</ref>}} Later in the book, the mechanic tells the narrator two new rules of the fight club. The first new rule is that nobody is the center of the fight club except for the two men fighting. The second new rule is that the fight club will always be free. Meanwhile, Tyler rescues Marla from a suicide attempt, and the two initiate an affair that confounds the narrator. Throughout this affair, Marla is mostly unaware of the existence of fight club and completely unaware of Tyler and the narrator's interaction with one another.<ref name="tylermarla"> Because Tyler and Marla are never seen at the same time, the narrator wonders if Tyler and Marla are the same person. This foreshadows the later revelation of Tyler and the narrator being the same person. Palahniuk may have also meant for this detail to be a [[red herring (plot device)|red herring]]. ''Palahniuk (1999), p. 65.''</ref> As the fight club's membership grows (and, unbeknownst to the narrator, spreads to other cities across the country), Tyler begins to use it to spread anti-consumerist ideas and recruits its members to participate in increasingly elaborate attacks on [[corporate America]]. This was originally the narrator's idea, but Tyler takes control from him. Tyler eventually gathers the most devoted fight club members (referred to as "[[Monkeys in space|space monkey]]s") and forms "Project Mayhem," a [[cult]]-like organization that trains itself as an army to bring down modern civilization. This organization, like the fight club, is controlled by a set of rules: <!-- NOTE: The rules below are given just as they appear in the novel (see page citations). The film has a slightly different version of the rules. Please don't change this list, or any part of it, to the film version. If you do, your changes will be reverted. --> {{quotation| #You don't ask questions. #You don't ask questions. #No excuses. #No lies. #You have to trust Tyler.|''Fight Club''|pages 119, 122, 125<ref name="palahniukfc119122125">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), pp. 119, 122 & 125.''</ref>}} The narrator starts off as a loyal participant in Project Mayhem, seeing it as the next step for the fight club. However, he becomes uncomfortable with the increasing destructiveness of their activities after it results in the death of Bob. As the narrator endeavors to stop Tyler and his followers, [[anagnorisis|he learns]] that he ''is'' Tyler;<ref name="unreliable">The narrator's inability to explain Tyler's existence earlier on in the story is a classic example of an [[unreliable narrator]].</ref> Tyler is not a separate person, but a [[Dissociative identity disorder|separate personality]]. As the narrator struggled with his hatred for his job and his consumerist lifestyle, his mind began to form a new personality that was able to escape from the problems of his normal life. The final straw came when he met Marla; Tyler was truly born as a distinct personality when the narrator's unconscious desire for Marla clashed with his conscious hatred for her. Having come to the surface, Tyler's personality has been slowly taking over the narrator's mind, which he planned to take over completely by making the narrator's real personality more like his. The narrator's bouts of insomnia had actually been Tyler's personality surfacing; Tyler would be active whenever the narrator was "sleeping." This allowed Tyler to manipulate the narrator into helping him create the fight club; Tyler learned recipes for creating explosives when he was in control and used this knowledge to blow up his own condo. The narrator also learns that Tyler plans to blow up the Parker-Morris building (the fictional "tallest building in the world") in the downtown area of the city using [[homemade bomb]]s created by Project Mayhem. The actual reason for the explosion is to destroy the nearby national museum. During the explosion, Tyler plans to die as a [[martyr]] for Project Mayhem, taking the narrator's life as well. Realizing this, the narrator sets out to stop Tyler, although Tyler is always thinking ahead of him. In his attempts to stop Tyler, he makes peace with Marla (who has always known the narrator as Tyler) and explains to her that he is not Tyler Durden. The narrator is eventually forced to confront Tyler on the roof of the building. The narrator is held captive at gunpoint by Tyler, forced to watch the destruction wrought on the museum by Project Mayhem. Marla comes to the roof with one of the support groups. Tyler vanishes, as “Tyler was ''his'' hallucination, not hers.”<ref name="palahniukfc195">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 195.''</ref> With Tyler gone, the narrator waits for the bomb to explode and kill him. However, the bomb malfunctions because Tyler mixed paraffin into the explosives, which the narrator says early in the book "has never, ever worked for me." Still alive and holding the gun that Tyler used to carry on him, the narrator decides to make the first decision that is truly his own: he puts the gun in his mouth and shoots himself. Some time later, he awakens in a hospital, believing that he is dead and has gone to heaven. The book ends with members of Project Mayhem who work at the institution telling the narrator that their plans still continue, and that they are expecting Tyler to come back. ==Characters in ''Fight Club''== ; Narrator : An employee for an unnamed car company specializing in recalls. He becomes an insomniac, which leads to the creation of his alternate personality. The narrator of ''Fight Club'' set a precedent for the protagonists of later novels by Palahniuk, especially in the case of male protagonists, as they often shared his antiheroic and [[transgressional fiction|transgressive]] behavior. The narrator in ''Fight Club'' is unnamed throughout the novel. Most avid fans or readers call the protagonist by the name of "Joe" because of the constant use of the name Joe such as, "I am Joe's boiling point." Contrary to popular belief, Tyler Durden is not the narrator, he is the narrator's alternate identity. (It is actually, in the novel, Joe, but Jack in the movie) ; Tyler Durden : A [[neo-luddite]], [[Nihilism|nihilist]], with a strong hatred for [[consumer culture]]. "Because of his nature,"<ref name="palahniukfc25">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 25.''</ref> Tyler works night jobs where he causes problems for the companies; he also makes soap to supplement his income and create the ingredients for his bomb making which will be put to work later with his fight club. He is the co-founder of fight club (it was his idea to have the fight that led to it). He later launches Project Mayhem, from which he and the members make various attacks on consumerism. Tyler is blond, as by the narrator's comment "in his everything-blond way." The unhinged but magnetic Tyler could also be considered an antihero (especially since he and the narrator are technically the same person), although he becomes the [[antagonist]] of the novel later in the story. Few characters like Tyler have appeared in later novels by Palahniuk, though the character of Oyster from ''[[Lullaby (novel)|Lullaby]]'' shares many similarities. ; Marla Singer : A woman that the narrator meets during a support group. The narrator no longer receives the same release from the groups when he realizes Marla is faking her problems just like he is. After he leaves the groups, he meets her again when she meets Tyler and becomes his lover. She is a [[nymphomaniac]], and she shares many of Tyler's thoughts on consumer culture. In later novels by Palahniuk in which the protagonist is male, a female character similar to Marla has also appeared. Marla and these other female characters have helped Palahniuk to add romantic themes into his novels. ; Robert "Bob" Paulson : A man that the narrator meets at a support group for [[testicular cancer]]. A former [[bodybuilding|bodybuilder]], Bob lost his testicles to cancer caused by the [[steroids]] he used to bulk up his muscles and had to undergo testosterone injections; this resulted in his body increasing its [[estrogen]], causing him to grow large [[breasts]] ([[gynecomastia]]) and develop a softer voice. Because of this, Bob is the only known member that is allowed to wear a shirt (breaking the sixth rule of Fight Club). 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. When the narrator explains that the dead man had a name and was a real person, a member of Project Mayhem points out that only in death do members of Project Mayhem have a name. The unnamed member begins chanting, "his name is Robert Paulson," and this phrase becomes a [[meme]] and mantra that the narrator encounters later on in the story multiple times. The movie differs from the book which only states that people in other fight clubs were chanting "Robert Paulson" for the same reason as mentioned above. When the narrator goes to a fight club to shut it down for this reason, Tyler orders them to make him a "homework assignment." ==Motifs== At two points in the novel, the narrator claims he wants to "wipe [his] ass with the ''[[Mona Lisa]]''"; a mechanic who joins fight club also repeats this to him in one scene.<ref name="palahniukfc124141200">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), pp. 124, 141 & 200.''</ref> This [[motif (literature)|motif]] shows his desire for chaos, later explicitly expressed in his urge to "destroy something beautiful". Additionally, he mentions at one point that "Nothing is static. Even the ''Mona Lisa'' is falling apart."<ref name="palahniukfc49">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 49.''</ref> University of Calgary literary scholar Paul Kennett claims that this want for chaos is a result of an [[Oedipus complex]], as the narrator, Tyler, and the mechanic all show disdain for their fathers.<ref name="kennett5051">''Kennett, pp. 50&ndash;51.''</ref> This is most explicitly stated in the scene that the mechanic appears in: {{quotation| The mechanic says, “If you’re male and you’re Christian and living in America, your father is your model for God. And if you never know your father, if your father bails out or dies or is never at home, what do you believe about God?<br> ...<br> How Tyler saw it was that getting God’s attention for being bad was better than getting no attention at all. Maybe because God’s hate is better than His indifference.<br> If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?<br> We are God’s middle children, according to Tyler Durden, with no special place in history and no special attention.<br> Unless we get God’s attention, we have no hope of damnation or redemption.<br> Which is worse, hell or nothing?<br> Only if we’re caught and punished can we be saved.<br> “Burn the [[Louvre]],” the mechanic says, “and wipe your ass with the Mona Lisa. This way at least, God would know our names.”|''Fight Club''|page 141<ref name="palahniukfc141">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 141.''</ref>}} 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 is "damnation or redemption".<ref name="kennett5152">''Kennett, pp. 51&ndash;52.''</ref> This will figuratively return their absent fathers, as judgment by future generations will replace judgment by their fathers. After reading stories written from the perspective of the organs of a man named Joe,<!-- This is correct: The name Joe was used in the novel. Do not change this to Jack, the name used in the film. --> the narrator begins using similar quotations to describe his feelings, often replacing organs with feelings and things involved in his life. The narrator often repeats the line "I know this because Tyler knows this." This is used to [[foreshadowing|foreshadow]] the novel's major plot twist in which Tyler is revealed to be the same person as the narrator. Another [[foreshadowing]] is in the subtle metaphor of one of Tyler's night jobs. He works as a [[projectionist]] in an old run-down movie theater and vividly describes how it is necessary for him to change the reels halfway through the film (a "changeover") with no one in the cinema realizing this has happened. This foreshadows how when the narrator falls asleep, he makes a "changeover" to Tyler's persona, with no one realizing the two are distinct from each other. The color [[cornflower blue]] first appears as the color of an icon on the narrator's boss's computer.<ref name="palahniukfc49" /> Later, it is mentioned that his boss has eyes of the same color.<ref name="palahniukfc98">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 98.''</ref> These mentions of the color are the first of many uses of cornflower blue in Palahniuk's books, which all feature the color at some point in the text. The theme of masculinity is also a motif throughout the book. Different symbols lead to this recurring theme, such as violence, and testes. Fighting is perceived as a masculine characteristic. Isolationism, specifically directed towards material items and possessions, is a common theme throughout the novel. 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.” ==Subtext== Throughout the novel, Palahniuk uses the narrator and Tyler to comment on how people in modern society try to find meaning in their lives through commercial culture. Several lines in the novel make reference to this lifestyle as meaningless. Usually Palahniuk delivers this through overt methods, but there are also some allegorical references as well; for instance, the narrator, upon looking at the contents of his refrigerator, notices he has "a house full of condiments and no food."<ref name="palahniukfc45">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 45.''</ref> This also denotes that modern society and consumerism has no substance, but is merely based upon making things appear to have substance; i.e condiments are not a main food source, they merely add flavor to existing food. Indulging in consumerism (shopping, like from the [[IKEA]] book) doesn't add any real substance to life, it only adds an appearance (like a condiment). Additionally, much of the novel comments on how many men in modern society have found dissatisfaction with the state of masculinity as it currently exists. The characters of the novel lament the fact that many of them were raised by their mothers because their fathers either abandoned their family or divorced their mothers. As a result, they see themselves as being "a generation of men raised by women,"<ref name="palahniukfc50">''Palahniuk (''Fight Club'', 1999), p. 50.''</ref> being without a male role model in their lives to help shape their masculinity. This ties in with the anti-consumer culture theme, as the men in the novel see their "IKEA nesting instinct" as resulting from the feminization of men in a matriarchal culture. Maryville University of St. Louis professor Jesse Kavadlo, in an issue of the literary journal ''Stirrings Still'', claimed that the narrator's opposition to emasculation is a form of projection, and that the problem that he fights is himself.<ref name="kavadlo5">''Kavadlo, p. 5.''</ref> He also claims that Palahniuk uses [[existentialism]] in the novel to conceal subtexts of [[feminism]] and romance in order to convey these concepts in a novel that is mainly aimed at a male audience.<ref name="kavadlo7">''Kavadlo, p. 7.''</ref> Palahniuk himself gives a much 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."<ref name="palahniukstfxv">''Palahniuk (''Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories''), p. xv.''</ref> Paul Kennett claims 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. He argues that these fights are a representation of the struggle of the [[Proletariat|proletarian]] at the hands of a higher capitalist power, and 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, thus allowing them to symbolically fight themselves at the club and gain the same power.<ref name="kennett5354">''Kennett, pp. 53&ndash;54.''</ref> Afterwards, Kennett says, Tyler becomes nostalgic for the patriarchical power controlling him, 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."<ref name="kennett55">''Kennett, p. 55.''</ref> Through his position as leader of Project Mayhem, Tyler uses his power to become a "God/Father" to the "space monkeys", who are 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-actualization|self-actualized]] once they have children and become a father themselves.<ref name="kennett56">''Kennett, p. 56.''</ref> This new structure is, however, ended by the narrator's elimination of Tyler, allowing him to decide for himself how to determine his freedom. ==Awards== The novel won the following awards: *the 1997 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award<ref name="pnba">Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards. http://www.pnba.org/awards.htm. Retrieved June 20, 2005.</ref> *the 1997 [[Oregon Book Award]] for Best Novel<ref name="oba">[http://www.literary-arts.org/oba_poetry.htm#fiction Oregon Book Awards]. Literary Arts, Inc. Retrieved June 20, 2005.</ref> ==U.S. editions== *New York: [[W. W. Norton & Company]], August 1996. [[Hardcover]] first edition. ISBN 0-393-03976-5 *New York: [[Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group|Owl Books]], 1997. First [[Paperback#Trade paperback|trade paperback]]. ISBN 0-8050-5437-5 *New York: Owl Books, 1999. Trade paperback reissue (film tie-in cover). ISBN 0-8050-6297-1 *Minneapolis, MN: HighBridge Company, 1999. Unabridged [[audiobook]] on 4 cassettes, read by [[J. Todd Adams]]. ISBN 1-56511-330-6 *Minneapolis, MN: Tandem Books, 1999. School & library binding. ISBN 0-613-91882-7 *New York: Owl Books, 2004. Trade paperback reissue, with a new introduction by the author (bloody lip cover). ISBN 0-8050-7647-6 *New York: Owl Books, 2004. Trade paperback reissue, with a new introduction by the author (film tie-in cover). ISBN 0-8050-7655-7 *New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005. Trade paperback (fist cover). ISBN 0-393-32734-5 ==See also== * [[Revolution]] * [[White Collar Boxing]] * [[1996 in literature]] * [[Anarcho-primitivism]] * [[Generation X]] * [[Masculinity]] * [[Neo-Luddism]] * [[Transgressional fiction]] * [[Dissociative identity disorder]] ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==References== *Avni, Sheerly. "[http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/24026/ Ten Hollywood Movies That Get Women Right]". ''[[AlterNet]]''. August 12, 2005. *Brookey, Robert Alan & Westerfelhaus, Robert. "Hiding Homoeroticism in Plain View: The Fight Club DVD as Digital Closet". ''Critical Studies in Media Communication''. March 2002. *Chang, Jade. "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A2799633 tinseltown: fight club and fahrenheit]". ''[[BBC]].co.uk''. July 2, 2004. *"[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-29-fight-club_x.htm Fight club draws techies for bloody underground beatdowns]". ''[[Associated Press]]''. May 29, 2006. *Jemielity, Sam. "[http://www.playboy.com/arts-entertainment/dotcomversation/palahniuk/index.html Chuck Palahniuk:The Playboy.Conversation]". ''[[Playboy]].com''. Retrieved September 28, 2006. *Kavadlo, Jesse. "The Fiction of Self-destruction: Chuck Palahniuk, Closet Moralist". ''Stirrings Still: The International Journal of Existential Literature''. Volume 2, Number 2. Fall/Winter 2005. [http://www.stirrings-still.org/ss22.pdf PDF link] *Kennett, Paul. "Fight Club and the Dangers of Oedipal Obsession". ''Stirrings Still: The International Journal of Existential Literature''. Volume 2, Number 2. Fall/Winter 2005. [http://www.stirrings-still.org/ss22.pdf PDF link] *Offman, Craig. "[http://archive.salon.com/books/log/1999/09/03/fight_club/ Movie makes "Fight Club" book a contender]". ''[[Salon.com]]''. September 3, 1999. *[http://www.literary-arts.org/oba_poetry.htm#fiction Oregon Book Awards]. Literary Arts, Inc. Retrieved June 20, 2005. *Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards. http://www.pnba.org/awards.htm. Retrieved June 20, 2005. *Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Stranger Than Fiction : True Stories''. Garden City: [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]], 2004. ISBN 0-385-50448-9 *Straus, Tamara. "[http://www.alternet.org/story/11049/ The Unexpected Romantic: An Interview with Chuck Palahniuk]". ''AlterNet''. June 19, 2001. *Tomlinson, Sarah. "[http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/int/1999/10/13/palahniuk/index.html Is it fistfighting, or just multi-tasking?]". ''Salon.com''. October 13, 1999. In addition, the following editions of the novel were used as references for this article: *Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Fight Club''. New York: Henry Holt, 1997. ISBN 0-8050-6297-1 *Palahniuk, Chuck. ''Fight Club''. Clearwater: Owl Books, 2004. ISBN 0-8050-7647-6 ==External links==<!--This article is about the novel, *not* the film, for which see [[Fight Club (film)]]--> {{wikiquote}} *[http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/books/fight-club/fight-club Chuck Palahniuk.Net section for ''Fight Club''] [[Category:Fight Club| Fight Club]] [[Category:1996 novels]] [[Category:American novels]] [[Category:Novels by Chuck Palahniuk]] [[Category:Fictional clubs]] [[Category:Debut novels]] [[Category:Postmodern literature]] [[Category:Existentialist works]] [[Category:Satirical books]] [[Category:Cacophony Society]] [[Category:Fiction with unreliable narrators]] [[ar:نادي القتال (رواية)]] [[cs:Klub rváčů]] [[da:Fight Club (roman)]] [[es:El club de lucha]] [[eo:Bataloklubo]] [[fr:Fight Club (roman)]] [[it:Fight Club (romanzo)]] [[he:מועדון קרב]] [[hu:Harcosok Klubja]] [[ja:ファイト・クラブ]] [[no:Fight Club]] [[pl:Podziemny krąg (powieść)]] [[ru:Бойцовский клуб (роман)]] [[simple:Fight Club]] [[fi:Fight Club (kirja)]] [[uk:Бійцівський клуб (роман)]]