Fugitives and Refugees : A Walk in Portland, Oregon

by Chuck Palahniuk

Release Date: 08 July, 2003

Edition: Hardcover

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Funny, Personal, Informative..A Unique View of The Rose City

I was born in Portland and spent my first 27 years there, but I guess I lived something of a sheltered life. Sure, I'd been to Powells Book's (many times), to Darcelle's (once) and had seen the 24-hour Church of Elvis, but in this book, Chuck Palahniuk introduced me to a lot of Portland I never knew. Oh, what I was missing!

In a coversation with writer Katherine Dunn at the beginning of the book, she shares with Palahniuk a theory I've heard others advance--that the city (and this region) attracts more than its share of offbeat folks because of its geographic position at the western end of the continent. People who are dissatisfied or don't feel like they fit in where they are have a tendency to keep moving. By the time they reach Oregon, they've run out of places to go. It makes sense to me, and seems as good an explanation as any for the whacky, wonderful subculture Chuck celebrates in this book. It's a unique blend of travel guide and personal memoir, and while it won't replace the traditional city handbooks, it's a great supplement for anybody wanting to explore the city's heart, soul, and sometimes seamy underside in a little more depth.

Damn good book for Palahniuk Fans

Well i guess the first is to say that this book is non-fiction. Its basically a bizarre travel guide to Chuck's hometown of Portland. The power of chuck is that he can take a place that i have never been to or have seen pictures of and make i feel like have lived there my whole life. Basically he explores all the aspects of Portland that most people wouldn't cover in a travel guide. These topics include: where to get a piece of bum in Portland, the strange museums, the sewers, and haunted places. An while most chapters have some really interesting stories, there are some damn boring ones in the collection. Things that you read and go "i really didn't need to know that," but luckily that only happened 2 or 3 times in the 176 page book. I think the real gems are the "postcards" that separate each chapter. These are autobiographical glimpses into Palahniuk's past and they give you a look at the man who would later write bestsellers like Fight Club, Choke, and Lullaby. Chuck made this book interesting and I'm happy to have read it. Any Palahniuk fans will enjoy this book for at the least the autobiographical postcards. For new Palahniuk fans i suggest this fictional work that i mentioned above and his novel Survivor.