Audio By Carbonatix
Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, says the working title for his new book, Beautiful You, was Fifty Shades of the Twilight Cave Bear Wears Prada. In it, he lampoons a few tropes from chick-lit and mommy porn.
Sure, there’s a nod to Fifty Shades of Grey in Beautiful You, via the character C. Linus Maxwell (aka Climax-Well), a wealthy man with power who seduces Penny Harrigan, who Palahniuk says is “the unseducable, not-quite-pretty, but very special young woman.” But their relationship gets a bit twisted. And there’s Baba Grey-Beard, the cave-dwelling older wise woman and sex mystic, who’s a bit like the Miranda Priestly character in The Devil Wears Prada, only much more schooled in erotic techniques.
For Beautiful You, Palahniuk retooled his writing style — for instance, by using adverbs galore, something that violates the rules of minimalism — but he says that it was a fun challenge and “that’s part of what made me laugh, because all the pressure was off to do it the perfect way and to be able to do it all the clichéd trope-y ways.”
Palahniuk’s book tours are much than readings — they’re experiences, so expect a few outrageous surprises. He’ll be at First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine Street in Boulder, at 7 p.m. tonight. Tickets, $30, which include a signed copy of the Beautiful You, can be purchased in advance at Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street in Boulder, by calling 303-447-2074, or at the door. Visit boulderbookstore.indiebound.com for information.
Tue., Oct. 28, 7 p.m., 2014
