{"id":45449,"date":"2026-01-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=45449"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:15:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:15:05","slug":"fight-club-2-tesla-the-life-and-times-of-an-electric-messiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/fight-club-2-tesla-the-life-and-times-of-an-electric-messiah\/","title":{"rendered":"Fight Club 2 \/ Tesla: The Life and Times of an Electric Messiah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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FIGHT CLUB 2 \u2013 IF YOU\u2019RE LOOKING FOR A PUNCH TO THE CEREBRAL CORTEX, DEFINITELY PICK THIS UP<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Fight Club 2<\/em>
by Chuck Palahniuk (author), Cameron Stewart (illustrator) and David Mack (illustrator)
Dark Horse Comics
2016, 256 pages, 6.9 x 10.5 x 0.9 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about Fight Club<\/em>. This movie rocked me, and introduced me to the incredible and controversial work of Chuck Palahniuk. Now the concept of a sequel does seem a little out of sorts to the counter culture message of the original, but honestly, who hasn\u2019t been wondering how things turned out for Marla and the Narrator after he stuck a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger? Did they find their happily ever after? No, of course they didn\u2019t, thus the sequel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Narrator finally gets a name, Sebastian\u2026it\u2019s not a great name, but it fits given the current state of his life. Marla\u2019s bored, Sebastian is in a drug-induced fog, Tyler Durden is raging behind the scenes trying to get back in control, and project mayhem is causing more chaos than ever. Then things get weird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve only seen the movie you probably won\u2019t dig this. Actually Palahniuk\u2019s anticipation of the fanbase\u2019s dislike for the comic becomes an actual plot point. Things get meta to say the least. The comic builds off of not just the novel, but Palahniuk\u2019s work and reputation since the film came out. It\u2019s very fitting of Palahniuk, and I think fans of his will really enjoy it, but be clear this is not a blockbuster directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt or Ed Norton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I found really unique was that this story could only be told in comic form. Tyler\u2019s antics, and his fight to control the narrative couldn\u2019t be contained by text in a novel. And things get far too self-referential for any film goer \u2013 I found myself having to go back a page or two on several occasions to make sure I didn\u2019t miss anything. Images are strategically placed over dialogue, narration bubbles obstruct characters. The design of the comic itself adds to the feeling that this is a war over the story itself. Is Sebastian in control? Is Tyler? Is Palahniuk? I found myself engaged and thinking about it long after I finished reading. It\u2019s heady and not for a casual comic reader, but if you\u2019re looking for a punch to the cerebral cortex, definitely pick this up. I want you to read this as hard as you can. \u2013 JP LeRoux<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TESLA: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN ELECTRIC MESSIAH<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Tesla: The Life and Times of an Electric Messiah<\/em>
by Nigel Cawthorne
Chartwell Books
2014, 192 pages, 7.2 x 10.5 x 0.8 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mad scientist. Inventor. Philosopher. Visionary. Eccentric. A man who was terrible at business, but great with pigeons. A mythic figure, Nicola Tesla was all these things and more. Examining his life and career, Tesla: The Life And Times Of An Electric Messiah<\/em> is a lengthy, oversized book filled with illustrations, photos, diagrams of his many inventions, and brief, informative vignettes about his friends, colleagues, business associates, and rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla\u2019s own words are pulled from writings and correspondence, and help flesh out a turn-of-the-century futurist, although they can be somewhat dry and academic. His eccentricities liven things up considerably. For instance, did you know he once fell into a vat of boiling milk, and lived on a diet of bread, warm milk, and something mysteriously known as \u2018Factor Actus\u2019? Did you know he had a strange aversion to women\u2019s earrings, and would become feverish at the sight of a peach? Tidbits like these keep the book moving at a nice pace, as the man became more reclusive and odd toward the end of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His War Of The Currents with Thomas Edison is detailed, as well as his battle of radio with Guglielmo Marconi. His experiments with wireless transmission of energy, X-Rays, flying machines, remote control, and artificial intelligence are also described, as well as the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his papers concerning his invention of a death ray by the US government. Beautifully illustrated on parchment-tinted paper, Tesla: The Life And Times Of An Electric Messiah<\/em> is a handsome, encyclopedic book about a startlingly prescient early 20th-century pioneer. \u2013 S. Deathrage<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Books That Belong On Paper<\/strong> first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair.<\/em> Sign up here<\/a> to get the issues a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Issue No. 101<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[31],"tags":[2398],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45466,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45449\/revisions\/45466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}