Originally posted by Chris Knipp
But when I first saw it I thought the ending was a cheat, too tricky.

Trust me, the ending in the book was much worse, although it ultimately does a better job of conveying ideas than the film.

While I love Fight Club, I hate its fan base for the most part, because they think it's about getting out of one's societal shell and doing what they want. But it's ultimately about the failure of this system and the need for some small sort of established order in order to progress. Ebert said it was trying to be one thing, but ended up being fascist. I think it's about the dangers of anarchy vs. fascism.