Your own private book event

The letter below, written by Chuck Palahniuk in response to a piece of mail from fan Mike Kitchen, is just one of thousands the Fight Club scribe sent at the end of 2006 after opening the floodgates via his official website. Palahniuk has long been known to reply to as much mail as possible, but in October of 2006 decided to dedicate months to doing just that, following a call for letters on his site. Canadian artist Mike Kitchen wrote to the author and received the following personal reply, along with a package full of miscellanea which can be seen here.

Note: Mike had ended his letter by telling of the time he discovered a box of his late grandfather's writings, alongside related rejection letters from publishers. He then mentioned publishing them himself as a tribute. That letter can be read here.

Transcript follows. 

Source

Transcript

February 10, 2007
Donadio & Olson, Inc
121 W. 27th St. Suite 704
New York, N.Y. 10001

Mike Kitchen
CANADA

Dear Mike,

Well, tell your dead grandpa the old German (Goethe) saying: "The longer you look, the more stars you see..." I prefer that to going crazy. It's the same with meditation, how you can find the entire world in a single object or activity. Once you commit your life to a passion, you find that things open up. Still, it seems like a paradox. Most people never fully commit to their art, out of fear of losing options. But commitment brings more options than you'd ever lose.

This past summer, I recorded the collection of stories enclosed in this box. These are the best I've read on book tours since "Fight Club" in 1996 - the tour where no more than two people attended each of my book events, a very-humbling tour. Listen with care because the dreaded "Guts" story is here, but so is a bonus: a new, unpublished story, "Cold Calling." Even for a writer, words get... boring. Instead, I wanted to send you smells and sounds and flavors. If we never meet in person, please consider this box as your own private book event. Something nicer than a quick "hello" and handshake in Berkeley.

I wonder at what point your grandfather stopped writing or discussing his writing. What happened. How did it stop serving him? Please, make sure your art is always serving you, that way you'll never stop. And thanks for the "Spy Guy" panels!

I'll Shut Up Now,

(Signed)

Chuck Palahniuk

Honor Your Grandfather - But Express Yourself!!

SAY YES I NEED A JOB

In 1989, at the end of a disastrous telephone interview in which he alluded to playing pirated versions of their games, Tim Schafer was advised by David Fox to send in his resume and a covering letter relating to the role of Assistant Programmer/Designer at LucasArts (at the time still named Lucasfilm). Schafer, in an effort to win Fox over after such a bad first impression, decided to write his covering letter in the form of a text adventure game, a copy of which can be seen below. Seemingly on the strength of said letter, just weeks later Schafer received a job offer and subsequently went on to write for - and program - two of the greatest games ever released: The Secret of Monkey Island and its sequel.

Read more at Double Fine.

Transcript follows. 

Source

Transcript

Your quest for the ideal career begins, logically enough, at the Ideal Career Center. Upon entering, you see a helpful looking woman sitting behind a desk. She smiles and says, "May I help you?"

>SAY YES I NEED A JOB

"Ah," she replies, "and where would you like to work, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, or San Rafael?"

>SAY SAN RAFAEL

"Good choice," she says, "Here are some jobs you might be interested in," and gives you three brochures.

>EXAMINE BROCHURES

The titles of the three brochures are as follows: "HAL Computers: We've Got a Number For You," "Yoyodine Defense Technologies: Help Us Reach Our Destructive Potential," and "Lucasfilm, Ltd: Games, Games, Games!"

>OPEN LUCASFILM BROCHURE

The brochure says that Lucasfilm is looking for an imaginative, good-humored team player who has excellent communication skills, programming experience, and loves games. under that description, oddly enough, is a picture of you.

>SEND RESUME

You get the job! Congratulations! You start right away!

>GO TO WORK

You drive the short commute to the Lucasfilm building and find it full of friendly people who sho you the way to your desk.

>EXAMINE DESK

Your desk has on it a powerful computer, a telephone, some personal nicknacks, and some work to do.

>EXAMINE WORK

It is challenging and personally fulfilling to perform.

>DO WORK

As you become personally fulfilled, your score reaches 100, and this quest comes to an end. The adventure, however, is just beginning and so are your days at Lucasfilm.

THE END