Texas- The last time Chuck Palahniuk was in Texas, reading at a Borders in Dallas, the event was, as he describes it, “lame.”

This was because he was ordered not to read his controversial short story “Guts” – a graphic tale about masturbatory mishaps. A few years earlier, in Austin, he set the Borders record for written complaints at 37.

When the enigmatic “Fight Club” author tells the story, he isn’t apologetic. Throughout the course of his readings of “Guts,” 71 people passed out from disgust, fear or something else. Now, the master of literary mayhem is on tour in support of his newest book, “Snuff,” a disturbing, comedic novel about porn star Cassie Wright and her attempt to set a world record for most men “entertained” in one filmed session.

The Daily Texan spoke with Palahniuk about “Snuff,” the soon-to-be-released movie adaptation of his 2002 novel “Choke” and the novel “Pygmy,” scheduled to be released next year.

Daily Texan: What sparked the initial idea for “Snuff” and got you to write it?

Chuck Palahniuk: Years ago, in a writer’s workshop a friend of mine had mentioned Annabel Chung and a documentary about the making of her porn movie. A couple of years after that I rented the documentary and watched it. A couple of years after that, I wrote a play that was staged in the green room that Snuff takes place in. I was looking for a setting that would hold these three people long enough for them to gradually reveal themselves. After that it turned into a book, because there’s really no paycheck at the end of a play.

DT: Your books are known for being very well-researched. How did you research “Snuff”? Did it just involve watching a bunch of porn?

CP: That’s actually the one thing I didn’t do. Everybody assumes I watched a bunch of porn, but you don’t really have to do that. You watch one porn movie and you’ve seen 99% of porn. It’s basically finding out what body of knowledge each character has. For example, the character Branch Bacardi, his field of expertise is tanning. He could look at you and instantly know your entire tanning history. I had to figure out what each person knew best, so that I could know how each character would describe the world. We all see projections of ourselves. When we describe the world we’re basically describing ourselves, not what’s around us.

DT: The promotion for the book has been a great example of viral marketing, with a mock interview between you and Cassie Wright, and even trailers for some of her more popular films. How did the whole advertising campaign come about?

CP: I’m kind of stunned myself. I guess I’ve been bumped up the publicity ladder. Originally they came to me and wanted to do a fifteen-minute interview with the writer at his desk, and it just sounded so dry and awful, so I counter-proposed the fake, more entertaining interview with Cassie. It turned out so well that they broke it into 3 pieces. They came up with the ideas of the trailers, and at the same time I was ordering thousands of blow-up sex dolls to give out at the events. And then also 20th Century Fox is gearing up to publicize “Choke,” so they have all these Chinese factory anal beads. It was all of these things coming together.

DT: Some of the movies you came up with that Cassie starred in include things like “The Wizard of Ass” and “The Twilight Bone.” How did you come up with these parody titles?

CP: With every book, I like to come up with a parlor game that I can tell to everybody I meet, so that I can have a course for the book to develop on. With “Snuff,” it was those movie titles and also what things have Hollywood stars done to look better that have caused them pain. I would plant these seeds with all the people I interact with, and then at all the times of the night I would get these calls from people with these ideas and little facts. It gives us a structure to be together. It’s one of my favorite parts about writing, pulling everyone in and giving them a role to play. Plus, it beats the fuck out of doing it yourself.

DT: What’s your plan for the activities at the readings during the “Snuff” tour?

CP: Early on, there are going to be different stages of competition, where people will be asked to blow up these sex dolls. The people who win the rounds of the contests will win books that I really like, not my books but sort of books that I’m supporting because they’re so good. I’m also going to read a short story that is exclusive to tours. It’s not published, and I don’t really have any plans to publish it. Each venue has arranged for someone to do an onstage interview, with questions from the audience and a surprise at the end.

DT: Aside from writing the book it’s based on, what was your involvement in the movie version of “Choke”?

CP: The genesis was so much longer compared to the “Fight Club” movie. I talked to [director] Clark Gregg about things I wish I could have done in the book if I had one more draft. Beyond that, I just went as a tourist and sort of enjoyed it.

DT: How would you say it compares to the movie version of “Fight Club”?

CP: It doesn’t have the intense darkness that “Fight Club” did, that total David Fincher look, but it really hangs together. Clark Gregg does a great job directing and Sam Rockwell gives an inspired performance. What Brad Pitt was to Tyler Durden, Sam Rockwell brings to “Choke.” He’s sort of the person you don’t think about because they fit so perfectly. The ending is different from the book so it’s similar to “Fight Club” in that vein. It’s going to be divisive, some people will love it and others will look for the book ending.

DT: You wrote in a Maxim article that the “Choke” set was haunted.

CP: I didn’t have any personal experiences. But I walk around constantly talking to people, getting their stories, and there were some credible, sensible people who had some horrific experiences. There were stage managers telling me about being all alone and then walking through doors and ending up locked in rooms. There were people seeing nursing staff walking around.

DT: Is that maybe the inspiration for a novel or story?

CP: Maybe as a sort of true essay, because the reality is so over the top and bizarre. This idea of kind of being in this abandoned city, and it’s all dark and empty, and there are fireflies in the grass, and it stinks to high heaven, and you’re surrounded by movie stars. If you put all of these facts together, you can’t turn it into fiction because it’s too incredible. You can only present it as nonfiction. Oh, and there are catering people walking by with trays of hors d oeuvres and designer food. Every aspect is just so contradictory.

DT: With “Choke” finally getting ready for release, what’s the status of your other books that have been optioned for movies?

CP: Well, “Lullaby” is gaining steam and will be shooting before Christmas hopefully. “Survivor” is still wrapped up by the folks who did “Constantine.” “Diary,” the filmmakers still have the option. “Invisible Monsters” is still being developed. As far as I know, I think that’s it.

DT: You have another book, “Pygmy,” scheduled to come out next year, that follows a foreign exchange student who turns out to be a terrorist. Tell me a little bit about that.

CP: I always wanted to do an English-as-a-second-language book. There’s a long history of humor from people who speak English very poorly. The most recent examples would be Borat and the David Sedaris collection “Me Talk Pretty Someday.” People who don’t speak the language well, they can state things in a much more brutal way. So for “Pygmy,” I had this character who had a vast vocabulary, but not a great sense of how to use those words, and it was just a lot of fun to write. I would just sit there with a thesaurus and find these words I would never use myself. The 20th century was marked by these utopian ways of fixing people that led to tragedy. Pygmy is coming from a culture that still believed in these ways though. He could espouse the miracle of totalitarian communism. We can be shocked because we know otherwise. It’s presented in a single perspective, in the form of dispatches he has to report back with. They alternate between the present day plotline with occasional flashbacks.

DT: You haven’t broached the subject of terrorism since 9/11. Was that intentional?

CP: The core of “Fight Club” was acts of social rebellion. Also, “Survivor” had a small context of terrorism. So if I went there one more time, it would just be me going there one more time, you know? I didn’t want to beat that drum until I could do it in a different, unique way.

DT: Let’s do some word association. I’ll give you a word or person, and say the first thing that comes to mind. Cassie Wright.
CP: Stephen King.

DT: Branch Bacardi.
CP: Rum.

DT: Pornography.
CP: Internet.

DT: Gas prices.
CP: 1970s.

DT: President Bush.
CP: [laughs] Monkey came to mind. I don’t mean that in a bad way though, a cute way. So let’s say cute monkey.

DT: Hillary Clinton.
CP: Turkey gobble. The skin on her throat, what is that called? Ah, I suppose that’s not very nice, and neither is cat’s ass. Let’s say lipstick.