Go, Chuck!

[yendi]

So, that EW article on Chuck Palahniuk that outed him (based solely on off-the-record stuff he shared with the reporter), surprising both him and his partner? Chuck's got a classy response, in audioblog form, over at http://www.audblog.com/media/4787/29268.mp3.

Now, I'm off, really.

Comments

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

For those of us not about to click on an audible link while at work, what does he say?

[vill.livejournal.com]

Am I totally misinterpreting, or is he including information about the writer's suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalization, and family history of mental illness in a "turnabout is fair play" tactic?

That's not class.

[bobthegoat.livejournal.com]

It's not class, but it was done in a classy fashion. That is to say, stylish and clever.

Points awarded either way.

Karma has had it's way with her.

[vill.livejournal.com]

To be classy would be to show elegance and poise. To make public things intended to be kept private (as, based on the context, he did) is coarse, not classy.

Had he risen above her "outing" without resorting to revealing private details about her in a tit-for-tat fashion, that would have been classy.

[mermaidnchains.livejournal.com]

You can hear pain and a sort of shock in his voice. How very sad to have been both blackmailed and then outed. What a strong man to stand up to this and be so frank about it.

Thanks for sharing!

Lynn

[aurelio1979.livejournal.com]

wow. good for him.

i respect him even more now.
and that karen chick ought to get her ass canned.

-a

[amokk]

Totally agreed. Coming out against it and saying that it was stuff he'd asked to keep private would be fine, but saying that lowering himself to her level and doing the exact same thing is "class" is rediculous. Why is what she did "bad" but him doing the exact same thing "classy" ?


It takes class to rise above, not to sink down to the attackers level.

[mightywombat.livejournal.com]

Transcription of Chuck's audblog posted here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/mightywombat/214112.html#cutid1).

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

I am happy for him being able to take it in stride, as living in the closet is a nightmare. And to be blackmailed, not once but repeatedly, that's just shocking in this day and age. Still, I agree with others that sharing that writer's personal information (assuming it was a real confidence and not just a mean joke) was inappopriate. Not classy. However, if he was making it up, that would be worse for him, as it would be slander. Either way, I wish he'd risen above. But then, not what you would expect from the writer of the Fight Club, i guess.

All that said, I went to his website for the first time after hearing his audio blog and I had to say "Who *wouldnt* know he was gay just from looking at him. I mean, c'mon!?!" Anyways, it sounds like this has brought an upswell of support and love and will end up being an incredibly good move, both personally and professionally. People love him.

[yendi]

Actually, I took it (from his tone), that he was throwing out examples of how egregious her violations were, not actual conversation pieces (which would seem like odd ones to come up in a standard interview). But honestly, if by some chance they'd each shared these personal secrets of theirs, well, the worst I see is that she violated an oral contract. And when a contract is violated, it's null and void. It's hard to feel any pity for her.

[yendi]

I think a big part of his anger/hurt was that it wasn't just him who was exposed. It was his partner. So on top of what I already said to vill above, I can also see how, upon seeing his partner hurt, he'd have dropped all of the gloves.

And yeah, I agree about the obviousness, but given his status as the "it" male writer, I see why some folks might not have realized it (or cared, really).

[vill.livejournal.com]

That could be. I haven't read the EW article (it was unavailable online to non-subscribers and non-AOL members) but personal psychology didn't seem so unreasonable to me based on the subjects of his books.

I don't feel pity for her, really, even if they were "secrets" she shared. I was arguing semantics more than anything else.

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

I *love* Spalding Gray, just as an aside.

Yeah, I understand his hurt and anger. I just wouldnt call it classy what he did. I totally get it though. And if anything, I think this is going to *build* his career. His partner, well, I wonder why he was so afraid. How sad that they were both so afraid, in this day and age.


Thanks for bringing this up, in any case. Sure did spark a lot of conversation. And hopefully, people who are not as gay positive will become that way through his courage and coolness.

Cheers!

[yendi]

The username comes from a Family Guy episode, actually. It's one of my all time favorite lines.

I'm not sure if his partner was afraid, or just hurt, actually. But yeah, I don't see this really hurting his career.