Oregon author explores eccentricity, community
Chuck Palahniuk shares
vignettes about
human connection
BRIAN SANTANA
TECHNICIAN (NORTH CAROLINA STATE)
The expression 'stranger than fic
tion" is quite frequently used in our
postmodern cul
ture of reality
television and
eclectic nostal
gia. Audiences
are routinely ex
posed to the bizarre and grotesque
on a daily basis. Despite this fact,
even the most jaded readers will be
surprised by something in Chuck
Palahniuk's "Stranger than Fiction:
True Stories."
BOOK
REVIEW
The tone of Palahniuk's book
alternates between playful eccentrici
ty and surprising profundity. The fre
quently maniacal juggling act of these
contrasting atmospheres should
come as no surprise to fans of Palah
niuk. After all, Palahniuk honed this
skill in novels like "Fight Club" and
"Diary." In his new book, the author's
first work of non-fiction ~ other than
his walking tour guide of Portland,
Ore., "Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk
in Portland, Oregon" - the overriding
theme is spelled out in the first sen
tence of the introduction. Palahniuk
writes, "Ifyou haven't already noticed,
all my books are about a lonely per
son looking for some way to connect
with other people."
The theme of discovering commu
nity and connecting with others is at
the center of each vignette the book
comprises. These vignettes are organ
ized into three categories: “People to
gether," "Portraits" and "Personal."
The section entitled "People togeth
er" contains a variety of stories that
cover such diverse subjects as
wrestlers, psychics and rural demoli
tion derbies. The "Portraits" section
is a series of revealing personal
sketches of celebrities like Marilyn
Manson, Juliette Lewis and Ira Levin.
The final section of the book, labeled
"Personal," will be especially appeal
ing to fans of the film "Fight Club."
The majority of this section is re
served for insights on writing "Fight
Club," life in Hollywood and even
the murder of the author's father.
The book's oddest vignette greets
the reader immediately as the very
first entry. This story is destined to
confuse and shock those not
'Napoleon Dynamite' offers
its own sense of nerdy humor
The film's quirky cast
of characters wins the
audience's affections
TRAVIS WILLSE
MANAGING EDITOR
The probably unnecessary tagline
of greenhorn director Jared Hess's
off-kilter comedy "Napoleon Dyna
mite" is "He's out to prove he's got
nothing to prove." And although the
self-contradictory mantra might ap
ply well to the
self-absorbed
(eponymous)
protagonist, it
fits Hess's cre
ation to a tee.
The scattershot
plot — wherein Napoleon (new
comer Jon Heder), with the impa
tient plainspokenness only a high
school iibergeek could muster, cool
ly navigates sun-bleached and bor
ing-as-hell Preston, Idaho — is thin
enough that the movie waxes docu
mentarian, but linear enough that
the half-conscious characters win
the viewer's affections.
Hess's adept (but not masterful)
balancing of the two feels effortless
enough that the audience can bask in
his directorial coups de maitre: cap
turing the sublimely clumsy interac
tions of the film's memorably win
some characters. To wit, a frustrated
Napoleon plainly confronts his Un
cle Rico (Jon Gries of "Real Genius"
and, appropriately, "Twin Falls Ida
ho"), who is living in with Napoleon
and his 31-year-old computer geek
brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) while their
MOVIE
REVIEW
Courtesy
'Napoleon Dynamite’ is a funny, if uneven, comedy about high-school nerds. Its characters
and ‘quotability’ are this film’s highlights.
grandmother recovers from a dune
buggying injury, about his ineffectual
company: "Grandma just called ...
she said you can leave now."
"I didn't hear anything from her,"
Rico insists.
"She said you should leave because
you're ruining everyone's life and eat
ing all our steak."
All this jaw-aching silliness works
because the characters are
two-dimensional enough that their
conduct is pleasantly campy, rather
than simply unbelievable. But de
lightfully, they're all too far from
anything familiar to be tiresome car
icatures: Kip is a hair-slicked com
puter nerd, but thinks himself some
thing impossibly more:
"Napoleon," he chides, "Don't be
jealous that I've been chatting
Please see DYNAMITE, page 10
PULSE BRIEF
Famed ‘glass guitarist'
to play at Cafe Paradiso
"Glass Guitarist" Ned Evett will ap
pear at Cafe Paradiso on Wednesday,
August 11. Evett is widely considered
one of the most innovative guitarist
currently playing rock music, and has
had his praises sung by such guitarist
Joe Satriani and Guitarist Magazine.
"Ned plays a ffedess guitar, which is
a guitar that has no interposing frets
along the neck," Evett's manager and
publicist Tony Harrison said. "It's sort
of a cross between a guitar and a cel
lo. It takes a perfect sense of pitch and
an amazing amount of muscle con
trol just to play the simplest chord."
Evett's career has lasted for over two
decades and he has performed on al
bums by Maria McKee, Rosalie Sorrels
and Built to Spill. He got his
Please see EVETT, page 10
Courtesy
Guitarist Ned Evett will play at Cafe Paradiso on August 11. Evett recently released a
solo effort, ‘I Stole’.
properly prepared to read a Palahniuk
book. A Palahniuk book is best de
scribed as a potent cocktail of visceral
energy, masculinity and eccentricity.
All of these ingredients are present in
abundance in the subsection "Testy
Festy" from the "People together" vi
gnette. The story chronicles the Rock
Creek Lodge Testicle Festival, an an
nual event held in Missoula, Mont.
The name of the festival should be an
immediate tip off to the general na
ture of the festival's theme and activi
ties. Be advised, the most imaginative
ideas invoked by the festival name do
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not compare with Palahniuk's play
by-play of events.
The main drawback of this book is
the lack of strong authorial commen
tary. Each story is chronicled in
minute detail, but escapes substan
tial analysis and personal insight.
This tendency is particularly disap
pointing in the section that recounts
the murder of Palahniuk's father. De
spite this flaw, the book works when
viewed as a tapestry that illustrates
the universal need for community
and the sometimes-strange ways
people fill this void.
IVi'iVlHAU
Community
Cantor for the
Porionnho Arts
8th &
Lincoln
. Friday.
Floater,
Acoustic CD Release Party
Acoustic Rock
8:30 pm, $10 advance, $12 door
. Saturday.
First Annual Secret House
Acoustic Gathering
Gref Brown,
TheSufar Beets, lamieLa ValTrio,
Azuqurta, The Raventones,
Ghmy Mitchell, Brian Cutean,
Peter Wilde, Andrew Calhoun
Benefit for Community Centerfor
the Performing Arts/ WOW Hall
11:00 am, $19 advance, $22 fate
- Monday.
An Evening with the
Charlie Hunter Trio
Jazz
8:00 pm, $14 advance, $16 door
. Tuesday.
Pedro the lion
Tilly and the Wall, The Western States
Singer-Songwriter
9:00 pm, $10 advance, $12 door
. Wednesday .
An Evening with the
lanislan,
Folk
8:00 pm, $18 advance, $20 door
All Ages Welcome
687-2746
MAC’S AT THE VET’S CLUB
Great Music Great Food
MAC’S SPECIALS:
Whiskey Cured Prime Rib, Indian Baked
Salmon & Chicken Piccata.
Also Sandwiches, Salads & Burgers
Thursday.August 5,8:30 sign up.9pm start
MAC S BLUES JAM
FIRST COME FIRST PLAY
FRIDAY. A l! 0U ST 6,1).3 0FM * $ 3
FOREST T. BLACK
BLUES
Saturday. August 7.9.30pm • $3
PETER GIRI PROJECT
ROCK
(541) 344-8600 • 1626 Willamette St.