Welcome back to MBfBC, I told myself that I would do a blog post a week this month BUT life has been happening and I simply do not have time to write blog posts in my spare time without giving up my Netflix addiction. But, never fear, the book club is still going strong!
This month was my pick! I chose Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (10 points if you can properly pronounce his last name) because it’s been sitting on my shelf forever, it’s short, and it turns out that neither of us had seen the movie. Additionally, the stars aligned, and Flix Brewhouse was screening the film at the end of month. So, without further ado… Congratulations! You are now the recipient of a book review and a three sentence movie review from something that happened almost 20 years ago and you could easily Google!
Published: 1996 Pages: 208 Genre: what in the world is happening?!? (Satirical Novel)
Food: Bone-in chicken, we wanted something primal.
Drink: Whiskey and ginger
Why This?!: Shae’s pick – I’m selfish and am tired of looking at it on the shelf. Plus the cover has a recommendation from Bret Easton Ellis and American Psycho is one of my favorite books.
Shae’s Short Summary: This guy’s apartment blows up, he can’t sleep, he goes to support groups, he meets Marla. Same guy meets a dude name Tyler Durden, they make soap and fight each other. WHAT IS HAPPENING?! I can’t keep up! This book is stupid…OMG it all makes sense now! The narrator and Tyler are the same person, duh! (That was literally my thought process during the book.)
Will’s Thoughts Shae’s Thoughts
Favorite Part of the Book: When the narrator holds up the convenience store worker and you think the whole time he is going to have to kill him but instead he gives him six weeks to get on track to be a vet. Chapter 18, when you learn about the dual personality…whoa! Or am I just dumb? And when his boss finds his stuff on the copier, that was fun.
Favorite Character: Tyler, he was a terrorist and philosopher. Narrator, he seemed like the most normal one until you realized he was the whole reason so much weird was happening.
I didn’t like…: Marla as a plot device, she wasn’t a character. When Tyler was out of control with Project Mayhem and the soap, it made me uncomfortable.
Would you recommend this book? Yes. Yes, and I’d even recommend that they read the afterword by Chuck Palahniuk first because it gives a lot of fun, context to how the story came about.
Real Talk: Entering into this book all I knew about Fight Club is that you don’t talk about it. I know, basic. You learn in Palahniuk’s afterword that the book originated from a short story that later became a chapter within the novel. He had recently been in fist fight over summer vacation and was bored at work, on top of that he was tired of seeing novels in bookstores that aimed to women within society so, he created Fight Club. The plot is driven by the narrator’s inability to sleep, which leads to Marla, frustration, fear, and, ultimately, fighting. Fighting is something I’ve never done, although I was punched in a basketball game once (video on my Instagram: @seagraves22) but Fight Club is built upon the ability to release the frustration and fear people are feeling. Overall, this book feels like you’re in a 200 page fever dream; it’s dark and twisted, it messes with your mind, but it’s honest. The idea of creating fight club stems out of something very real, two people looking for release.
“I want you to do me a favor. I want you to hit me as hard as you can.” 
Now I don’t suggest that everyone who needs to find themselves and do some self-exploration goes around starting fight clubs and creating havoc around the town like Tyler does with Project Mayhem. But Fight Club hits strongly on destruction – people want to destroy what haunts them now, to find what is creating their inner turmoil and just pummel it. It’s the basic concept that sometimes, people need to break themselves down in order to find out who they are.
3 Sentences on the movie: I’m so happy they were able to use Marla’s character better than the book could convey her, after all, fight club began because of her. Reading the book helped me take so much more from a first watch of the movie, picking up on how others don’t look at Tyler and better understanding the relationship with Marla. Such a good film, despite Brad Pitt’s clothing.
Rating: 
4.5/5
Next Read: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
stuffbyshae 