While on his 2003 tour to promote his novel
Diary, Palahniuk read to his audiences a short story titled
Guts, a tale of accidents involving
masturbation which appears in his book
Haunted. It was reported that over 35 people fainted while listening to the readings (although it is possible that many of these incidents were staged by Palahniuk's fans for humorous effect).
[7] Playboy magazine would later publish the story in their March 2004 issue; Palahniuk offered to let them publish another story along with it, but the publishers found the second work too disturbing. On his tour to promote
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories in the summer of 2004, he read the story to audiences again, bringing the total amount of fainters up to 53, and later up to 60, while on tour to promote the softcover edition of
Diary. The last fainting occurred in November, 2004, in
Durham, North Carolina. Palahniuk is apparently not bothered by these incidents, which have not stopped fans from reading "Guts" or his other works.
-D ) - Verlegen - Aergerlich - Ungluecklich
