I, SpaceMonkey

Soffy, this one's for you. While living abroad, I saw a handwritten notice in Waterstones that announced a visit to the branch by none other than the original Space Monkey himself, Chuck "don't-call-me-Charles" Palahniuk. I bunked work for a bit and headed off to Waterstones on the day in question.

This is from my copy of Fight Club which came free with DVD Magazine that featured the movie on the cover. I contemplated stealing it from CNA - which would have lent my owning it more authenticity in a way - but bought it instead.

Standing in line to meet him, we were asked to write down any personalized message to save time while he was signing our books. He was on tour to promote the newly released Diary. I took along Survivor (his poorest in my opinion) and Lullaby and after he signed the three I showed him what I wanted written in Fight Club. He was amused.

He was soft-spoken and gentle. I think it was more discomfort than shyness. I don't think he enjoyed this type of public obligation. We chatted and I asked if people greet him like they do Ed Norton in the film. I don't think I was all that clear because he seemed very confused about it. I changed the subject and asked him if he'd ever been to South Africa. He told me that he visited a number of times. It turns out that his brother lives/lived (can't remember which) in Durban because of his work.