Choke is one of Chuck Palahniuk's better efforts. It maintains a certain level of humor constantly along the same lines as Fight Club while also connecting with the reader through a sympathetic, although not always likable, main character. It even has a certain poignancy because the story of his efforts to take care of his ailing mother is all too real. But this is no ordinary story, no, Victor's mother is a con artist who can't recognize her own son any more and Victor himself pays for his mother's care with donations he wangles out of people by pretending to choke in front of them. It sounds wacked out and it is. Furthermore, Victor is a med school drop-out sex addict who works at a Colonial theme park. Yeah, it's that kind of book.
Take my word for it though, this book is second only to Fight Club among Chuck Palahniuk's works.
With this source material, you'd think a movie would be too hard to make. Amazingly, it turned out pretty well. Clark Gregg directed the movie starring Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald, and Brad William Henke. The cast was great all around, but that's to be expected from at least 3 of those 4 actors. A lot of the story was preserved in the film, but more importantly, the film remained true to the book's spirit. There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a couple of truly touching scenes where Sam Rockwell once again displays his acting flexibility. As far as I'm concerned he played Victor to perfection. Henke as his friend Denny was also good, although he wasn't a major part of the plot at any time. His chronic masturbation was good for a visual gag a few times though (no pun intended). Like all Chuck Palahniuk novels, there are a few times when you have to think "I can't believe anybody would ever actually do that", but of course, all of Palahniuk's stories are gleaned from real people who really did them so it's even more disturbing.
I'm sure I could say more, but to keep it short, I recommend that you read this book and go see the film when it comes out (as of now the release is set for September). Go!
