ABSTRACT
Chuck Palahniuk’s book, Fight Club,1 and its film adaptation by director David Fincher,2 has generated a sizable and highly divided body of commentary on its significance as a critical examination of social life in the age of neoliberal capitalism. While some critics applaud Palahniuk for exposing the tragicomic dimensions of individual and group adaptations to the empty consumerism and market-driven ethos of our time, others have expressed disgust at what they regard as a veiled attempt to valorize hypermasculinity and fascism. The polarized character of these critical responses to the book and film suggest that this fictional work may offer insight into the decentring personal consequences of living with the complex and contradictory currents of late modern society.
