Brad Pitt received mixed reviews, and many were critical of Pitt's performance. According to Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle", Pitt was unable to "make an audience believe that he knows all the mysteries of death and eternity." Roger Ebert stated "Pitt is a fine actor, but this performance is a miscalculation." In 1999, Pitt portrayed Tyler Durden in "Fight Club", a film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, directed by David Fincher. Pitt prepared for the part with lessons in boxing, taekwondo, and grappling. To look the part, Pitt consented to the removal of pieces of his
Chuck Palahniuk are mistakenly seen as nihilistic because they express ideas that others do not believe in. Laura Miller of "Salon" wrote a scathing review of "Diary", saying that Palahniuk's books "traffic in the half-baked nihilism of a stoned high school student who has just discovered Nietzsche and Nine Inch Nails" and that "everything even remotely clever in them has been done before and better by someone else." In response, Palahniuk (who previously never responded to a review) sent an angry e-mail to "Salon"'s "Letters" section. Palahniuk observed: "Until you can create something that captivates people, I'd invite you to just shut