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Crown Journeys Series
Kaçaklar ve Mülteciler
Chuck Palahniuk'in bademciklerinin bu aralar nerede ikamet ettiğini bilmek ister misiniz? Peki ya Chuck'ın MTV'de bir video klipte görünmesinin hikayesini? Mutfak dolaplarınızda saklanmış bir mankeni aradığınız oldu mu hiç? Şu bizim Chuck'ın özyaşamıyla ilgili, adamın insan içine çıkmasını zorlaştıracak bazı anekdotlardan haberdar olmak cazip geliyor mu size?
Bütün bunlar ve daha neler neler. Hepsi Kaçaklar ve Mülteciler'de. Yazar Katherine Dunn, Portland'da herkesin en az üç yaşamı ve üç kimliği olduğunu söylüyor. Amerika denen memleketteki "en kafayı sıyırmışların" toplandığı Portland'ın sokaklarında, Palahniuk'la birlikte maceradan maceraya koşmaya, şehrin ünlü ünsüz sakinleriyle tanışmaya ne dersiniz? Hiçbir gezi rehberinin size veremeyeceği şeyler var bu kitapta: Biraz tarih; biraz söylence; tekinsiz mekanları, güzel restoranları ve çılgınlıklarıyla capcanlı bir şehrin nabzını tutma olanağı. Her köşe başında rastlayacağınız dost canlısı insanları da cabası.
Bütün bunlar ve daha neler neler. Hepsi Kaçaklar ve Mülteciler'de. Yazar Katherine Dunn, Portland'da herkesin en az üç yaşamı ve üç kimliği olduğunu söylüyor. Amerika denen memleketteki "en kafayı sıyırmışların" toplandığı Portland'ın sokaklarında, Palahniuk'la birlikte maceradan maceraya koşmaya, şehrin ünlü ünsüz sakinleriyle tanışmaya ne dersiniz? Hiçbir gezi rehberinin size veremeyeceği şeyler var bu kitapta: Biraz tarih; biraz söylence; tekinsiz mekanları, güzel restoranları ve çılgınlıklarıyla capcanlı bir şehrin nabzını tutma olanağı. Her köşe başında rastlayacağınız dost canlısı insanları da cabası.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2003
189 people are currently reading
8795 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Palahniuk
167 books132k followersWritten in stolen moments under truck chassis and on park benches to a soundtrack of The Downward Spiral and Pablo Honey, Fight Club came into existence. The adaptation of Fight Club was a flop at the box office, but achieved cult status on DVD. The film’s popularity drove sales of the novel. Chuck put out two novels in 1999, Survivor and Invisible Monsters. Choke, published in 2001, became Chuck’s first New York Times bestseller. Chuck’s work has always been infused with personal experience, and his next novel, Lullaby, was no exception. Chuck credits writing Lullaby with helping him cope with the tragic death of his father. Diary and the non-fiction guide to Portland, Fugitives and Refugees, were released in 2003. While on the road in support of Diary, Chuck began reading a short story entitled 'Guts,' which would eventually become part of the novel Haunted.
In the years that followed, he continued to write, publishing the bestselling Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, Tell-All, a 'remix' of Invisible Monsters, Damned, and most recently, Doomed.
Chuck also enjoys giving back to his fans, and teaching the art of storytelling has been an important part of that. In 2004, Chuck began submitting essays to ChuckPalahniuk.net on the craft of writing. These were 'How To' pieces, straight out of Chuck's personal bag of tricks, based on the tenants of minimalism he learned from Tom Spanbauer. Every month, a “Homework Assignment” would accompany the lesson, so Workshop members could apply what they had learned. (all 36 of these essays can currently be found on The Cult's sister-site, LitReactor.com).
Then, in 2009, Chuck increased his involvement by committing to read and review a selection of fan-written stories each month. The best stories are currently set to be published in Burnt Tongues, a forthcoming anthology, with an introduction written by Chuck himself.
His next novel, Beautiful You, is due out in October 2014.
In the years that followed, he continued to write, publishing the bestselling Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, Tell-All, a 'remix' of Invisible Monsters, Damned, and most recently, Doomed.
Chuck also enjoys giving back to his fans, and teaching the art of storytelling has been an important part of that. In 2004, Chuck began submitting essays to ChuckPalahniuk.net on the craft of writing. These were 'How To' pieces, straight out of Chuck's personal bag of tricks, based on the tenants of minimalism he learned from Tom Spanbauer. Every month, a “Homework Assignment” would accompany the lesson, so Workshop members could apply what they had learned. (all 36 of these essays can currently be found on The Cult's sister-site, LitReactor.com).
Then, in 2009, Chuck increased his involvement by committing to read and review a selection of fan-written stories each month. The best stories are currently set to be published in Burnt Tongues, a forthcoming anthology, with an introduction written by Chuck himself.
His next novel, Beautiful You, is due out in October 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 514 reviews
July 19, 2014
The book hooked me in the Purple Room at Powell's with the first sentence, a quote from fellow Portlander and author Katherine Dunn's Geek Love: "'Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives.'" (I'm not suggesting anything insidious here, but there are so many references to the other Doubleday author Dunn and her book that the word "product placement" did cross my mind.) I was there for a week on a work trip and even then I caught a glimpse of at least three Portlands: a fit wealthy organic beautiful people more-out-doorsy-than and escaped-from LA crowd mingling with west coast version of Jersey chic (think 'Departure' the rooftop restaurant at the Nines); a methy, furious anti-"the Man" addict squatter maybe on bike and skateboard crowd mingling with true down and outs and psychotics... (these, not those documented in this book) are the city's most "cracked of the crack ups"; and warm smart lovey but also edgey demanding hugger people, freaky kinky folks who imagine a world without limits who are genuine originals and who are rightly the focus of this book, and who create the vibe that the city's geek squadrons and tech workers ride on.
Fittingly, then, the book has three voices: the tour guide sections to both off-the-beaten and beaten paths; "postcards" i.e. memoir-y pure-Palahniuk vignettes that worked to insert narrative interest in a book that otherwise reads like a curiosity shop; and a third. The best parts of the tour guide sections effectively lift the rooftop on a whole world of Portland's quirks and kinks. These sections are uneven, though, with some (such as the one on gardens) that seem so straight up and without a trace of Palahniuk signatures that I wondered if they were added at the publisher's instructions.
On the books own quirks and kinks: I admire a writer who'll slip in the word "there're" (for there are) every now'n'then. And I liked the (quaint or rebellious) commitment to providing telephone numbers for every verge-of-extinction establishment and individual in the tour guide parts of the book. The "Portland vocabulary" chapter too seemed tacked on to me, more like a publisher's gimmick, because it's exactly the kind of thing the "establishment" people who buy cutesy tour guides love.
Oh, our cab driver pointed out the smallest park in the world ("Mill's End park" on SW Taylor). It's breathtaking! You must go there. Make a day of it by sitting in the park and reading Chuck's book.
Fittingly, then, the book has three voices: the tour guide sections to both off-the-beaten and beaten paths; "postcards" i.e. memoir-y pure-Palahniuk vignettes that worked to insert narrative interest in a book that otherwise reads like a curiosity shop; and a third. The best parts of the tour guide sections effectively lift the rooftop on a whole world of Portland's quirks and kinks. These sections are uneven, though, with some (such as the one on gardens) that seem so straight up and without a trace of Palahniuk signatures that I wondered if they were added at the publisher's instructions.
On the books own quirks and kinks: I admire a writer who'll slip in the word "there're" (for there are) every now'n'then. And I liked the (quaint or rebellious) commitment to providing telephone numbers for every verge-of-extinction establishment and individual in the tour guide parts of the book. The "Portland vocabulary" chapter too seemed tacked on to me, more like a publisher's gimmick, because it's exactly the kind of thing the "establishment" people who buy cutesy tour guides love.
Oh, our cab driver pointed out the smallest park in the world ("Mill's End park" on SW Taylor). It's breathtaking! You must go there. Make a day of it by sitting in the park and reading Chuck's book.
May 3, 2008
It's a quick read, and a fun primer (in parts) of Portland's underground and history, mixed with a bit of Palahnuik's attempt at autobiography. I actually give this book more like two and a half stars, but since Goodreads doesn't work like Star Search, I don't have that option.
The book lost points with me for being uncomfortably seedy in places; to put it more plainly, a chapter with restaurant recommendations, great local gardens, or tips on how to pronounce local streets was often immediately followed with a detailed listing of local sex clubs and the like.
Portland has an entire network of interconnected tunnels that used to be used for opium dens, speakeasy, and shainghai-ing sailors into slavery. While I like reading about that sort of drama-in-real-life city lore as much as the next gal, this book spent too much time in the proverbial dank tunnels of Portland's 'pervy-on-purpose' fringe counter culture, and not enough time extolling the virtues of the very cool city that the other 98 percent of us want to explore.
The book lost points with me for being uncomfortably seedy in places; to put it more plainly, a chapter with restaurant recommendations, great local gardens, or tips on how to pronounce local streets was often immediately followed with a detailed listing of local sex clubs and the like.
Portland has an entire network of interconnected tunnels that used to be used for opium dens, speakeasy, and shainghai-ing sailors into slavery. While I like reading about that sort of drama-in-real-life city lore as much as the next gal, this book spent too much time in the proverbial dank tunnels of Portland's 'pervy-on-purpose' fringe counter culture, and not enough time extolling the virtues of the very cool city that the other 98 percent of us want to explore.
August 17, 2007
Just go to Portland. I have been there 7 times. Just outside of the city are the mountains and waterfalls (a five minute drive). Perhaps my favorite city in the U.S., it is full of life, culture, hate, and wonder and yet still costs as much as living in Tulsa. I plan on moving there after my Bachelor's degree. Screw the book, just book a flight.
March 22, 2025
Ok, so apparently Portland is the place to go if one wanted to acquaint themselves with the most cracked of the crackpots in the seedy underbelly of America. Well, I'd rather hang around with the misfits lurking in Portland's underground tunnels than, say, go wandering down to the Tenderloin District in San Francisco, or try a nice walking tour in the Appalachian Mountains and just hope you don't come across a bunch of hillbilly crack addicts wanting to re-enact scenes from Deliverance. I like Palahniuk's essay writing, and here again he impressed me with an insightful look at those on the fringes. There is loads of variety here as he takes the reader on a weird and sordid 80s nostalgic trip down memory lane, so kind of doubles as a memoir. Filthy and deranged at times maybe, but more fun and interesting than Paul Theroux that's for sure. Just a shame it's pretty sort in length.
April 25, 2020
Okuduğumuz kitapların yazarları ya da şairlerini kimi zaman bizler bir şehirle özdeşleştiririz kimi zamanda kendileri anlatır kendi şehirlerini bizlere. Çocukken oyunlar oynadığı, komşularından tutun da sokaktan geçen satıcılara kadar her ayrıntıyı o şehirlerde yaşayanlar, orada büyüyenler kadar hiç kimse bilemez doğrusu.
Turistik bir gezi yapmak için seçilen şehirler için de rehber kitaplar imdadımıza yetişen ilk materyaller olur. Müzeler, nerede ne yenir ne içilir, görülmesi gereken mekanlar ve bol bol fotoğraf çekilebilecek doğal güzellikler.
Kaçaklar ve Mülteciler’de anlatılan şehir ise Portland, yazar yeraltı edebiyatından tanıdığımız, Dövüş Kulübü, Gösteri Peygamberi, Tıkanma, Ölüm Pornosu gibi kitaplara imzasını atmış ve son dönemde şüpheli yazarlar arasında görülen Chuck Palahniuk. Sevgili Chuck, Portland’ı en ücra köşelerden başlayarak anlatmış.
Nerede yemek yenmeli konusuna değinerek görmemiz gereken mekanların isimlerini, menülerini, telefon numaralarını, adreslerini hatta menüdeki bazı yemeklerin hazırlanışını dahi kaleme almış. Hangi müzeye gidilmeli, ayrıntıları, internet siteleri, hayvanat bahçeleri, seks mekanları, alışveriş merkezleri, bahçeler, içmek için uygun mekanlar, … hepsini bu kitapta bulabiliriz. Aynı zamanda paranormal durumlara da değiniyor yazar bu kitabında. Hayaletli olduğu söylenen ve görmediğimiz varlıkların fink attığı mekanlar hakkında da bilgiler veriyor bizlere.
Kaybolmak yabancı bir yerde çok da sorun olmasa gerek lakin bu kitap ile Portland sokaklarında kaybolmak bile sıkıcı olamaz.
Yolumuz bu şehri düşmese de eğlenmek ve mekanların tasvirlerine hayran kalmak, daha doğrusu keşfetmek için çok hoş bir kitap. Portland yolcuları için ise kaçırılmaması gereken bir yol arkadaşı.
147 sayfadan oluşan ve Ayrıntı Yayınları'ndan çıkan kitabın çevirmeni Esra Arışan.
Turistik bir gezi yapmak için seçilen şehirler için de rehber kitaplar imdadımıza yetişen ilk materyaller olur. Müzeler, nerede ne yenir ne içilir, görülmesi gereken mekanlar ve bol bol fotoğraf çekilebilecek doğal güzellikler.
Kaçaklar ve Mülteciler’de anlatılan şehir ise Portland, yazar yeraltı edebiyatından tanıdığımız, Dövüş Kulübü, Gösteri Peygamberi, Tıkanma, Ölüm Pornosu gibi kitaplara imzasını atmış ve son dönemde şüpheli yazarlar arasında görülen Chuck Palahniuk. Sevgili Chuck, Portland’ı en ücra köşelerden başlayarak anlatmış.
Nerede yemek yenmeli konusuna değinerek görmemiz gereken mekanların isimlerini, menülerini, telefon numaralarını, adreslerini hatta menüdeki bazı yemeklerin hazırlanışını dahi kaleme almış. Hangi müzeye gidilmeli, ayrıntıları, internet siteleri, hayvanat bahçeleri, seks mekanları, alışveriş merkezleri, bahçeler, içmek için uygun mekanlar, … hepsini bu kitapta bulabiliriz. Aynı zamanda paranormal durumlara da değiniyor yazar bu kitabında. Hayaletli olduğu söylenen ve görmediğimiz varlıkların fink attığı mekanlar hakkında da bilgiler veriyor bizlere.
Kaybolmak yabancı bir yerde çok da sorun olmasa gerek lakin bu kitap ile Portland sokaklarında kaybolmak bile sıkıcı olamaz.
Yolumuz bu şehri düşmese de eğlenmek ve mekanların tasvirlerine hayran kalmak, daha doğrusu keşfetmek için çok hoş bir kitap. Portland yolcuları için ise kaçırılmaması gereken bir yol arkadaşı.
147 sayfadan oluşan ve Ayrıntı Yayınları'ndan çıkan kitabın çevirmeni Esra Arışan.
December 23, 2017
Love this book. It is, however a decade old by now, so some of the stuff has aged and passed on.
The Willamette Weekly did an awesome job covering all the stuff in this book in July 2013 to see what was still there, what was gone, and to make some suggestions.
There's the first article which gives a nice little history of the book itself http://www.wweek.com/portland/article...
And the second which goes through just about everything between the covers to see what's what in 2013 http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-30...
The Willamette Weekly did an awesome job covering all the stuff in this book in July 2013 to see what was still there, what was gone, and to make some suggestions.
There's the first article which gives a nice little history of the book itself http://www.wweek.com/portland/article...
And the second which goes through just about everything between the covers to see what's what in 2013 http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-30...
July 20, 2020
Fun read for a Portland native but it read like vintage. Probably 75% of the book no longer exists but I learned some interesting lore. And the address of the castle mom always pointed out to me from downtown.
The Portland girl in me was annoyed at the misspellings of Oaks Park throughout. I got married in the evening at that little church at Oaks so I like the idea that a dozen ghosts were present.
The Portland girl in me was annoyed at the misspellings of Oaks Park throughout. I got married in the evening at that little church at Oaks so I like the idea that a dozen ghosts were present.
March 18, 2025
A very sweet and sentimental look at Portland’s dirty underbelly that serves as both a history lesson and travel guide. Never knew Chuck spent most of his life here; it’s really eerie to hear him wax poetic on the passing of time and the disappearances of Portland staples while I myself get to walk around the decaying corpse of this city every day and see my own degradation from street to street. He mentions landmarks within three blocks of my house. Spooky.
Some of his favorite Portland eyesores still remain, and that’s enough to make a man hopeful. Perhaps after work today, I’ll go look for his tonsils. If they haven’t been nabbed by now, that is.
Some of his favorite Portland eyesores still remain, and that’s enough to make a man hopeful. Perhaps after work today, I’ll go look for his tonsils. If they haven’t been nabbed by now, that is.
Read
May 3, 2025Reading this I am once again reminded of why, for the past decade, I have called this wonderful, weird city my home.
February 6, 2012
This series by Crown is an interesting one - 2nd tier celebrities (or, maybe better put, major figures in sub-major circuits) pen brief volumes that are half ode to their hometown/half visitors guide to the city they love. In a way, it could be a comprehensive guide to where that person would take you if they really cared about you, enjoyed your company, and were putting you up for a month.
As a volume, this particular book isn't terribly strong. The writing is often pedestrian, and the structure is of the kind that doesn't require too much work on the part of the author - quick bursts of narrative or information that only take a few moments to craft. Palahniuk is mostly interested in telling you how much of a scumbag party animal he was back in his day, and how nontraditional his friends were. And apparently he lost a bet to Katherine Dunn (who the book will tell you, in every single chapter, is the author of Geek Love, a genuinely interesting book published in 1990). Otherwise, it is unfathomable why he feels the need to beat her drum so loudly for her. Maybe they are/were married? I dunno.
So, all in all a forgettable book, but it is interesting for another reason - it is an excellent example of how much Portland has changed in the past 10 years and, in a different way, how quickly a scene evolves past even those who were its royalty in the recent past. I thought often of my old college town and how, though it has only been a decade since I left it and only a few years since my last visit, it is an almost entirely different place than it was then. Portland all the more so, given its influx of educated and culturally literate semi-bohemians looking for a wonderful port to ride out the current (neverending?) economic storm and its concomitant joblessness. Though the book was published in 2002, it features places that are virtually all now extinct and people who have since been supplanted by the hipsters and DIY store owners and creative class warriors that have made Portland the 'it' city of the current generation. Well, at least for the cool members of the current generation.
Thinking these thoughts as I worked my way through this book also made me meditate a bit on the new IFC sketch comedy show Portlandia, a show that captures much better the current zeitgeist of the place (though it is unfair to compare it with a book released a decade ago). I saw the episodes from season one, and while many sketches were amusing, there was a hostility in its tone that persistently threatened to unseat the affection for the city that the show's creators try to express, a hostility rooted in fearfulness, the kind of fear that comes when you realize you are on top and the alpha of the city's a-list ... for now ... but very soon the day will come when you don't know where the best (or hippest) little cafe to go is, and when you find out, you won't know anyone who works there, and soon the ones that do won't recognize you.
As a volume, this particular book isn't terribly strong. The writing is often pedestrian, and the structure is of the kind that doesn't require too much work on the part of the author - quick bursts of narrative or information that only take a few moments to craft. Palahniuk is mostly interested in telling you how much of a scumbag party animal he was back in his day, and how nontraditional his friends were. And apparently he lost a bet to Katherine Dunn (who the book will tell you, in every single chapter, is the author of Geek Love, a genuinely interesting book published in 1990). Otherwise, it is unfathomable why he feels the need to beat her drum so loudly for her. Maybe they are/were married? I dunno.
So, all in all a forgettable book, but it is interesting for another reason - it is an excellent example of how much Portland has changed in the past 10 years and, in a different way, how quickly a scene evolves past even those who were its royalty in the recent past. I thought often of my old college town and how, though it has only been a decade since I left it and only a few years since my last visit, it is an almost entirely different place than it was then. Portland all the more so, given its influx of educated and culturally literate semi-bohemians looking for a wonderful port to ride out the current (neverending?) economic storm and its concomitant joblessness. Though the book was published in 2002, it features places that are virtually all now extinct and people who have since been supplanted by the hipsters and DIY store owners and creative class warriors that have made Portland the 'it' city of the current generation. Well, at least for the cool members of the current generation.
Thinking these thoughts as I worked my way through this book also made me meditate a bit on the new IFC sketch comedy show Portlandia, a show that captures much better the current zeitgeist of the place (though it is unfair to compare it with a book released a decade ago). I saw the episodes from season one, and while many sketches were amusing, there was a hostility in its tone that persistently threatened to unseat the affection for the city that the show's creators try to express, a hostility rooted in fearfulness, the kind of fear that comes when you realize you are on top and the alpha of the city's a-list ... for now ... but very soon the day will come when you don't know where the best (or hippest) little cafe to go is, and when you find out, you won't know anyone who works there, and soon the ones that do won't recognize you.
May 22, 2011
Non-Fiction. Palahniuk takes us on a tour of Portland's sex clubs, hardware stores, gardens, and ghosts. As long as you consider Newberg and Maryhill to be part of Portland, which they decidedly are not.
I'm not sure if this book will have any appeal to people unfamiliar with Portland -- the travel guide aspect is thin on the ground -- but I liked it. Sometimes you just want to read a book about the place where you live. That self-satisfied thrill when you recognize the landmarks, the off-hand directions, the explanations for things you formerly took for granted. I learned some new things, and screwed up my face at others (Who calls Eugene "Blue Jean," Chuck? Some guy you talked to at a party once?); it's a quick read with a lot of lists.
It's also part memoir. Palahniuk recounts scenes from his life in Portland in trademark Palahniuk style with bonus surprise mid-paragraph tense-shifting guaranteed to give the reader temporal whiplash. These interludes are still more about Portland than Palahniuk, though, and won't give any huge insights to his character.
Ebook review: the epub version of this is AWFUL. It's frequently missing strings of words, sometimes leaving only two orphaned characters behind to puzzle over. It's like rats somehow chewed through the file. There's no excuse for that. Fortunately, I borrowed this from my library and didn't pay actual money for it, but it makes me wonder if you can return ebooks for being completely heinous. Crown Publishers, you suck.
Four stars, but one of those belongs entirely to Portland for being so wonderfully weird.
I'm not sure if this book will have any appeal to people unfamiliar with Portland -- the travel guide aspect is thin on the ground -- but I liked it. Sometimes you just want to read a book about the place where you live. That self-satisfied thrill when you recognize the landmarks, the off-hand directions, the explanations for things you formerly took for granted. I learned some new things, and screwed up my face at others (Who calls Eugene "Blue Jean," Chuck? Some guy you talked to at a party once?); it's a quick read with a lot of lists.
It's also part memoir. Palahniuk recounts scenes from his life in Portland in trademark Palahniuk style with bonus surprise mid-paragraph tense-shifting guaranteed to give the reader temporal whiplash. These interludes are still more about Portland than Palahniuk, though, and won't give any huge insights to his character.
Ebook review: the epub version of this is AWFUL. It's frequently missing strings of words, sometimes leaving only two orphaned characters behind to puzzle over. It's like rats somehow chewed through the file. There's no excuse for that. Fortunately, I borrowed this from my library and didn't pay actual money for it, but it makes me wonder if you can return ebooks for being completely heinous. Crown Publishers, you suck.
Four stars, but one of those belongs entirely to Portland for being so wonderfully weird.
July 20, 2010
I had issues with this. For one, the ONLY time he talks about ethnicity in the book was when he was jumped by a group of "black men with black hoods". Identifying his muggers as black (and OTHER) sets himself on pretty shaky ground, and in a city that is 80+% white, i can't see how this is NOT an issue.
ALSO-- he talks about a gay man who was trying to sleep with him which was "capital NOT going to happen." Again, you weren't going to sleep with anyone else in the book, so why single this man out?
Other than suspecting Palahniuk of racism and homophobia, the book is okay, other than the fact that it lingers for a LONG chapter on Portland's sex trade. After those first gaffes, i didn't care anymore what he thought was interesting about the city. By the time I got to that chapter, i suspected that he had a rather unhealthy preoccupation with perversion. If that's you thing, it's fine. But perversion exists in CONTRAST to the normative. And I'm sure Portland has many fascinating, wholesome, even pedestrian things that are interesting as well. His memories of strippers and men masturbating isn't actually about this city-- it's about his memories, which honestly, i lost interest in.
There were some great ideas of unusual things, but I'll remember those two incidents as the entire book.
ALSO-- he talks about a gay man who was trying to sleep with him which was "capital NOT going to happen." Again, you weren't going to sleep with anyone else in the book, so why single this man out?
Other than suspecting Palahniuk of racism and homophobia, the book is okay, other than the fact that it lingers for a LONG chapter on Portland's sex trade. After those first gaffes, i didn't care anymore what he thought was interesting about the city. By the time I got to that chapter, i suspected that he had a rather unhealthy preoccupation with perversion. If that's you thing, it's fine. But perversion exists in CONTRAST to the normative. And I'm sure Portland has many fascinating, wholesome, even pedestrian things that are interesting as well. His memories of strippers and men masturbating isn't actually about this city-- it's about his memories, which honestly, i lost interest in.
There were some great ideas of unusual things, but I'll remember those two incidents as the entire book.
October 14, 2010
Review from my blog:
I started and finished Fugitives & Refugees, thus ending my resolve to not read any more Chuck books this week. Yes, we're on a first name basis. That's mainly cos I don't really know how to pronounce his last name and I feel better about just calling him Chuck. Anyway, Fugitives & Refugees was really good – a series of vignettes and travel tips about and within Portland, Oregon – my close personal friend Chuck‘s home since 1980. Some of them are crazy, some are fun, but all are uniquely Chuck‘s. You can really see how his environment has shaped his fiction – and his worldview. At the very beginning he quotes Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love (which I have not read), who says "Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives." I like that.
I started and finished Fugitives & Refugees, thus ending my resolve to not read any more Chuck books this week. Yes, we're on a first name basis. That's mainly cos I don't really know how to pronounce his last name and I feel better about just calling him Chuck. Anyway, Fugitives & Refugees was really good – a series of vignettes and travel tips about and within Portland, Oregon – my close personal friend Chuck‘s home since 1980. Some of them are crazy, some are fun, but all are uniquely Chuck‘s. You can really see how his environment has shaped his fiction – and his worldview. At the very beginning he quotes Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love (which I have not read), who says "Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives." I like that.
October 13, 2019
I was looking forward to reading a book of Palahniuk’s short fiction, but this is not that book. Nope. It’s (almost) literally a Portland, Oregon guidebook. Portland sounds like a great city, but I’ve unfortunately never been there and have no plans to go any time soon, so I really struggled to stay interested in page after page of lists of tourist destinations. Womp, womp.
January 23, 2020
Not sure what to say about this. It was okay, a nice trip down debauchery row in the life of Chuck Palahniuk. It's a how-to/bio type of work, so it is what it is. Hard to get these wrong unless a writer is a poseur. Palahniuk is nothing of the sort.
October 25, 2023
Fun read. Travelogue
October 15, 2023
3.5
Liked the writing style, but at this point the book is dated
Liked the writing style, but at this point the book is dated
April 18, 2007
In short, this collection of non-fiction essays is a love letter to Portland. If the style of this guide book appeals to you, if the odd, macabre, and sometimes loathsome puts you in just the right mood, if you want an adventure, come to Portland. Then read Fugitives and Refugees. The rain merely keeps the riff raff out and the green in. The battle for Canine Equal Rights has been won. The microbrew revolution began here and is thriving. And the people are as weird and welcoming as you could ever hope for.
As I've been living here, I have used this book as a lazy Saturday guide book. And I check off the places mentioned in each part that I have visited. I'm still not even a third of the way through.
So far...
Adult Soapbox Derby
Santa-Con
Shanghai Tunnels
Chinese Garden
Powell's Bookstore
Urban Iditarod
Saturday Market
(just to name a few)
As I've been living here, I have used this book as a lazy Saturday guide book. And I check off the places mentioned in each part that I have visited. I'm still not even a third of the way through.
So far...
Adult Soapbox Derby
Santa-Con
Shanghai Tunnels
Chinese Garden
Powell's Bookstore
Urban Iditarod
Saturday Market
(just to name a few)
June 9, 2018
Finished this in two sittings. Great fun. An absolute gem. A guide to Portland in that down-and-out in Paris kind of way that might already be out-of-date, but who cares, it’s not like I’m planning to visit. By that measure it’s impressive how entertaining it is. The postcards in between every other chapter are the real delights.
December 2, 2015
To be honest I would have been comfortable giving this 1 star, except it would probably be useful for people who are moving to or maybe visiting Portland. More an exploration of the strangeness that is Portland Oregon than an autobiography. Mildly entertaining at best, Chuck fans can skip this one.
December 6, 2021
If you lived in or visited Portland before 2000, this book will give you the feels. If you like Chuck Palahniuk novels, you will realize that he just lives them.
July 15, 2017
Quotes:
"Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives," says Katherine Dunn, the author of Geek Love. She says, "Everyone has at least three identities."
"They're a grocery store checker, an archaeologist, and biker guy," she says. "Or they're a poet, a drag queen, and a bookstore clerk."
The Devil's Triangle: The triangle formed by W Burnside Street and SW Stark and Eleventh. Occupied for years by the Silverado bar and the Club Portland men's bathhouse.
Lake No-Negro/Fake Lost Ego/Fake Oswego
Multnomah, from the native word Nematlnomacqu, the name of a tribe the Lewis and Clark Expedition found camped on what is now Sauvie Island.
Old Town: the area of downtown north of W Burnside St and est of NW Broadway. FKA "the North End", "Satan's City", "the Bad Lands", and "the Big Eddy" it was the city's district for prostitution, drugs, and gambling.
Prosti-tots: homeless street kids who trade sex for money.
Psycho Safeway: The Safeway supermarket on SW Jefferson St, btwn SW 10th and 11th. Famous for the antics of insane street people, drug-addicted shoplifters, and students from PSU.
Pull My Finger: a nickname for Portlandia, a huge copper statue by Raymond Kaskey that sits above the entrance to the Portland Building at 1120 SW 5th. The statue crouches above the building's front doors and seems to extend its index finger.
Silver Dildo: A nickname for the Silverado bar, which features male strippers.
Sucker Creek Swamp: The original name for Lake Oswego before it was subdivided and marketed as an exclusive bedroom community for the wealthy.
Trustafarians: slang for would-be hippies and drug, environmental, and anarchy activists who wear hemp and patchouli and pretend to be poor, despite the sizable incomes they receive from trust funds endowed by their wealthy families.
Willamette: from the native word Wal-lamt, meaning "spilled water" and referring to the waterfalls south of Portland at Oregon City.
Fifteen years after we spent our night in a bed soaked with cold animal blood, Rhonda tells me nothing is as nasty as sharing a tour bus bathroom with Buddhist monks: They're not allowed to touch their penises and refuse to piss sitting down.
It's at some point that night the set dressers get word about this missing meat. The extra-thick steaks and chops, coated with makeup, fingerprints, and floor dirt, was ground into hamburger. By mistake, the day shift sold it all to customers.
Powell's: Check out the sculpture of stacked books outside the northwest street door. Inside the carved stone are the ashes of a man who wanted to be buried at Powell's. The canister of his cremains sat on a bookstore shelf for years until it was sealed inside the new sculpture.
If you're brave enough to gate crash, you might walk into the exclusive "First Wednesday", when Jane says the galleries make their real money. It's the day before each "First Thursday"—usually by invitation only—but few galleries will check you at the door.
This is Portland SantaCon '96. Aka the Red Tide. Aka Santa Rampage. They carry spray bottles of Windex, blue window cleaner they use to squirt each other in the mouth. For window cleaner it tastes just like Bombay Sapphire gin-and-tonic.
[As police try to block them from going into the Lloyd Center], the line of Santas chant: "Ho, ho, ho! We won't go!" They do the wave, back and forth from end of the block to the other chanting, "Being Santa is not a crime!"
Jim Goad, The White Trash Manifesto
"Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives," says Katherine Dunn, the author of Geek Love. She says, "Everyone has at least three identities."
"They're a grocery store checker, an archaeologist, and biker guy," she says. "Or they're a poet, a drag queen, and a bookstore clerk."
The Devil's Triangle: The triangle formed by W Burnside Street and SW Stark and Eleventh. Occupied for years by the Silverado bar and the Club Portland men's bathhouse.
Lake No-Negro/Fake Lost Ego/Fake Oswego
Multnomah, from the native word Nematlnomacqu, the name of a tribe the Lewis and Clark Expedition found camped on what is now Sauvie Island.
Old Town: the area of downtown north of W Burnside St and est of NW Broadway. FKA "the North End", "Satan's City", "the Bad Lands", and "the Big Eddy" it was the city's district for prostitution, drugs, and gambling.
Prosti-tots: homeless street kids who trade sex for money.
Psycho Safeway: The Safeway supermarket on SW Jefferson St, btwn SW 10th and 11th. Famous for the antics of insane street people, drug-addicted shoplifters, and students from PSU.
Pull My Finger: a nickname for Portlandia, a huge copper statue by Raymond Kaskey that sits above the entrance to the Portland Building at 1120 SW 5th. The statue crouches above the building's front doors and seems to extend its index finger.
Silver Dildo: A nickname for the Silverado bar, which features male strippers.
Sucker Creek Swamp: The original name for Lake Oswego before it was subdivided and marketed as an exclusive bedroom community for the wealthy.
Trustafarians: slang for would-be hippies and drug, environmental, and anarchy activists who wear hemp and patchouli and pretend to be poor, despite the sizable incomes they receive from trust funds endowed by their wealthy families.
Willamette: from the native word Wal-lamt, meaning "spilled water" and referring to the waterfalls south of Portland at Oregon City.
Fifteen years after we spent our night in a bed soaked with cold animal blood, Rhonda tells me nothing is as nasty as sharing a tour bus bathroom with Buddhist monks: They're not allowed to touch their penises and refuse to piss sitting down.
It's at some point that night the set dressers get word about this missing meat. The extra-thick steaks and chops, coated with makeup, fingerprints, and floor dirt, was ground into hamburger. By mistake, the day shift sold it all to customers.
Powell's: Check out the sculpture of stacked books outside the northwest street door. Inside the carved stone are the ashes of a man who wanted to be buried at Powell's. The canister of his cremains sat on a bookstore shelf for years until it was sealed inside the new sculpture.
If you're brave enough to gate crash, you might walk into the exclusive "First Wednesday", when Jane says the galleries make their real money. It's the day before each "First Thursday"—usually by invitation only—but few galleries will check you at the door.
This is Portland SantaCon '96. Aka the Red Tide. Aka Santa Rampage. They carry spray bottles of Windex, blue window cleaner they use to squirt each other in the mouth. For window cleaner it tastes just like Bombay Sapphire gin-and-tonic.
[As police try to block them from going into the Lloyd Center], the line of Santas chant: "Ho, ho, ho! We won't go!" They do the wave, back and forth from end of the block to the other chanting, "Being Santa is not a crime!"
Jim Goad, The White Trash Manifesto
December 1, 2024
For most of my time reading this, I was surprised by how much of a tour guide it really is? Long stretches of it are just Chuck Palahniuk telling you where to go in Portland for a good time. But, and the book leans into this in the final pages, it becomes strangely elegiac the longer it runs. This is a book celebrating a place that was starting to fade, being read in a time when I'm almost certain the place is radically different. I don't think I'd have liked Palahniuk's Portland, but his evocation of it compels me to feel mournful.
Crucially though, this book is special to me for the story of finding it. While I was in San Francisco, about five years ago, I found myself in a branch of Amoeba Music for the first time. It was an oasis of commerce that felt initially familiar but with an energy that was undeniably exciting. I trawled that shop for hours, ultimately emerging with this book, some lovely conversations with the staff and a renewed energy for my holiday. The book doesn't live up to that treasured memory, but I will never ask it to.
Crucially though, this book is special to me for the story of finding it. While I was in San Francisco, about five years ago, I found myself in a branch of Amoeba Music for the first time. It was an oasis of commerce that felt initially familiar but with an energy that was undeniably exciting. I trawled that shop for hours, ultimately emerging with this book, some lovely conversations with the staff and a renewed energy for my holiday. The book doesn't live up to that treasured memory, but I will never ask it to.
September 16, 2022
Having lived in Portland on SW Park, and later in Hillsboro, I found this book not only topical but endearing, and a big sign of life's constant inevitable changes. There are many places mentioned here that are no longer around—quite a lot still are though, and a lot of fun! Some of the locations are very personal to me, and there are chunks of interesting regional history paired with Chuck's anecdotes. They couldn't have found someone better to write about the city. This book is absolutely worth a read if you love Portland or are interested in it, and even if you just love Palhaniuk's writer's voice.
Read
July 12, 2024Read this while hanging out in Portland. I love weird cities and went to a bunch of places that chuck talks about. I wish cities remained weird and fentanyl fucking died. It was sad to see the downtown and people we’ve abandoned. But go to Portland. See chucks Portland. Walk around. I love travelogues.
November 16, 2021
Part musing on Chuck Palahniuk’s personal history with the city of Portland, Oregon; part scabrous guidebook to the seedy and under-seen sights of the city. Fascinating if slight.
April 11, 2018
This book is full of all kinds of tidbits for Portland. Cool stories, experiences and must sees. I'll be keeping this arou7for when I go, so I can hit at least a few of the places mentioned.
June 2, 2008
It's not a secret that Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite writer's but I had never read this, his foray into non-fiction. This is an ode to Chuck's hometown, Portland, Oregon. The delightful thing about this book is it is a tour-guide to what some would call the "underbelly" (and certainly includes the famous Underground) of this city. Within these pages you will find out how to hook-up with housewives, businessmen (if that's how you swing) and prostitutes. You will find directions to the local's favorite eateries and when is the best time to visit the zoo if you want to see rhinos flirting. You will find the best thrift-shops and haunted places as well as directions to the world's only self cleaning house. (which holds several U.S. patents) After reading this my travel companion and I cancelled our trip to Big Sur and are re-planning for Portland.
Especially fun are Chuck's "postcards" from different years of his life. He writes little antidotes of his experiences in Portland as if writing to a cool buddy. I love the one about the policemen keeping over 300 Santa Clauses (of which he was one) from entering an ice rink.
When I finished I found that there is a series of these books, written by authors about their hometowns, I think I will check them out and hope they will be half as entertaining.
Especially fun are Chuck's "postcards" from different years of his life. He writes little antidotes of his experiences in Portland as if writing to a cool buddy. I love the one about the policemen keeping over 300 Santa Clauses (of which he was one) from entering an ice rink.
When I finished I found that there is a series of these books, written by authors about their hometowns, I think I will check them out and hope they will be half as entertaining.
July 30, 2018
It probably wasn’t fair for me to read this as a representative work for Palahniuk. I love his concepts, but I’ve always been wary to dive into his books and I have no good reason that I can think of other than I’m afraid that I’ll be let down because my expectations are too high. I thought this would be great because I love Portland and I could connect with his love and also sample some of his creativity.
I come away from this feeling emboldened in my love for the Rose City and armed with some great trivia about it. Outside of that, the journalistic/documentarian style of the medium here confused me about Palahniuk’s style. His deadpan retelling of the Portland’s weird eccentricities made me question what was real and what was imagined fantastic for my benefit. Maybe in this way it’s a great sample of his work, but my confusion doesn’t help my initial apprehensions about reading more of his books. I don’t think that I’ll add any right now, but he’ll continue to be a curiosity for me as I build my reading lists in the future. I’m open to recommendations from those of you who know the kinds of books I dig.
As far as this book in particular, it’s really fun and really Portland and a bit dated. It unfortunately becomes work in a couple places. I thought it would be a quick read because of my Stumptown love, but it wasn’t for me and I’m glad I’m all done with it now.
I come away from this feeling emboldened in my love for the Rose City and armed with some great trivia about it. Outside of that, the journalistic/documentarian style of the medium here confused me about Palahniuk’s style. His deadpan retelling of the Portland’s weird eccentricities made me question what was real and what was imagined fantastic for my benefit. Maybe in this way it’s a great sample of his work, but my confusion doesn’t help my initial apprehensions about reading more of his books. I don’t think that I’ll add any right now, but he’ll continue to be a curiosity for me as I build my reading lists in the future. I’m open to recommendations from those of you who know the kinds of books I dig.
As far as this book in particular, it’s really fun and really Portland and a bit dated. It unfortunately becomes work in a couple places. I thought it would be a quick read because of my Stumptown love, but it wasn’t for me and I’m glad I’m all done with it now.
January 1, 2021
So there aren't many Chuck Palahniuk books I haven't read (mostly his nonfiction, sadly) but this was one of them. It's been sitting on my shelf for, well, ten years or so? I don't know why I never picked it up but I'm so glad I finally got to it. It was a really nice way to end Nonfiction November.
I have never been to Portland but I've always wanted to go. (Hopefully someday!) But I have watched quite a bit of Portlandia and a previous coworker was from Portland and used to tell me stories all the time. So this was a fun little addition to some of my other secondhand knowledge. This definitely felt like a guidebook and made me want to visit even more. This would be fun to take along and look up the places mentioned in the book.
But the real reason I loved this one was because you really see where a lot of the inspiration for other novels by Palahniuk came from. I was so interesting to see where some many of the bizarre things from his books originated. I loved finding the origins of party crashing in this book and so many other things.
So. I really enjoyed this one and I'm so glad to have finally read it!! Now to finish off his other nonfictions! (Which have also been sitting on my shelf for way too long, oops). Definitely recommend this one if you're already a Palahniuk fan!
I have never been to Portland but I've always wanted to go. (Hopefully someday!) But I have watched quite a bit of Portlandia and a previous coworker was from Portland and used to tell me stories all the time. So this was a fun little addition to some of my other secondhand knowledge. This definitely felt like a guidebook and made me want to visit even more. This would be fun to take along and look up the places mentioned in the book.
But the real reason I loved this one was because you really see where a lot of the inspiration for other novels by Palahniuk came from. I was so interesting to see where some many of the bizarre things from his books originated. I loved finding the origins of party crashing in this book and so many other things.
So. I really enjoyed this one and I'm so glad to have finally read it!! Now to finish off his other nonfictions! (Which have also been sitting on my shelf for way too long, oops). Definitely recommend this one if you're already a Palahniuk fan!
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