Fugitives and Refugees

May 12, 2003
Beginning with the premise that "everyone looking to make a new life migrates west," Palahniuk (Fight Club; Lullaby) portrays Portland as a city that attracts a sort of modern-day pioneering—or at least innovative—spirit. And because it's the cheapest West Coast city in which to live, Portland also draws its share of down-and-outs, making it a bit rough around the edges. Written as much for first-time visitors as for those who already share Palahniuk's passion for the city, this book is a mixture of practical travel guide and personal vignettes featuring quirky acquaintances and moments of happenstance. In keeping with the Crown Journeys series' tone, this is at once a reflection of the writer and of a particular community. Would every other novelist have devoted one of the longer chapters to the city's thriving sex industry and the many places visitors can partake? Palahniuk's fondness for his not-so-sleepy hamlet comes through in each gritty detail (for example, the recommended shopping excursions list includes the best thrift stores, and suggestions for accommodations emphasize haunted hotels). Certain details will tempt as many readers as they'll deter: the semiannual Apocalypse Café, where guests pretend to celebrate "the first potluck after a nuclear holocaust"; the world's largest hairball, on display at Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary; the 1940s self-cleaning house; and historic underground tunnel tours. Among the filth and grime, abundant gardens grow, and Palahniuk hypes them all—from the country's largest forested municipal park to Mill End Park, "the size of a big dinner plate... surrounded by six lanes of heavy traffic." Map.

July 1, 2003
In the "Crown Journeys" series, which features established authors writing about a specific place, the author's style and attitude are often easily recognizable. Here, novelist Palahniuk relates his experiences and thoughts on living in the Rose City, and if you are familiar with his novels (e.g., Choke), you will know what to expect-a description of the dark underside of Portland, not something that is promoted by the local chamber of commerce. Palahniuk tells us where to find ghosts, strange museums, used goods, and sex for sale; describes unique restaurants (with some recipes) and other exotic tourist attractions; and throughout intersperses vignettes called postcards to keep with the travel theme. The book is a quick and entertaining read but will not appeal to everyone. Recommended only for public and academic libraries in Oregon and those where Palahniuk's novels have been popular. [Previous titles in the series include Michael Cunningham's Land's End: A Walk in Provincetown and Christopher Buckley's Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital.-Ed.]-John McCormick, New Hampshire State Lib., Concord

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2003
It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Palahniuk's edgy fiction (" Lull"aby [BKL Ag 02]) that his entry in Crown's Journeys series is a travel book like no other. Portland, Oregon, is often extolled for its tranquil beauty, what with roses blooming and Mt. Hood hovering. It's as if Palahniuk has refocused every tourist's camera, revealing behind the cliched vistas a city of wild eccentricity and rampaging individualism. Who knew that along with the cherished Rose Festival, Portland also offers the I-Tit-a-Rod Race, organized by the Cacophony Society, in which competitors visit as many nude dance clubs as possible in a 12-hour period? Or the annual Santa Rampage featuring 450 anarchist types clad in full Santa garb enjoying various forms of revelry, including a sing-a-long designed to "manifest the spirit" of Tonya Harding. Along with his unbuttoned guide to unofficial Portland, Palahniuk offers what he calls postcards from the past, snapshots of his own eccentric life over the years (yes, that was Chuck in the Santa suit). Fans of Palahniuk's fiction will revel in every outrageous anecdote.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)