Victor Mancini, a medical-school dropout, is an antihero for our deranged times. Needing to pay elder care for his mother, Victor has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be “saved” by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor’s life, go on to send checks to support him. When he’s not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park. His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve.

Previously published in hardcover: New York: Free Press, 2010.

Lopez, the author of "Confetti Girl," delivers a heartfelt novel about the disturbing "choking game" trend--and one girl's struggle for self-acceptance.

A standalone novel from Stuart Woods, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stone Barrington and Holly Barker series... Murder is not a spectator sport. Chuck Chandler has choked on more than one occasion—first as a pro tennis player at Wimbledon, then as a womanizing coach at posh tennis clubs around the country. Now at Key West's Old Racquet Club, Chuck gets involved with the wrong married woman—the enticing Clare Carras, married to an enigmatic older man—and soon he is in way over his head. Enter Tommy Sculley, a retired New York homicide detective who has just joined the Key West force, and his young green partner, Daryl Haynes, who turns out to be smarter than he looks. Up to their necks in an investigation of a bizarre apparent homicide, the two detectives barely keep afloat in murky waters. Events take them from the Florida Keys to Los Angeles and back, as a plot emerges that involves not only the dangerous Clare, but a furious West Coast mob boss determined to get back what is his at any cost.

The Choke is a mesmerising, harrowing and ultimately uplifting novel from the 2015 Miles Franklin winner. Winner of the 2018 Indie Book Award for Fiction! 'It is quite a feat to write characters with such nuance...in harnessing her storytelling facility to expose the flaws in the system with what is becoming trademark empathy, Laguna is an author proving the novel is a crucial document of the times.' - Louise Swinn, The Australian I never had words to ask anybody the questions, so I never had the answers. Abandoned by her mother and only occasionally visited by her secretive father, Justine is raised by her pop, a man tormented by visions of the Burma Railway. Justine finds sanctuary in Pop's chooks and The Choke, where the banks of the Murray River are so narrow it seems they might touch - a place of staggering natural beauty. But the river can't protect Justine from danger. Her father is a criminal, and the world he exposes her to can be lethal. Justine is overlooked and underestimated, a shy and often silent observer of her chaotic world. She learns that she has to make sense of it on her own. She has to find ways to survive so much neglect. She must hang on to friendship when it comes, she must hide when she has to, and ultimately she must fight back. The Choke is a brilliant, haunting novel about a child navigating an often dark and uncaring world of male power and violence, in which grown-ups can't be trusted and comfort can only be found in nature. This compassionate and claustrophobic vision of a child in danger and a society in trouble celebrates above all the indomitable nature of the human spirit. Sofie Laguna, winner of the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Eye of the Sheep, once again shows she is a writer of rare empathy, originality and blazing talent.

Why learn chokes? A martial artist or street fighter who believes that he can survive solely on powerful punches and kicks may be in for a rude awakening when the fight ends up in a clinch on the concrete--where knockout power is tougher to generate--or the attacker turns out to be high as a kite, crazed and immune even to the pain of broken bones. Simply put, when striking isn't working, you need to be able to go to the one sure fight ender: the choke. Author Burton Richardson's broad experience in the martial arts includes instructor's credentials in Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Filipino kali (under Guro Dan Inosanto) and Kali Ilustrisimo, as well as a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In this incredibly detailed volume filled with hundreds of step-by-step photos, he gives you the best techniques he knows for ending fights quickly by demonstrating a wide variety of quick and effective chokes. When you need to knock the fight out of someone fast, these chokes will become your go-to moves.

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