Choke

The game is a week old, so I won't waste a lot of time on it, but I couldn't resist the double entendre.



Although this was a huge play in the game for the Bears, the overhead replay was never shown in the stadium. I wonder if this view was on NBC while Andy Reid still had the opportunity to challenge.

And oh yeah, see Matt Schobel on the left, #89? That's his guy with his arms around Buck's neck, preventing him from leaning forward into the endzone. Great block, genius. Of course, if I was making the roster, Schobel wouldn't be on the team.


Now on to another Choke, one that was less expensive and more entertaining than four hours in a cramped seat having my sexuality repeatedly questioned by hostile Bears fans.

Palahniuk (pretty sure I'll never type that name again) has an amusing style that combines deep cynicism and dark satire. Choke is a quick, entertaining read carried along by the lightness of his prose and the sharpness of his observations. A couple hours on a plane is all you need to get through it.

But if you've seen Fight Club, and of course you have, then there's almost nothing new between the covers of Choke. The same message of rebellion against an emasculating, materialistic society rings throughout. The same lovable (sort of) losers who hang out on the fringes, and only find redemption by rejecting all social conventions, fill the pages. The main character even attends group therapy sessions and meets girls there. His mother is basically a reprint of the Brad Pitt character, with the same disdain for authority, propensity for mischief, and conspiracy theories.

The major difference, of course, is that instead of fighting, the main character is a sex addict who spends his time banging nurses, strippers, teachers, stoners, convicts, and complete strangers. But the similarities are so striking it might as well be called Fuck Club.

The plot twist at the end is fun, but even that has a familiar feel, as it again involves a delusional person living a dual life.

And ok, I'll admit it, I'm a little annoyed that this loser addict who lives in his mom's house and works as a colonial tour guide has sex with so many women. It just hasn't been my experience that chicks are hot for poor losers who offer neither emotional attachment or romance. But maybe it's just me.