Fight Club is as relevant today as it was when it came out nearly 20 years ago. Absolutely brilliant book/film.

"After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down... You could deal with anything."

Every man lives 2 lives! the second one starts when he realizes he's only got one life to live..

An impossibly well written story. Fight club is beyond genius and any millennial man can relate.

fight club stopped my obsession with branded clothes,shoes etc

"The things you own end up owning you"

So in his next book, he writes a character who is a martial artist radio host... who smokes DMT.

I read Fight Club after I divorced my first wife. I was feeling depressed and alone like I had nothing to live for and then I read the line: its not until you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Those words resonated with me and snapped me out of my depression. I took audit of the life that I lost and realized THAT was the life not worth living. THAT LIFE was the one I should've felt despair for. My new life was filled with possibilities, freedom and chances to get it right. I spent the next 5 years being extremely free and happy. Then I got married and fucked it all up again. **Update on 9/28/2021 I came home from work and was blindsided with divorce papers. She took my kids and dog and it really screwed me up. This time was different because my kids are very important to me. I had to fight like hell and spend a small fortune to get my sons back. Time to re-read Fight Club and re-build myself into the man I am supposed to be. I will raise my sons to embrace their primal masculinity and go against the norms of a society that encourages femininity and calls those who self castrate brave. She left me because of my disobedience and refusal to shut up and provide. Because I have my sons in martial arts and encourage them to embrace their natural instincts. I have my sons 50% of the time but now I don’t have her interjection.

“The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide...”

I went to my first fight club meeting yesterday. I was late so I missed the first few rules but wow I love fight club I can't wait to go back

Fight club and matrix were way ahead of their time...

Chuck: "sometimes I go to the party and listen to hear somebody tell that personal anecdote that does evoke all those other anecdotes because a great anecdote doesn't leave people speechless, it leaves them competing to tell a better version of the same thing." Joe: "That's really interesting. There's a parallel there with comedy, for sure." lol you know it's true because the second he says it, Joe tries to one-up him with his own anecdote

I saw fight club as “fear vs comfort”. If you get too comfortable working a job u hate to buy stuff you dont need with the money you dont have you will end up feeling empty and hollow as if life will never be complete, but throughout the movie Tyler envies every person that feels extreme pain or fear because fighting our fears liberates our lives making us feel alive which this generation in america avoids and decide to never feel any pain and always avoid it at any cost, but pain and fear is what makes us stronger, manlier and more alive and we lack that. “Try doing something you are afraid of doing and you will find yourself free”.

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise

It's not until you've lost everything, that you're free to do anything.

"We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is the answer we really need." This line resonated with me the most. It propelled me that I do not need the acceptance or approval of a woman to have self worth as a man.

You are not your comment post.

It really astonishes me how many people miss the mark about Fight Club. It is a cautionary tale, not a celebration of nihilism.

“We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” This quotation changed my life at a very pivotal moment when I was recovering from drug addiction and emptiness.

Did anyone else catch that at the end? Chuck mentions when something is interesting, people don't become speechless, they will compete and try to tell a better story using the same idea. As he finishes this thought, Joe responds, "Interesting... there are parallels in comedy..." (as if about to tell a competing story)

I grew up watching fight club in my teen years. It taught me alot. Not to let material possessions control you (the things you own, end up owning you). Not to be a slave to society (an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables - slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. )

Damn, as a 21 year old this is helping me realize that the issues I’m going through are similar to every other guy that’s entering adulthood

Damn he just put into words what every young man nowadays feels. It all makes sense!

Fight club really scratches that itch as a man in the US in 2018. This guy is brilliant

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile. Our culture has made us all the same. No one is truly white or black or rich, anymore. We all want the same. Individually, we are nothing." - Tyler Durden, Fight Club.

I'm 35 years old and have been out of the Marine Corps for years at this point; yet one moment of pride will never leave my heart. We had a Senior Drill Instructor who trained us as young recruits, he definitely fit the spot of that father role for all 70 of us marine recruits. Sadly he was called to the front lines as he was a Recon Marine and we got a new SDI who trained us very well. At the end of our time in boot camp, we came into the Final Drill event, where we placed 2nd place in the last event. We killed it, we got first place and we felt amazing, we knew right when we finished we did amazing. As we march back to the barracks, we are informed that a guest is waiting for us. We see in the barracks waiting for us, a battle injured SDI who has returned to San Diego due to getting shot. He witnessed our 1st place final drill and got to witness what we were trained to become.. After all the struggle and training, months and months of mastering a craft.. He let us know with a smile on his face, tears in his eyes, and the loudest most proudest Marine you'd ever imagine, of how proud he was of all of us and the Marines we now are. I never felt prouder in my life. Semper Fi Marines

Fight Club, Dead Poet’s Society AND Good Will Hunting.

Middle children of history, no Great War or depression. Our depression is our lives.

His name.........is robert paulson

I remember walking out of the theatre after seeing it for the first time. I was 16, and into martial arts and action/kung fu movies. When in to see it with a like minded friend just because it was called "Fight Club", we didn't have any idea what we were getting ourselves into. Oh boy, was our mind blown, I can clearly remember my friends face, eyes wide open, with the biggest "wtf did I just watch" expression, my face was pretty much the same. This movie showed me venues of lives i didn't now existed, let alone avoid. The first movies that showed me what "subverting expectations" really means, it made me think for myself and planted some of the seeds for some of mine first truly original ideas. What a movie! And also I was introduced to Edward fucking Norton!

This interview is incomplete. Joe Rogan should have told Chuck "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."

Joe pointing out the parallel in comedy shows the exact process he was referring too

That secondary father bit explains why so many of my friends got super religious after we hit our twenties

"I am Jack's colon, I get cancer, I kill Jack." Lol

My secondary father died earlier this year. Alone in his home. Heart failure. But he loved me and i will always have that. And a massive family of other kids he took off the street and schooled in cooking cleaning and hygine. He taught me right from wrong in the darkest of circumstance. RIP Liam. Xx

Amazing to see these two chatting about Fight Club. In Tyler we trust.

Chuck is my favorite author. I read fight club and couldn't get enough of his writing style. Amazingly dark and humorous. Absolutely brilliant writer. I'd recommend anything he's written.

every time he talks it sounds like he's clicking a pen

I just watched Fight Club for the first time a couple of days ago, and I was totally blown away. I am a 21yr old guy, single, new to Uni, new in a big town etc the whole thing you get it. Anyway, I felt like that Movie spoke to me on a personal level. I guess a lot of guys felt like that. Hell, I am probably just as much part of the target demographic as a lot of other guys. But the resounance it had on me, with my personal experience... It didnt change me completly or something like that, but rather influenced and validated my believes and the man I started to become.

"I wanted to destroy something beautiful"

They’re breaking the rules...

No Fear. No Distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide.

In my 42 years on this planet, Fight Club is still my all time favorite movie.

All I know is that they breaking the first rule...and the second

I'm a single-serving friend.

In Sept of 2015 I lost What I thought was the love of my life. I heard a voice say "once you lose everything, you're free to do anything". Chucks writing saved me.

I remember I saw it in the theater. My friends had to drag me to go see it bc I thought it was going to just be another dumb action movie. I was blown away once I saw it!!! It's still one of my favorite movies of all time!

I was in high school in 99, fight club changed the game and my life. Everyman that has blood coursing through his veins loves it.

Never thought I'd see the day Chuck makes a guest appearance on the Joe Rogan show...what a world. :,)

"There are so few social models or stories for men" Yeah, that's why we read graphic novels and play video games. Because that's where they are covered in underlying tones.

Fight Club is the movie that ranks amongst the best, OF ALL TIME. "Go home people"... And then they walk down the basement of Louie's Tavern..."Welcome to Fight Club..." That's it!

His newest book, “Adjustment Day” is a novel that will haunt you. It’s written under the name “Talbott Reynolds” Not Chuck Palahniuk. Be seen carrying the book it will save your life.

“I say lets never be complete, I say lets stop being perfect.... Lets evolve. Let the chips fall where they may....” -Tyler Durden The best quote from Fight Club...pure genius

Though this movie didn't impact me at first as I was still a teenager when I first saw it, over the years it has Really hit home. This is just one of those stories we really need to keep around and really consider what is being told within it. We live in a time and place where the "morals" of this story can really help us as individuals and as a society. Also I find it odd that over the years the film/book seems to have been forgotten, at least within my group of people.

I just watched this movie last night and it is life changing. I resonated with the second father analogy. Apprenticeship.

Joe "I do comedy" Rogan

Guest: *says literally anything* Joe: "Well, the amount of raw data we are taking in on a daily basis...."

I never had a father or a father figure. I filled that void by becoming a father myself. I am the father I always wished I had for myself.

Since it's release I've been searching for a Tyler Durden type of bath robe at the thrift stores.

Every year or two somebody comes with a new angle to analyse Fight Club, another layer to peel off, I love those videos, it's so rich with meaning.

Fight club changed America forever.

It was on the tip of everyone's tongue. Tyler and I just gave it a name.

Fight club for me and my friends made a big impact. My father showed the movie to me when I was maybe 12 and I re watched it as a late teen early 20’s and when I got my first apartment I would always have “fight club” playing on my tv when my boys would come over. I boxed growing up but most of my friends had never been in a fight in their lives. So that summer 2017 I taught them all how to fight in my backyard at my first apartment. We’d get drunk and fight all day and night and watch that movie. It was a great summer and that’s when we became men. 😂

Joe is so lucky to be able to talk and interview this person...he’s an amazing writer

My secondary father was my first sergeant major. At the time he held the record for the highest mountain rescue off Mount Everest. Imagine what that does to a impressionable young man confidence when your surrounded daily by great men. 🙌🏼

Saw Fight Club, In the Cinerama Dome Hollywood. Opening night, on my 29th birthday. I returned to see it four more times. It was a seminal moment for men my age. Great book too (almost identical to the film).

"Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic, its all going down." My favorite quote of the film.

I am Jack’s palpable enthusiasm.

Met Chuck Palahniuk on tour for Invisible Monsters in 2007. I went on to pursue a journalism degree partly because of the inspiration I felt from that talk. He’s so insightful

The "Secondary Father" is a very strong and qualified concept. I can attest to this, as someone who grew up with a very smart, loving, religious, amazingly understanding father, but also respecting a father figure that encompassed similarly respectable features, but was stronger in features that my birth father did not have- abrasive, secular, dry, and unforgiving. I did not lose respect for my father, but it gave me a new and very important perspective on many things that I did not get with my birth father. I am forever grateful to both my father and the secondaries that I had that made me who I am today.

Joe That's a huge part of martial arts Rogan

Fight Club is what got me into reading almost 20 years ago. "They make books like THIS?!" Been reading non-stop since.

2:32 I would argue that Lord Of The Flies is also up there.

*to call it “impactful” would be a MAJOR understatement*

Men of any age can relate to this movie. As you watch it as you get older you understanding and interpretation evolve. A masterpiece

Haven't watched Fight Club in about a year, need to revisit again soon methinks.

It’s just as relevant and hard hitting in 2022 as it was in 1999. An unforgettable story.

Joe Rogan is the party-goer in Chuck’s scenario. Chuck brings his story, Joe relates his personal martial arts background to it. Immediately after Chuck relays this antidote, Joe immediately draws another parallel to his background as a comedian. Anyone else notice this?

A few things I love about Fight Club. The anti-consumerist and anti-corporation themes. The cathartic release of violence and how masculinity is tied to it. (Which is the reason why I love MMA) How society uses consumerism to suppress our masculine and primal instincts.

I'm a woman who has always loved me despite not having a father in my life and I love that Chuck mentions Dead Poets Society, Karate Kid and Officer in this discussion. Along w FC I always adored those stories and saw all many, many times. I was entranced with the depiction of the male experience in all of them. This makes me love Chuck even more.

Fight club isn’t just for men that movie deeply impacted me at a spiritual level

Fightclub is one of those few cases where you go in and watch and being different afterwards... it really added to your view on life. I really envy the myself not yet have seen it just to experience it once more!

What I love so much about this is that Chuck ever so gently suggests to Joe that it isn't necessarily about violence or fighting. Violence in Fight Club is merely a means to an end - it's about being fed up with the departure from what has been a functional upbringing for males for thousands of years, and turning that functional upbringing into a sad, depressing daily grind of meaningless tasks designed to keep up appearances and socially march to some imagined drum. Men have lost so much of our identities in the last hundred years, such that we're considered predators and crimes waiting to happen simply by being male. We've been instructed by society to be what other people want us to be, and that's what resonates with people so goddamn much about Fight Club: we don't want to be perfectly groomed, door-holding, suit-wearing, polite-as-you-like creatures. Violence is merely a way to remind ourselves that we're primitive beings at heart, not some pseudo-civilised pet that occasionally gets scolded by a feminine master for acting out of line.

100% my favorite movie of all time! Fight club was a masterpiece!

Marla, the tourist..her lie reflected my lie

U rocked this interview. Great guest and this book/movie changed my life years ago. Thank you both for doing this podcast.

It was funny watching this conversation live because Chuck wasn't totally buying Rogan's "PC college's are dangerous" stuff and Rogan didn't even seem to notice lol Also, I really love Fight Club [the book and film]....I'm not a weirdo who thinks men need a special place to express their violence - they have plenty of those [more a "maybe we should work to make society better so this kind of bottled up rage isn't so apparently prevalent" kind of guy.] I see Fight Club as a cautionary tale much like A Clockwork Orange

The first rule of Fight Club: Leave an unoriginal comment

this man single handedly saves the men of our generation. Props to him for creating some of the toughest men i've seen

Fight Club hit us in college & changed the game. we’d settle disputes “that way” & ended beef between rivals. most, if not all participants ended up becoming friends afterward. we needed it.

I remember watching the film in an empty theater with my father, and asking myself "Why are we one of a handful of people in here?" It's a shame that the film flopped. A genuine cult classic that veered me towards the work of Palahniuk. One of the greatest critics of the ego of modern man. A homosexual, no less.

Theres some truth to fight club... I was forced into MMA and hated it. Hurting people and getting hit constantly disgusted me however I learned a lot from it. Like a damn gladiator from ancient times! If you ask me more people need to get there ass kicked than this world would truly be a better place.

Most people tend to forget or don't even realize that Durden isn't a revolutionary or a hero. He's a demagogue that wants absolute power.

Fight Club is an amazing film and the philosophy behind it really resonates with me. It made me think so much about life, one of my favorite movies.

"Fight Club" is great self help book. When I lost the love of my life three years ago. I cried of the lost then i heard a voice said "It's only after you've lost everything, that you're free to do anything." I was Joe's broken heart. I know it sounds like am crazy, but I head over heel in love with her. I suck it up and moved on more fish in the sea or how ever that goes as a saying. Now I live care free with no worry's.

The first rule of fight club is: you do not talk about fight club.

I saw Fight Club being about 17, it changed my whole view of what a movie can be, really really hit some nerve that I didn't even understand myself, I watched it maybe 15 times. At the end the story is anti-anarchist and anti-violent, a cautionary tale of the Jungian "shadow" or Freudian "id" taking control of everything and creating just death and destruction. Or some shit.

I believe it's important to note : This movie was released before 9/11, and because of that reason, there will never be another film quite like it.

4:00 love this part. I realized that when I was younger that I needed a second father figure to be tough and guide me