arts and entertainment

Palahniuk brings humor to the obscene

Homemade bombs, anal beads, bloody tampons and snuff films aren't the typical subjects people usually search for in literature.

Most people probably wouldn’t assume these unconventional topics would be included in the writings of a tall, soft-spoken, Caucasian author who wore an unassuming white button-down shirt, thick-framed glasses and gray slacks and was the recipient of the Maverick Spirit Award at Cinequest Saturday.

“I’m just an insensitive asshole,” said author Chuck Palahniuk of his creative process when writing.

Palahniuk, best known for his shock-value, minimalist writing style seen in the acclaimed novel “Fight Club,” was somehow able to make even the obscene sound heartwarming during his interview with Variety magazine executive editor Steven Gaydos during the award ceremony.

During the more than two hour-long ceremony, Palahniuk discussed his writing influences, techniques and styles, but prefaced his interview with the west coast premiere of “Romance,” a short film adaptation of one of his short stories.

“Romance,” directed by Andy Mingo, is the tale of two unconventional odd-balls who fall in love with each other’s kooky ways despite the disapproval of the narrator’s friends and family.

The narrator describes his love for his wife, an unstable woman who calls herself Britney Spears, as, “… the kind you’d pay to jack-off to on the Internet.”

Palahniuk said the ability to simultaneously create a touching, yet disturbingly funny moment is all part of creating tension, which is at the heart of true humor.

“I like to think of "Romance" and all my books as just romantic comedies … with just more darkness in (them).”

He said he utilizes ambiguity and undecidability to create interest and conversation that will ultimately preserve interest in a novel because of the unresolved questions that surround it.

“Zombie: is it dead or alive? Prince: is it male or female?” Palahniuk asked the audience. “That’s undecidability — this little thing is in flux, and it can’t be resolved — that thing that can’t be resolved is a thing that will linger in the culture longer and longer.”

The shock-value presented in both his statements and novels is the technique he said he uses to write something that will remain unforgettable in a reader’s mind.

“People who want to make a name want to make a name with something that won’t be forgotten,” he said. “ Taste changes across time … but if everything is sticky enough and sticks to your memory, then as your taste changes you will grow to love that thing.”

The memory of a crude or unexpected scene will eventually spark a dialogue among friends, which is what creates this preservation, he said.

Palahniuk said the same techniques were implemented in his new novel “Doomed” which is a reinvention of “Dante’s Inferno” and is scheduled for release in October.

“People will say, ‘that’s the book where the little girl tore off the old man’s wiener,’” he said.

While Palahniuk is now well established in the literary world, he said it took time to develop his sense of writer’s intuition.

One of the many misconceptions he said he faced as a young writer was the idea that everything he wrote about should be self-generated or experienced.

He said informed writing comes from investigation and curiosity about the world, realizing the themes of various stories and illustrating them for a reader.

Palahniuk also said he still meets with a weekly workshop of writers in his home town of Portland who are known as the Portland Writer Mafia.

More than 10 years after the workshop’s creation, he said they still develop story ideas, discuss potential themes and share resources in a communal environment.

“You really are more of a kind of journalist or an editor because you’re constantly grabbing all the things of the world … and you have to trust your taste.”