Chuck Palahniuk, author of “Fight Club,” decried today’s “boiled-down” book culture and told FOX News he tries to put his “crazy” on the page, saying young people will only be interested in reading if the literature is “risky.”
Known for its famous first two rules — “you do not talk about Fight Club” — the book-turned-film became iconic in the 1990s and won a list of awards. The 1999 movie starred Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
Palahniuk’s work occasionally “trashes our consumer culture and obsession with material goods while praising masculinity and violence,” FOX News host Jesse Watters said on Thursday.
“Everything is so test-marketed and test-audienced and everything is so boiled down to reach the largest audience possible, to make the most money, that we really have cut ourselves off from any kind of extreme in popular culture,” Palahniuk told “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
Palahniuk said he’s endured book banning for a “long time.” He noted his books are heavily banned throughout the United States and are “entirely banned” in American prison systems, and says many public schools and most private schools even refuse to carry them.
He shared why he’s not shy about making people uncomfortable while routinely writing about taboo topics like sex, murder and drugs.
“Nobody takes a real risk because that involves, you know, maybe money,” he added.
Palahniuk said young people want “risky stuff” and are only going to read books if they are given “something they can’t get anywhere else.”
“I am genuinely crazy, but I try to put my crazy on the page,” he said.
Palahniuk’s new book “Not Forever, But For Now” is a horror satire and was released Sept. 5.
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