Read the short "story" in the March issue of Playboy?

[Syrinx]

It is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in the magazine. It's by the fellow who wrote "Fight Club." It seems to me he is a talentless hack. The piece is rude and crude, without any literary value whatsoever.

My, how Playboy has fallen. A once great magazine gets worse and worse. They'll get no more renewals from me.

[ewagner]

1. OMG!

You mean there are stories in Playboy?

[Syrinx]

3. they've had GREAT fiction over the years

In fact, one of my English professors (a straight woman, btw) told us to read it years ago. They used to have writers like Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, TC Boyle, etc... Great stuff. But this piece is just disgusting garbage. It's about a guy who masturbates at the bottom of a pool, with his ass against one of those suction vents, and he's disemboweled. It's extremely graphic. The story is a piece of shit and Hefner is spinning in his grave.

Oh wait, he ain't dead...

[liberalhistorian]

5. EEEEWWWWWWWWW!

YUCK TIMES TWENTY! The disembowelment is bad enough, but a guy masturbating in a damn POOL? EEEEEWWWWWWWWWW, lol! Who in the hell would be dumb enough to do that, anyway, masturbate in a pool?

[ewagner]

15. uuummmmm...

I was being sarcastic.

Yes, I did read Vonnegut in Playboy years ago..........

[Syrinx]

17. I knew

Just trying to advance the thread. :)

[Blue_Tires]

2. Penthouse > Playboy

[Syrinx]

12. I haven't seen Penthouse in awhile

But I tend to think you're probably right. Sexier models and better journalism.

Playboy has become Maxim for guys for whom Maxim is too complicated.

[liberalhistorian]

4. Well, if it's any consolation

to you guys, I can tell you from experience that Playgirl "stories" ain't got much value in the literary department, either! Of course, that's not its main focus or interest.:evilgrin: :bounce:

[madrchsod]

6. i think the efitor from "stuff" is

running playboy. he`s trying to be hip but all he`s done is try and copy playboy`s "oui" mag from the 70`s. to bad he couldn`t even do that right.

[Syrinx]

11. Oui's heyday was really before my "time"

But I saved a few of my dad's issues that I purloined, and I'll tell you right now that the original Oui (when Hefner owned it) was a thousand times better than Playboy is now.

[absyntheNsugar]

7. Sorry, Chuck Palahniuk can do no wrong

He is rude, crude, nihilist and outright amoral and thats why I love him.

Want rude and crude? Read his book "Choke." Absolutely flawed characters doing amoral activity. The man is our Nabakov, our Hemmingway.

I can't wait to read it now that you've given it your reccomendation...

[Syrinx]

8. that guy is no Nabakov

Not even close. To suggest otherwise, is... well, puzzling.

[absyntheNsugar]

9. About as puzzling as those who thought Humbert Humbert was noble

Palahniuk is frothing with irony - without seeing it that way you never *get* it.

A lot of his work deals with the sexual, and the consequences (both perceived and real) of those acts. The man getting disemboweled while masturbating in a pool highlights that. Through an act of self gratification he is not only killed but is killed in a horrible, grisly manner. Pure irony at its finest.

[Syrinx]

13. btw, the protagonist wasn't killed

He had surgery, and now shits his food whole, or something like that.

[absyntheNsugar]

14. Awww man I GOTTA read this now!

eom

[liberalhistorian]

16. God, if that had been me,

I think I would rather have died!

[Khephra]

10. I don't know about the Nabakov comparison

But I'm with you on everything else.

[CanuckAmok]

19. I agree...

Chuck is the first Sage of the 21st Century.

The man is amazing, although I'll admit he's not consistent.

I loved: Fight Club, Choke, Diary, Survivor

Hated: Lullabye, and one other one I can't remember.

[Khephra]

20. I think Invisible Monsters is the only other one he's done

but I could be wrong.

[CanuckAmok]

21. I should add...

that Choke was obviously written while coasting on the success of Fight Club. They're basically the same story. I enjoyed Choke, but it wasn't exciting or innovative.

[Enraged_Ape]

18. Palahniuk is a no-talent hack who has spent his life trying to emulate...

his hero J.G. Ballard. Too bad he wasn't blessed with a shred of Ballard's class, subtlety, or originality. It must suck being the Paulie Shore of contemporary literature, but I'm sure Palahniuk has found a way to cope.

Playboy magazine is a perfect venue for his useless drivel, since that rag has sucked giant, hairy elephant balls for more than a decade. It's not explicit enough for the "nudie pic" market and not highbrow enough for the Esquire crowd. I, frankly, don't know why the fuck it even exists anymore.

[49jim]

22. I read Playboy and National Geographic for

the same reason....I get to see all the places I'm never going to get to visit!

[Syrinx]

23. I know I'm late on this...

But that's a funny line!