Choke (novel)
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Template:Infobox Book Choke (2001) is a novel by U.S. author Chuck Palahniuk.
Plot summary
Choke follows Victor and his friend Denny through a few months of their lives with frequent flashbacks to the days when Victor was a child. Victor grew up while going from one foster home to another. Victor's mother was found to be unfit to raise Victor. Several times throughout his childhood his mother would kidnap him from his foster parents. They would eventually be caught and he would again be remanded over to the government child welfare agency.
In the present day setting of the book, Victor is now a man in his mid-twenties who left medical school in order to find work to support his mother who is now in a nursing home. He cannot afford the care that his mother is receiving so he resorts to being a con man. His "con" is to go to restaurants and midway through his meal, he forces himself to choke on his food. When some good Samaritan comes over to perform the Heimlich maneuver, he spits the food out and thanks them for saving his life. He then tells them of his mother and his inability to pay her bills. The people feel so sorry for him that they give him money, send him cards and letters asking about his mother, and even continue to send him money to help him with the bills.
While growing up, Victor's mother taught him numerous conspiracy theories and obscure medical facts which both confused and frightened him. It is because of this and his constant moves from one home to another that has left Victor unable to form lasting and stable relationships with women. Victor therefore finds himself getting sexual gratification from women in sexual addiction support groups.
As Choke is episodic in character, individual chapters deal with different aspects of the narrators life and the lives of those around him.
ISBN numbers
- ISBN 0385501560 (hardcover, 2001)
- ISBN 1589459717 (e-book, 2001)
- ISBN 0385720920 (paperback, 2002)