Consider This

Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk (2020 Corsair paperback 235pp) 

I have a mixed relationship with Chuck Palahniuk and his work. It all started one day in the late 1990s when I discovered a copy of his novel Fight Club in a bargain bin at a local bookshop. I paid just a couple of dollars for it and took it home to read not expecting much. I was however blown away by it and wasn’t surprised when it soon became a hit movie. I spent the following decade or so reading all of Palahniuk’s output wherever I could find it – at the library, online or for sale. I was a big fan. But then around 2010 I simply lost the desire to read his stuff anymore. I had two of his recent novels (Rant and Pygmy) in hardcover but I never even cracked them open. To me he had become too much of what we would today call an ‘edgelord’, always trying to shock and outrage with his words. His short stories and non-fiction efforts were always great but the novels became a little too much for me, maybe my tastes had simply changed with the years.

Back in 2020 when Consider This was first published it got a lot of positive reviews and I bought a copy, only to leave it in a storage box for 3 years before I decided to read it now.

In this book Palahniuk takes the role of reluctant writing teacher and passes on both lessons and mantras he was taught by his own mentors and some original ideas and concepts that he thinks will aid those intending to write for a living.

That takes up maybe a third of the book, the rest is padded by stories and anecdotes about actually being a writer. Classes, book tours and life on the road. He also lists books and authors that he recommends we all should read.

Not too much more to say about this book really – its fine, the writing advice seems solid but I found it tends to be diluted by the anecdotes. After finishing it all my strong memories are about his book tour horror stories and so on. The book recommendations are good and I’ve already investigated several of them.

I’ve always felt there was much more depth to Palahniuk than the edgelord stuff and this book lets him display another side to his talents.