I recently read the novel “Choke” by Chuck Palahniuk. Palahniuk(I don’t know how to pronounce his name either) is also the author of the phenomenal “Fight Club” which I also recommend. But the topic at hand is “Choke.” The story follows Victor Mancini, a Med school drop-out who nows works at a living colonial museum, trying to pay for his anarchist mother’s elder care by choking on pieces of food in high end restaurants. He allows people to “save” him and then, feeling responsible for Victor’s life, these people go on to send him checks. He is also dealing with his Fourth Step in a Sexual Addiction recovery workshop. The style of the book is very much kind of inner monologue like. There is dialogue (very funny dialogue at that) but it is a bit sparse. The action takes place in present day but it flashes back to when Victor was, as the book says, “a stupid little shit” and his days of breaking and fleeing the law with his mother. This book is a great satire for anyone who loves black humor. There is also a movie to accompany it starring Sam Rockwell (which is always a good thing.)
Overall grade: A. A solid read worth your time.
I saw an advertisement for Volvo cars that utilizes classical conditioning to excite customers about their products. The ad conditions its viewers to get “excited” when they see Volvo cars like they get “excited” for sex. Specifically, the ad features a parking brake in its upward position to resemble an erect penis, this is accompanied by the caption, “We Are Just As Excited As You Are.” The marketers are aiming at the 16-40 year old male demographic. They hope guys will learn to associate the company’s automobiles with horniness, so they will go out and buy them. Fuckers… why they can’t just associate horniess with big black boots like fine, upstanding, citizens.
