Romance

by Chuck Palahniuk

A short story, read by Chuck himself and available in audio exclusively from Blackstone.
Originally published in Playboy magazine, “Romance” is a twisted love story like only Chuck could tell.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Audiobook, Humor, Novels

Audiobook

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

Written 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.

Reviews

[Scot · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read or listen to this book (I recommend listening) you need to be ready to be offended or disgusted by some things. If you can look past that, you will love it. I listened to Chuck read this when he was touring for his book Damned and he was amazing. He is a great reader and speaker.

[Tawfek · Rating 4 out of 5]

الوصف الوحيد اللي ممكن نوصف به القصة دي انها ملتوية
قصة حب ملتوية
واحد مفيهوش أي مميزات مفيش أي ست ممكن تتمناه
و تقترب منه بنت جميلة جدًا بنفسها و تكلمه و ينتهي بهم الأمر بالزواج
بس البنت عندها إعاقة ذهنية و كل اللي يعرفوه بيقولوله بس هو شايفهم كلهم حاقدين عليه
و بيخلف منها و بسبب طريقتها الغريبة في الكلام كانت هتسبب انهم يعملوا حادثة كلهم بس هو لسه شايفها زي الفل
القصة موجودة في كتاب المترجم 2 لهشام فهمي

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guy who knows he's 'nothing special' meets a gorgeous woman on the way to Lollapalooza, and the next thing you know, is head-over-heels in love. But, given that this is Palahniuk, you kind of know that a disturbing twist is coming... watch for the clues!

[Andrés · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know if it's because I've had too much of Palahniuk already, but I feel as if I'd read this story before. And it's not one of his best. In typical Palahniuk fashion, there were parts that were shockingly disgusting; on the other hand, nothing really surprised me, as I saw the "twist" coming a mile away.

Having said that, there's not really much to hate here. This is a pretty short audiobook to keep us entertained until his next shocker comes along.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Magic trick! Puppet Show!" Loved this short story, and it was great to hear it read by Chuck too.

[Paige Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

On YouTube. Ironic short story. A blimp of a man loses his gf to cancer, figuring she got so skinny she’d have left him anyway and that’s how life goes for him. The line at envying a concentration camp guard for who he gets to date was weirdly endearingly deluded.

He meets another skinny girl at Lalapalooza. Sounds like a punky Downsy good time. But who’s really dumber? A li’l dry or slower (🥁) than I anticipated. Prob better heard than read in Playboy.

Got his classic gross factor at a point but not as disturbing as pool drains. :p Felt the end coulda been a bit bigger than one sentence. More laughs per minute or more on the children and their families before then.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is best listened to rather than read. It's a nice change of pace for Chuck but still different and cringe-worthy. Awesome stuff.

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I promised myself I would never read another Palahniuk book after I read Choke, and I went and broke that promise (sort of, this is just a short story). Why would I do that? I don't know why I would voluntarily subject myself to this garbage. Never again. Until I read Lullaby or something.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short story 'Romance' by Chuck Palahniuk somewhat puzzled me.

A lot of people with be disgusted with the description of some the scenes for sure but to be honest I have read worse.
I did not exactly understand what the point of the short story was, I get the whole 'look past mental illness stigma' and 'love has no boundaries but thats all really.

Was an okay listen.

5/10

[Lawnzilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

:') Beautiful

[Younes El Yadari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Structurally echoing the infamous Whoopi Goldberg's surfer chick joke, with a most suitable story. A love story that's disturbing and sad in a way. The questions it raises are sensible -- Even if his stories can be really fucked up, may seem to some people as being mean spirited -- but, I think they're done for noble reasons and that's why people keep coming back to his works. Fantastic story.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of a man who marries a woman who is mentally handicapped. He is so happy because she is perfect as he imagines perfection. They are parents to twin girls and he needs to teach his children that even perfection can look bad or wrong if you look too closely.

[Anirudh Mannattil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely tale which is eccentric just as most of Palahniuck's works, but here there is some strong sentimental value and some focus on how societal perceptions of individuals who are just happy have never changed despite progress.

[Marissa Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watched Chuck read this short story on Youtube. Favorite author IS favorite author.

[Madhurima Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first ever read by Chuck and I know I'm looking forward to more :)

[Lannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Chuck.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite piece of Palahniuk’s writing. Different people take a different meaning so I won’t even describe what I like about it. It’s like 10 pages; just read it

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so typically Palahniuk f-cked up and i just love it. Its twisted and weird

[Catalina Jiménez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"(...) and then it turned out it wasn't the pineapple or the self-discipline because she found out she really had cancer, but she slimmed down to wearing a bitchin' hot size two before she died.

Is this ridiculously dark sense of humor what makes me love Chuck passionately. Some may say that he has no respect for anything, but I say that he has the bravery of behaving as a genuine human being. I want to be like him in my life.

"Romance" is a beautiful love story, but it couldn't have missed Chuck's twisted special detail. And that is what makes this a rad love story with a little bit of pink dementia. Just like almost all Chuck's literature, it is a very sincere story; it is beautifully written, fun, weird, and it completely catches you as soon as you read the first sentence.

This can't be simpler: Chuck Palahniuk is awesome, and this story is awesome as well.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another witty, twisted yet satirical masterpiece from the legendary and literary god himself, Mr. Chuck Palahniuk.

This short story zooms in on one essential question; to what extent does love is still a love? Then dozens of questions can be sprouted out from the tips of this, such as, does deluding yourself can be considered as love? Does a mentally retarded person capable of love? Is this love?

Now that's a reminder that the book youve just read is a good one. It leaves your mind clouded with unanswered questions that youll spent a whole goddy hour trying to figure it out. One particular thing that I also like about this one (and his other titles, for that matter) is that it gives us twisted and sick plot twists that never fails to leave our jaws hanging in no time.

Not for the fainthearted. God fucking damn it, Chuck Palahniuk might be the most talented author of our time.

[Vojtisek · Rating 5 out of 5]

totálně krutá povídka s krásným poselstvím na závěr... původní hodnocení bylo o dvě hvězdy slabší, protože až po chvíli mi došly všechny narážky... zájemci pomocí googlu stáhnout US Playboy srpen 2011 a "nalistovat" stranu 62 nebo na youtube vyhledat autorské čtení...

[Dina Heikal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Palanhnuik has a strong ability to cause a special kind of disturbance.
a funny short story with a wise message.
If you keep waiting for the perfect soulmate to come, you'll never find Love. Because it's how much you love a person is what makes him perfect <3 <3 <3

[Sonia Freddo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faccio fatica a dare un parere su questo libro. Se dovessi utilizzare una sola parola per descriverlo direi che è disturbante.
Racconti ai limiti del paranormale che sono una metafora della nostra assurda società .
Un libro che non si dimentica facilmente.

[Darth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not long enough for the patented Palahniuk twisted mind-f*ck, this is still an interesting little nugget of a tale of different people.

[Paul Servini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received this as a free download. I thought the narration was well done but the whole thing in pretty bad taste.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um....okay.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, that was a weird story! Nothing much more to say about it. Didn't hate it, but at least it was short.

[Lisa Quillin · Rating 1 out of 5]

not my favorite.

[Igor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this Story Chuck at his best!

[Matthew Fryman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was one of the best short stories I've read in a long time