Choke

Chuck Palahniuk

Dec 2002 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Chuck Palahniuk

About this audiobook

Victor Mancini, a medical-school dropout, is an antihero for our deranged times. Needing to pay elder care for his mother, Victor has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be “saved” by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor’s life, go on to send checks to support him. When he’s not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park. His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve.

Ratings and reviews

Choke (the audiobook) was much better than Fight Club's narrator. There's something about it for me whenever the voices and emotion doesn't match the characters. I highly recommend reading the book to yourself. Choke is fantastic and Sam Rockwell did the character some justice, in my opinion (for the film) but Rant was probably thee best. Again, read the books before the audiobook or the films. It's great for people who appreciate the beauty in chaos which seems to be a theme

About the author

Chuck Palahniuk's three novels are the bestselling Fight Club, which was made into a film by director David Fincher, Survivor, and Invisible Monsters. Portions of Choke have appeared in Playboy, and his nonfiction work has been published by Gear, Black Book, The Stranger, and the Los Angeles Times. He lives in Portland, Oregon.