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 the temporal end, after every few chapters. Exceptions to this narrative form, however, include the more linear "Choke" and "Diary". Often a major plot twist exists that is revealed near the end of the book, which relates in some way to this temporal end (what Palahniuk refers to as "the hidden gun"). His more linear works also include similar plot twists. Palahniuk says that his writing style has been influenced by authors such as the minimalist Tom Spanbauer (who taught Palahniuk in Portland from 1991 to 1996), Amy Hempel, Mark Richard, Denis Johnson, Thom Jones, Bret Easton Ellis and philosophers