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July '03: The Contortionist's Handbook - Craig Clevenger *SPOILERS*
The Contortionist's Handbook: A Novel by Craig Clevenger
I'll be honest. The reason why we're all going to read this is because it's supposed to be very good for us chuck fans (I know there's so many, but I can only pick 1 at a time). Please read it asap.
On a side-note, Dennis plans to interview that author shortly and will post the interview on the CULT website.
Read this excerpt from the book:
[url]http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/excerpts/2002-10-07-handbook-excerpt_x.htm[/url]
and here's the author's website:
[url]www.craigclevenger.com[/url]
ps. During that same timeline, make sure you read Chuck's new book which comes out the same month (Fugitives & Refugees).
pps. as always, if you plan on buying this or any other books online, please do it through CULT's "store" so that Dennis gets amazon $$$ comissions (it helps the CULT site to stay alive!!!).
never...yeah i've tried the chapters on bay/bloor and couldnt find it...i will defintely buy it via cp.net...dennis+the cult deserve all the commision they can get
[img]http://img93.exs.cx/img93/3678/hoos13as.jpg[/img]
I just finished it. To tell you the truth I wasn't impressed. Its ok for a first novel but nothing mindblowing.
"The elite ruling class wants us asleep so we'll remain a docile, apathetic herd of passive consumers, and non-participants in the true agenda of our governments - which is to keep us separate, and present an image of a world filled with irresolvable problems, that they, and only they, might one day, somewhere in the never-arriving future, be able to solve. Just stay asleep, America, keep watching TV." - Bill Hicks
don't listen to bdw, this is an amazing book! Keeps you latched in till the very end. By far the best non-chuck book I've read in forever
Outside of a dog, the book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read.
- Groucho Marx
I wish I could write my 2 cents on it now but I still have 50 pages to go (which shouldn't take me long).
I am glad I was pointed to this book, because honestly when you think about it, this book is really chuck-ish. Every Chuck book has a repetitive "joke" or whatever you want to call it...i'm sure there's a technical term for it.
In Fight Club it was "I am Jack's..."
In Invisible Monsters it was "Flash. Give me hope. Flash. Give me...."
I found the whole "False. False. True. etc" comments in CH enjoyable enough to make me laugh out loud on a few ocurrences...
Talk away
/me reads ending
In canada u cant get at any of the chapters/indigo/biggest bookstore in store because they have it classified as out of print (HARDCOVER VERSION) but i think its being reissued in paperback sometime in september for instore. But Zaki was right u can get at amzon.ca
To compare this book in either style or substance to Survivor is laughable.
"The elite ruling class wants us asleep so we'll remain a docile, apathetic herd of passive consumers, and non-participants in the true agenda of our governments - which is to keep us separate, and present an image of a world filled with irresolvable problems, that they, and only they, might one day, somewhere in the never-arriving future, be able to solve. Just stay asleep, America, keep watching TV." - Bill Hicks
I thought it was good, not great. I wasn't blown away by it. I don't really understand how someone who is published gets praised for having a chuck-ish style and someone who leaves a short story on the fan forum or in the writers workshop gets bashed. I've seen it so many times on these forums people saying to one another find your own style. Chuck has his, get your own. There was great hype to this book, and when I finished it, I was just like "So what?"
"The elite ruling class wants us asleep so we'll remain a docile, apathetic herd of passive consumers, and non-participants in the true agenda of our governments - which is to keep us separate, and present an image of a world filled with irresolvable problems, that they, and only they, might one day, somewhere in the never-arriving future, be able to solve. Just stay asleep, America, keep watching TV." - Bill Hicks
Let me point out right now, b/c I think my words got twisted again: "The Contortionist Handbook" is not written in Chuck's style. Author Craig Clevenger doesn't even consider himself a minimalist and has not read many of the famed authors (Amy Hempel) of that style.
Rather, I said "The Contortionist Handbook" was in Chuck's vein or genre. In that, it focuses on identity and broaches many of the same themes Chuck likes, or would like, to explore.
I wasn't asking anyone to be blown away by it. Opinions vary. But I will say that it is DEFINITELY worth our discussion on this forum, as it is extremely multi-layered and though provoking.
Interesting... so, I read it after Dennis told me to, and I was thinking of Survivor the entire time I read it. It constantly made me think of Chuck. I know that he wasn't writing in the minimalist style or anything like that, but I do think there is a distinct similarity to Chuck.
Anyway, I loved the book. It is now my third favorite book.
1) House of Leaves
2) Survivor
3) The Contortionist Handbook
yO kiddies. I bought the book a couple weeks ago (through the website link I might add) and blasted through it in a couple of days. i thought it was a great book but i also think it was very similar to chuck's writing also. if clevenger claims to have not read fight club he's lying. but i don't blame him for taking on some of the stylings of my favorite writer. Anymore, everything i seem to write is a blatent copy of chuck's style. Maybe when i find my own voice i'll try posting some ow my writing on the workshop page. But hey anyway, book was cool, and i just finished syrup so am ready for next month's discussion too.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by feva [/i]
[B]if clevenger claims to have not read fight club he's lying.[/B][/QUOTE]
You idiot, don't you think it's possible that someone might happen to share the same style as someone else? There are 8 billion people surrounding you, and a few of them can have the same writing style without having read eachother's works.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by leonardshelby [/i]
[B]Amazing. I was turning the pages to see what else was there, and suddenly a smile emerged on my face, and I closed the book, still smiling. I think that the end was probably the greatest single moment in the book. [/B][/QUOTE]
I kinda did the same thing. I kept turning the pages many times until finally realizing that there wasn't anything there ^_^
i know i'm a newbie and this is the Chuck board but....
I thought the contortionist handbook was a entirely fresh outlook on a unexplored renegade lifestyle. i guess its hard to compare one author to another, especially when they are both coming from different places (geographically/mentally, whatever).
craig clevenger covers social "issues" subtly and not so subtly and for me, as a reader, made the gears turn ( similiar to how how i was dumbfounded and arguing and discussing (with my inner self, of course) the first time i read Invisible Monsters.
i thought The contortionist handbook was a great read.
Vand, I read House of Leaves too. And I must agree HoL is BEYOND genius. But even though I absolutly adore HoL, I can still love another book too.
P.S. Anyone here can tell you that HoL is my favorite book of all time. They can tell you how I used to promote it all the time. Stop acting like HoL is the book to end all books. It isn't. It's just really, really, really, really, really, really damn good.
Like XChuck said (and I'm agreeing with you here, man!), HoL is an incredible book, truly amazing, but just because it's that good, doesn't mean you can't love another book as well. Don't compare all books to others. It's like reading The Cat in the Hat and saying it sucks compared to Choke.
Right. I don't think it's fair to compare apples to oranges; sooner or later you're going to be biting into that shit-filled twinkie. MZD has stated before that HoL took over ten years to write, and it comes across as an all-encompassing masterpiece. It's also supposedly the only book he's ever going to write (Whalestole is just leftovers from HoL) Clevenger is telling an alltogether different story-the scope of which is much smaller than HoL. That doesn't mean it's not a great book (it is), but I don't think they're on the same field. Rather, I think it would be better to have favorite books about different issues; HoL is definately a contender for best Horror novel,while Vurt, for example, is a contender for best Sci-Fi novel. Handbook, on the other hand *!*, while there is no clear genre (suspense, maybe?), may be a contender for best Identity Issue novel. Just a thought.
By the way, I asked Laura Miller at Salon.com what she thought about the Cat in the Hat, and she went off for like ten minutes about the latent homosexuality (penis-shaped hat) and about how her cat wouldn't be caught dead in stripes and about how all fans of CitH are pudgy, bed-wetting types with the IQ of a 5-year old....
Etch a poo air.
Fun Fact: If you need more of the Hol Style check out Raymond Federman (doin' it long before MZD) and the White Diaspora.
[url]www.federman.com[/url]
[url]www.whatiswhitediaspora.co.uk[/url]
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by TastesLikeChicken [/i]
[B] It's also supposedly the only book he's ever going to write
HoL is definately a contender for best Horror novel [/B][/QUOTE]
MZD has also stated that he is writing another book, and it should take him five years to complete.
Since when is HoL scary? Yes, there are one or two scary parts, but those are only a few pages long. HoL was and is brilliant, genious, and staggering(sp), but scary? I think not.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by XChuck [/i]
[B]MZD has also stated that he is writing another book, and it should take him five years to complete.
Since when is HoL scary? Yes, there are one or two scary parts, but those are only a few pages long. HoL was and is brilliant, genious, and staggering(sp), but scary? I think not. [/B][/QUOTE]
No shit? Writing another book? I didn't know that. Where did you get the info? I know he was involved in that Derrida movie recently, but haven't heard anything since.
And I 'm not saying that HoL is scary, but In the Border's I was in the other day it was in the horror section. Personally, I think it's horror like Blair Witch horror; being afraid of the possibilities, not some husky dude in a hockey mask (is that scary?) or a guy with razor blade fingers.
There was this movie a while ago with Mel Gibson, Conspiracy Theory, I think, where he couldn't get out of a bookstore without buying a copy of The Catcher in the Rye; I'm pretty much the same with HoL. I own like seventeen copies; 5 signed blue and 6 signed red editions, and six for lending out/reading. [I]That's[/I] scary.
Way after everyone I bought and read Contortionist's Handbook. I thought CH was a decent book, but dispite Dennis's claims above, his style reminds me a lot of Chuck's. Perhaps I dont understand minimalism enough, but this book seems written in a similar style. The constant catch phrases. The superflous information about various topics that was unnessacry plot-wise. THese all reminded me of Chuck.
Thusly, the ending disappointed me. Chuck is an excellent plot writer and the master of the surprise ending. This guy not so much. The end kinda reminded me of Matchstick Men in a weird kinda way.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Lazlosdead/completeLazloSig.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=XChuck]Since when is HoL scary? Yes, there are one or two scary parts, but those are only a few pages long. HoL was and is brilliant, genious, and staggering(sp), but scary? I think not.[/QUOTE]
Any bookstore I've been in that has a Horror section separate from regular fiction or literature, HoL is in it.
Don't know why, haven't read it yet, but that may be why they said that.
Damn, where did this come from?
Well, since it has been renewed...
Clevenger is not a minimalist. I spoke with Ink on this just a few weeks ago. Ink told me that Clev outright said that he is not a minimalist writer.
In fact, Will Baer is closer to a minimalist than Clev is. This has to do with the way that a minimalist uses images to describe what a person already knows about to convey a thought more quickly, and with less effort; you know, like “The sky was the color of muscle, pink and gray.”
As far as the two of them having similar writing styles, Clev and Palahniuk, they don’t. But they do utilize their themes in much the same way. The thing is that I will write much like the both of them, and Baer, and the other authors that I love, because I will be able to discard the parts of their writing that I don’t like, and maintain what I do like. I mean, a lot of us are here because we love Chuck’s work. But what do we love about it? Is it because there is a particular style in it that we personally like?
Oh, and I agree: [I]HoL[/I] is not a horror genre book. And yes, I have seen it in the horror sections at book stores :cool:
—Kabol
Member07 wrote:
I would like to hear that Janice Dickinson was assasinated... Some people are just like slinkies not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
[QUOTE=JKabol]Damn, where did this come from?
Well, since it has been renewed...
Clevenger is not a minimalist. I spoke with Ink on this just a few weeks ago. Ink told me that Clev outright said that he is not a minimalist writer.
In fact, Will Baer is closer to a minimalist than Clev is. This has to do with the way that a minimalist uses images to describe what a person already knows about to convey a thought more quickly, and with less effort; you know, like “The sky was the color of muscle, pink and gray.”
As far as the two of them having similar writing styles, Clev and Palahniuk, they don’t. But they do utilize their themes in much the same way.
—Kabol[/QUOTE]
I think their styles are similar. I haven't read Will Baer, but I see a close resemblence between Clev and Chuck. Both books are presnted in much the same way, only this book is like a grade school version of one of Chuck's.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Lazlosdead/completeLazloSig.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Lazlosdead]I think their styles are similar. I haven't read Will Baer, but I see a close resemblence between Clev and Chuck. Both books are presnted in much the same way, only this book is like a grade school version of one of Chuck's.[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry. I promise that I am not being a smart-ass, but I just don't see it.
The [i]Handbook[/i] is simply a well-written book with a simple plot and Clev uses some of the same devises that Chuck uses. The way that Douglas Coupland's [i]Hey Nost[/i] has a few similar writing devises in it. The way that Baer uses the same kind of description in his writing. I, however, do not see them as the same writing. Maybe I should read the [i]Handbook[/i] again, or something. I mean, I did read it twice, but it has been a while. But there is not a book Chuck has written that I thought was similar to Clev's. Not one.
[QUOTE=Lazlosdead]...this book is like a grade school version of one of Chuck's.[/QUOTE]
And as for this part: I am just confused as to how you came to this conclusion.
But...
Your opinion, my opinion; we all have our own opinions.
1
—Kabol
Member07 wrote:
I would like to hear that Janice Dickinson was assasinated... Some people are just like slinkies not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
[QUOTE=JKabol]...Clevenger is not a minimalist. I spoke with Ink on this just a few weeks ago. Ink told me that Clev outright said that he is not a minimalist writer.
In fact, Will Baer is closer to a minimalist than Clev is. This has to do with the way that a minimalist uses images to describe what a person already knows about to convey a thought more quickly, and with less effort; you know, like “The sky was the color of muscle, pink and gray.” ...[/QUOTE]
thank you for pointing this out. the term minimalism is thrown around this site too much, in my opinion. while parsimonious language and grammer are part of the minimalist hallmark, it does not define the movement. clevenger's language efficiency IS remarkable, however, and one of the things i love most about this book.
I know this is digging back in the site, but I just finished reading the book and was curious. Is it supossed to end like that? I mean theirs like 7 blank pages at the end of the book and it's not clear that it's meant to end or if its a printing error. J/W
"Earlier this evening, Gordon Blackstone. He was banned why? Frank claims I was lying of Tony. Though he will always be with me. For a thought is important no matter what it be. I think Tony Demireo (Life Martyr or for some []/bracketz) will be around for a long time..." -Gordon Blackstone
[QUOTE=Mricpx;1096619]I know this is digging back in the site, but I just finished reading the book and was curious. Is it supossed to end like that? I mean theirs like 7 blank pages at the end of the book and it's not clear that it's meant to end or if its a printing error. J/W[/QUOTE]
great book, one of my favorites
yes, it ends like this:
Johnny,
that's it - so i think it is open for interpretation - what did you think of it? what did you think was next?
I really liked it and I figured thats how it ended, but the number of black pages threw me off. It was definatly the most interesting thing i've read in awhile. Too bad it only last me less then a day.
"Earlier this evening, Gordon Blackstone. He was banned why? Frank claims I was lying of Tony. Though he will always be with me. For a thought is important no matter what it be. I think Tony Demireo (Life Martyr or for some []/bracketz) will be around for a long time..." -Gordon Blackstone
. .
dermaphoria
his second novel.. 90k words, a good thirty-five k more than the handbook, which was a little slim. he really concentrated on his prose and solidified his writing style. he has been labeled the remarkable clevenger
man, that dude started off incredible. he's only improved. and sharp, sharp. he was an instructor here a few months back, an intensive titled [i]the hotseat[/i]
blew my mind
definitely an author to keep an eye on. i imagine he will remain a constant: every time he publishes, i will buy and read
kabol
..
Member07 wrote:
I would like to hear that Janice Dickinson was assasinated... Some people are just like slinkies not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
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