Recently, I read “Choke,” and it, like many of Chuck Palahniuk’s works, has stayed with me long after reading it. My first introduction to the work of Chuck Palahniuk was when I saw the movie, “Fight Club.” No matter how many times I go back and watch it, the buildings coming down and erasing all financial-debt records still gets me excited. After seeing this movie, I had to get the book. The primary reason was just to see if it could possibly be any better than the screenplay. I found that while it did elaborate on a few areas, the screenplay did not stray very far from the story.

After “Fight Club,” I became an avid Palahniuk fan. I think that it was his gritty, dark, uncompromising and sarcastic view of our times and values that got me hooked.

“Choke” is by far my favorite of Palahniuk’s books.

It follows the life of Victor Mancini, at times flashing back to his childhood, when he was taken from his mother and placed in numerous foster homes.

In present day, Mancini is a medical school dropout in his mid-twenties who takes a job to pay for his mother’s medical bills now that she is in a nursing home.

In what I think sums up Palahniuk’s style and creativity, he places his characters in something completely out of the ordinary. Mancini works at Colonial Dunsboro with his friend Denny, where they are punished publicly by being placed in the stockade when they break character, which, for Denny, is quite regularly.

After realizing that his job won’t cover his mother’s expenses, Mancini comes up with a scam. He goes to restaurants and pretends to choke on his meal in hopes that someone will save him. After these said “heroes” save the struggling victim, he believes that they will feel responsible for his welfare for the rest of his life. The checks begin to flow in, and he is able to generate a nice income.

When Mancini isn’t choking on his meals, he frequents sex-addiction groups seeking some action and, at times, finds more than he is looking for.

Last, but not least, is the question of his parentage, which his mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s, claims to be divine.

This is one of the most original and humorous books that I have read in a while. It is a story that makes you take a look at the modern world and question the way you see it and yourself.

If you are easily offended, I would suggest that you stay away from his novel. “Fight Club” was probably Palahniuk’s most tamed work, and, of course, if you have read it or seen the movie, you will know that it enjoyed its share of excessive violence and perversion. But if you are among those that can laugh off a bit of indecency-no, let’s be honest, a great deal of indecency-as I am, then you should give this book a chance.

If you haven’t exposed yourself to Palahniuk’s work, get to it. I know I will continue to read his books as long as he continues to write them.