Palahniuk, Chuck

Average customer rating:

Good but not Great - by Chuck's standard
One of his best
the narrative is harmed by the experiment in storytelling
Great book; but definitely not his personal best.
I read this book while pregnant

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385517874
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Book Description

“Like most people I didn’t meet Rant Casey until after he was dead. That’s how it works for most celebrities: After they croak, their circle of friends just explodes.…”

Rant is the mind-bending new novel from Chuck Palahniuk, the literary provocateur responsible for such books as the generation-defining classic Fight Club and the pedal-to-the-metal horrorfest Haunted. It takes the form of an oral history of one Buster “Rant” Casey, who may or may not be the most efficient serial killer of our time.

“What ‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon was to typhoid, what Gaetan Dugas was to AIDS, and Liu Jian-lun was to SARS, Buster Casey would become for rabies.”

A high school rebel who always wins (and a childhood murderer?), Rant Casey escapes from his small hometown of Middleton for the big city. He becomes the leader of an urban demolition derby called Party Crashing. On appointed nights participants recognize one another by such designated car markings as “Just Married” toothpaste graffiti and then stalk and crash into each other. Rant Casey will die a spectacular highway death, after which his friends gather testimony needed to build an oral history of his short, violent life. Their collected anecdotes explore the possibility that his saliva caused a silent urban plague of rabies and that he found a way to escape the prison house of linear time.…

“The future you have, tomorrow, won’t be the same future you had, yesterday.”
—Rant Casey

Expect hilarity, horror, and blazing insight into the desperate and surreal contemporary human condition as only Chuck Palahniuk can deliver it. He's the postmillennial Jonathan Swift, the visionary to watch to learn what's —uh-oh—coming next.

Customer Reviews:

Good but not Great - by Chuck's standard.......2007-06-21

Long time reader of Chcuk, and I admit I expect a lot more of him than most authors based on many of his books that I read which were brillaint and some of my all time favourite reads. So 3 stars is really on the "Chuck scale".
I was honestly a bit apprehensive about reading this novel, given the style, which am not a big fan of. But once I got into it I really enjoyed it. Like so many of the readers, I too found the first 100 pages or so exceptional but after that for me it lost something. There were great moments here and there, but seemed to be lacking any direction and a bit lazy in parts. Overall the party crashing chapters for me were the weakest and least interesting, again like so many others I was thinking "fight club" here we go again.
Maybe I am too critical but as I said from the start I expect a lot from Chuck and whilst this was a better effort than Haunted, he is still to live up to his high standards in this one.

One of his best.......2007-06-20

I loved this book! The style was fresh & exciting and like Palahniuk's best books, the story unfolded perfectly, with hints and allusions to what is actually going on. I enjoyed every moment I spent reading it.

the narrative is harmed by the experiment in storytelling.......2007-06-12

Subtitled An Oral Biography of Buster Casey, Rant is an experimental novel by author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Survivor, Haunted). Before the novel ever begins, Palahniuk explains what the oral biography tradition means to this novel. The tradition of oral biography means simply that the story of Buster Casey is told by multiple interviews of people who knew Casey, knew of Casey, and perhaps did not know Casey at all but wanted to be interviewed about Buster Casey. There is no true narrative thread in the sense of the reader seeing the action unfold from the perspective of Casey. Rant is entirely about Buster Casey, but from the viewpoint of others. What this means is that some of the interviewees will contradict with each other and disagree with what others have said about Buster Casey and the situations surrounding his life and death.

So, who is Buster Casey? This is the question which Rant attempts to answer. Early in the novel Buster "Rant" Casey is referred as one of the great mass murderers in history, but what is apparent from early on in the novel is that Rant Casey was a charismatic young man, but he never got far enough away to truly be a mass killer. How exactly, then, is this possible?

The journey Chuck Palahniuk takes his readers on is one of a young man who never quite fit in, but was always exceptionally popular. Oh, and he had rabies. Yes, this is vitally central of the story of Rant.

In the first paragraph I called Rant an experimental novel and it is. The narrative is not straight forward, it jumps around all over in chronology depending on what the interviewees are discussing at the time. Shifting chronology is not necessarily a major issue and it works with the format, but the shifting chronology and the multiple narrator format makes Rant a bit disjointed. Palahniuk spins something of a dystopian future novel, mixes in accidental genocide, time travel, rabies, spider bites, and a rather creative counter culture called Party Crashing (whatever you think it might be, it's not that). The ingredients are all here for something that could be quite good. Palahniuk fails to deliver the goods.

The multiple narrator format can work exceptionally well in fiction. Take Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, Erdrich's Love Medicine as examples of how to do this well. As I Lay Dying is the standard. Now, Chuck Palahniuk is not exactly doing a true multiple narrator format as the format normally requires one narrator per chapter. Rant, as stated earlier and in the subtitle, is an oral biography. The chapters are collected by topic, not by narrator. Each chapter features short paragraphs (or several paragraphs) by each of the participants in the oral biography. Together it forms something of a narrative.

I believe it is the very format of Rant which contributes to Rant feeling disjointed and not at all compelling. Every time a particular point of view or storyline gets intense, it is pulled away by the next narrator. Rant is an interesting fiction experiment, and something that could work in short doses to complement a more conventional novel, but as a complete novel in an of itself, the oral biography in Palahniuk's hands does not work. This is a great disappointment because Palahniuk is capable of some outstanding fiction, lately his output has not lived up to the promise of his earlier work. Still, there is hope because Chuck Palahniuk is an immensely creative storyteller and one who is worth giving many chances to because when the man delivers, he can leave his reader short of breath.

- Joe Sherry

Great book; but definitely not his personal best........2007-06-12

If this was the first Palahniuk book I ever read, 5 stars.
If it were the 9th or 10th (which it is), 4 stars.

The raw shock often associated with his books is undeniable in this one, however as a conditioned Chuck fan, I know what this man is capable of.. and this book was just a bit sub par for him.

This book lived up to my expectations of the author, but only by the skin of its teeth. True, it was entertaining & engrossing enough to keep me coming back to its pages every chance I got, and yes it had the essential never-saw-it-coming twist that Chuck is noted for.. however, the narration dragged at parts & it left questions not answered as well as in his other books; lots of loose ends were tied, but not very tightly.

The book is written in the style of an oral biography; meaning there is no one single narrator, but several different narrators who "contributed" to the "biography" -- a childhood friend, a neighbor, his parents, scholars commenting on certain theories and/or Rant's life. Every story or thought is preceded by a character's name and a colon, almost in the form of a play. I found this to be a refreshing tactic; it helped to keep the story consistently interesting & rolling. Especially so because the reader may see the same story or memory from totally different perspectives, or perhaps a different spin on the same rumor.

All around a good read for the beach, in between classes, before bedtime, or wherever.. I don't regret buying it & I still don't hesitate recommend it to all my friends interested in his writing style.. just don't expect Rant to be the end-all be-all, career-defining masterpiece of Chuck's work.

I read this book while pregnant.......2007-06-08

I read this book while pregnant with my first baby and the author's attitude really got on my nerves. Referring to herself as a "young mom" when she gives birth at age 30 is just one example of her warped version of reality. She also makes sure we know that she only wore thong underwear for her entire pregnancy. Gimme a break!!!

Average customer rating:

Quick Read.
Anarchy at its Best ...
Angsty Teenagers, Existentialists that don't know the concept by name, and even non-readers will find something.
Two Sides of the Story
Better than the Movie

Fight Club: A Novel
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393327345

Amazon.com

The only person who gets called Ballardesque more often than Chuck Palahniuk is, well... J.G. Ballard. So, does Portland, Oregon's "torchbearer for the nihilistic generation" deserve that kind of treatment? Yes and no. There is a resemblance between Fight Club and works such as Crash and Cocaine Nights in that both see the innocuous mundanities of everyday life as nothing more than the severely loosened cap on a seething underworld cauldron of unchecked impulse and social atrocity. Welcome to the present-day U.S. of A. As Ballard's characters get their jollies from staging automobile accidents, Palahniuk's yuppies unwind from a day at the office by organizing bloodsport rings and selling soap to fund anarchist overthrows. Let's just say that neither of these guys are going to be called in to do a Full House script rewrite any time soon.

But while the ingredients are the same, Ballard and Palahniuk bake at completely different temperatures. Unlike his British counterpart, who tends to cast his American protagonists in a chilly light, holding them close enough to dissect but far enough away to eliminate any possibility of kinship, Palahniuk isn't happy unless he's first-person front and center, completely entangled in the whole sordid mess. An intensely psychological novel that never runs the risk of becoming clinical, Fight Club is about both the dangers of loyalty and the dreaded weight of leadership, the desire to band together and the compulsion to head for the hills. In short, it's about the pride and horror of being an American, rendered in lethally swift prose. Fight Club's protagonist might occasionally become foggy about who he truly is (you'll see what I mean), but one thing is for certain: you're not likely to forget the book's author. Never mind Ballardesque. Palahniukian here we come! --Bob Michaels

Book Description

The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club. Chuck Palahniuk's outrageous and startling debut novel that exploded American literature and spawned a movement. Every weekend, in the basements and parking lots of bars across the country, young men with white-collar jobs and failed lives take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded just as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter, and dark, anarchic genius, and it's only the beginning of his plans for violent revenge on an empty consumer-culture world.

Customer Reviews:

Quick Read........2007-06-26

You just can not put this book down. It's amazing. The movie spoiled it for me a bit but not that much. The only dilemma was in knowing the movie's ending. If you watch that ending and read this one's then you'll be a bit disappointed. Chuck himself even claimed the movie's ending was better.

I love this book though. It's great.

Anarchy at its Best ..........2007-06-19

It's easy to have profound reflections on the state of society when you are face down at the bottom with no choices -- anger and despair can have a clarifying effect on the mind. But what if you have everything, the great job, the swanky high-rise condo complete with all of the fancy crate and barrel accoutrements that seem to be a must have, and what if you have all the choices in the world, what then? What is a thirty-something man who has it all supposed to do when he discovers that he remains miserable and emasculated in this: the fantastic world he has created for himself. A world he discovers is nothing but a turd covered with icing.

Well our narrator has a plan: "You take 98 percent concentrate of fuming nitric acid and add the acid to three times that amount of sulfuric acid. Then add the glycerin, drop by drop." ...He knows this because Tyler knows this. Meet Tyler Durden, anarchist extraordinaire and service industry terrorist. To quote Tyler's mantra -- We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we are just learning this fact, so don't f**k with us.

I loved this book! What Ellis' Patrick Bateman was to the Eighties, Tyler Durden is to the Nineties and beyond. Palahniuk's scathing wit and sarcasm paints a rather dim view of today's everything is about brand placement society. Brainwashed daily by the barrage of must have products ... I can't live without those handmade plates because Martha said they would enhance my dining room table, thus enhancing my image to the world. What are we in today's age of technology? Are we reality? Or are we simply voracious consumers, living our lives in some kind of robotic trance, moving from one checkout line to the next in a state of abject apathy?

When is enough more than enough. How long does it take before rage consumes us, and we would do just about anything to feel alive again -- to connect to something or someone? This book is definitely a welcome punch right in the face.

Angsty Teenagers, Existentialists that don't know the concept by name, and even non-readers will find something........2007-06-17

Since a relatively young age I'd been calling Fight Club one of my favorite movies, and at varying intervals, my absolute favorite. During the latter years, I loved it for it's great story and neat action. As I got older, some of the comedy started to make more sense, and then when I really started to grow up, the philosophical statements littering the film became powerful for me.
So, eventually a friend who loved the film equally picked up the book, and after finishing it as quickly as he did he let me know I had to read it. I wasn't the biggest reader at the time, a little here, a litte there, but was trying to read a decent amount. Then, I read that. And that changed, big time.
To be put simply; this is quite possibly my favorite novel. There is nothing about it, that is not brilliant, that will not keep you turning the pages and will stop you from putting it down. It's hilariously funny, terribly dark, a bit moving, and completely insightful.
For anyone whom has enjoyed the film, you will be nothing but pleased. It also happens to be a very easy read; and while you can get alot of the same ideals from reading Nietzsche Chuck has some of the absolute best ways of putting it, and best for those not quite up for philosophy.
The philosophical tones are so powerful, yet so simple that it's enjoyable for anyone - and can be especially enjoyable for the angsty teenagers.
It's also a decent amount different from the film. Tyler in the film is far more the embodiement of the Nietzschen Ubermench - but the attitude remains, and resounds, a bit more poetically too. The narrator's insight isn't only at the given intervals it is during the film, but is throughout, and Marla is done even more grossly hilarious than she is in the film. Both are exceptional pieces, and I will admit I would be torn if I were forced to pick one or the other, but I think my choice my well rest in the novel.
If you're not a reader, this is the kind've book that will make you want to be. There's little not to love. It's funny, dark, satrical, and all the while powerful.
An unforgetable novel, and a must read for anyone; no matter your disposition.

Two Sides of the Story.......2007-06-01

Tyler Durden, he's in us all, that inner person waiting to come out. I've seen the movie many times before I had read the book, they are very simular. Both the book and the movie are attention grabers, make you think, and keep you guesing. Very intreging novel on finding your inner self, HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If your to lazy to read the book I recommend you at least see the video, you won't be disappointed.

Better than the Movie.......2007-05-26

When first reading Fight Club, I was a senior in High School. The book caught my attention and featured a storyline that I could never have been familiar with at 18 years old. After reading it again as a 22 year old, I still have no insight to such a world of problems, but can certainly relate to people that I have met in the past. Fight Club is a novel that takes a wonderfully unique idea and expands it to the filth and scurge of society.

Average customer rating:

Pure Drivel
Hands down the best
A Chore of a Novel
A GUY BOOK - and nothing wrong with that
Choke by Chuck Palahnuik

Choke
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385720920
Release Date: 2002-06-11

Amazon.com

Victor Mancini is a ruthless con artist. Victor Mancini is a med-school dropout who's taken a job playing an Irish indentured servant in a colonial-era theme park in order to help care for his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother. Victor Mancini is a sex addict. Victor Mancini is a direct descendant of Jesus Christ. All of these statements about the protagonist of Choke are more or less true. Welcome, once again, to the world of Chuck Palahniuk.

"Art never comes from happiness." So says Mancini's mother only a few pages into the novel. Given her own dicey and melodramatic style of parenting, you would think that her son's life would be chock-full of nothing but art. Alas, that's not the case. In the fine tradition of Oedipus, Stephen Dedalus, and Anthony Soprano, Victor hasn't quite reconciled his issues with his mother. Instead, he's trawling sexual-addiction recovery meetings for dates and purposely choking in restaurants for a few moments of attention. Longing for a hug, in other words, he's settling for the Heimlich.

Thematically, this is pretty familiar Palahniuk territory. It would be a pity to disclose the surprises of the plot, but suffice it to say that what we have here is a little bit of Tom Robbins's Another Roadside Attraction, a little bit of Don DeLillo's The Day Room, and, well, a little bit of Fight Club. Just as with Fight Club and the other two novels under Palahniuk's belt, we get a smattering of gloriously unflinching sound bites, including this skeptical bit on prayer chains: "A spiritual pyramid scheme. As if you can gang up on God. Bully him around."

Whether this is the novel that will break Palahniuk into the mainstream is hard to say. For a fourth book, in fact, the ratio of iffy, "dude"-intensive dialogue to interesting and insightful passages is a little higher than we might wish. In the end, though, the author's nerve and daring pull the whole thing off--just barely. And what's next for Victor Mancini's creator? Leave the last word to him, declaring as he does in the final pages: "Maybe it's our job to invent something better.... What it's going to be, I don't know." --Bob Michaels

Book Description

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.

Download Description

From the author of the international sensation Fight Club, here is a powerful (and hilarious) novel about love and strife between mothers and sons, the addictive power of sex, the terrors of aging, the ugly truth about historical theme parks, and much else.

Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk's controversial and blazingly original debut novel, introduced a fresh and even renegade talent to American fiction, one who has retooled the classic black humor of Terry Southern and Kurt Vonnegut for the lunacy of the millennial age. In his new novel, Choke, he gives readers a vision of life and love and sex and mortality that is both chillingly brilliant and teeth-rattlingly funny.

Victor Mancini, a dropout from medical school, has devised a complicated scam to pay for his mother's elder care: Pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who "saves you" will feel responsible for the rest of his life. Multiply that a couple of hundred times and you generate a healthy flow of checks, week in, week out.

Between fake choking gigs, Victor works at Colonial Dunsboro with a motley group of losers and stoners trapped in 1734, cruises sex addiction groups for action ("You put twenty sexaholics around a table night after night and don't be surprised."), and visits his mother, whose anarchic streak made his childhood a mad whirl and whose Alzheimer's disease now hides what may be the startling truth about his (possibly divine?) parentage. An antihero for our deranging times, Victor's whole existence is a struggle to wrest an identity from overwhelming forces. His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve.

<HR>

"Palahniuk is one of the freshest, most intriguing voices to appear in a long time. He rearranges Vonnegut's sly humor, DeLillo's mordant social analysis, and Pynchon's antic surrealism (or is it R. Crumb's?) into a gleaming puzzle palace all his own."     NEWSDAY

"Palahniuk displays a Swiftian gift for satire, as well as a knack for crafting mesmerizing sentences that loom with stark, prickly prose and repetitive rhythms."     SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

"Even I can't write this well."     THOM JONES

"Palahniuk's language is urgent and tense, touched with psychopathic brilliance, his images dead-on accurate....[He] is an author who makes full use of the alchemical powers of fiction to synthesize a universe that mirrors our own fiction as a way of illuminating the world without obliterating its complexity."     L.A. WEEKLY

"Maybe our generation has found its Don DeLillo."     BRET EASTON ELLIS

<HR>

Customer Reviews:

Pure Drivel.......2007-06-26

Palahniuk's "Choke" is, in a word, drivel. Like all other shallow, immature offerings from Chuck Palahniuk, this one shines with the author's fascination for his own amateurish writing. It's awful.

Hands down the best.......2007-06-06

This book is my favorite of all this books. Very quoteable. I don't want to say too much about it to give anything away, but just know that this book is hilarious, but also just a great read. I've read it twice and I can't say that about many books.

A Chore of a Novel.......2007-06-02

This is the first book I ever seriously considered putting down midway. I read and enjoyed Fight Club, and I thought Diary was pretty good. But Choke is an absolute chore of a novel--I struggled to finish it. It's the standard Palahniuk formula: mix obscure, interesting "facts" and crazy characters. Except that I hated all of these characters. Obviously there are wonderful novels with unlikable main characters, but you have to have some sort of interest in what happens to them. I didn't care. I would have rather the main character died than listen to any more of his banal, trite rants about the world and materialism. Palahniuk needs to pick a new horse to beat.

A GUY BOOK - and nothing wrong with that.......2007-04-12

I'm going to keep this review short and simple. My guy friend recommended it to me because he said it was the best book he ever read, after Fight Club. As a teenage girl, however, it was very difficult to get through this book. Don't get me wrong - Palahniuk is one of the most unique and innovative writers of our time. However, unless you are an adolescent guy, this book will most likely be extremely hard to bear. The humor, style, and subject matter I cannot relate too, thus turning me off to any sort of plot that existed. THIS IS A GUY BOOK. The one book I would recommend of Palahniuk's that girls can also enjoy because of its deeper, more existential themes is Fight Club.

Choke by Chuck Palahnuik.......2007-04-07

Chief Justice Brennan in 1957 described this book when he wrote the Roth decision and defined obscenity. When a work is utterly without redeeming social importance and when for the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest, it is obscene. This book about a sex addict is marked by an immoderate and/or unwholesome interest in unusual sexual desire: the very definition of prurient. Choke could be subtitled: ' A Dictionary of Genitalia and Sexual Intercourse to Debase the Human Body and the Sex Act.'

Average customer rating:

A good book
Literary Retardation
boring and lazy
Rather Dry
Are they really true stories?

Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385722222
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Book Description

Chuck Palahniuk’s world has always been, well, different from yours and mine. In his first collection of nonfiction, Chuck Palahniuk brings us into this world, and gives us a glimpse of what inspires his fiction.

At the Rock Creek Lodge Testicle Festival in Missoula, Montana, average people perform public sex acts on an outdoor stage. In a mansion once occupied by The Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson reads his own Tarot cards and talks sweetly to his beautiful actress girlfriend. Across the country, men build their own full-size castles and rocketships that will send them into space. Palahniuk himself experiments with steroids, works on an assembly line by day and as a hospice volunteer by night, and experiences the brutal murder of his father by a white supremacist. With this new direction, Chuck Palahniuk has proven he can do anything.

Customer Reviews:

A good book.......2007-05-15

A composite of real world odditities, experiences and interviews. Different than his novels, but interesting.

Literary Retardation.......2007-05-12

Literary Retardation, June 13, 2004

by Dr. Joseph Suglia, the author of WATCH OUT

Is one allowed to write a negative review of a Chuck Palahniuk book? Because his books make so much money, to say something negative about them is seen as a sin against capitalism, an offence as grave as blasphemy. We must conform, we are told, and worship him as a god.

Palahniuk's novels have gained a huge audience among unintelligent teenagers---precisely because the author is himself an unintelligent, 43-year-old teenager.

Nonetheless, his most recent "effort" (if such a word applies---no effort went into writing this book), the tritely titled STRANGER THAN FICTION risks alienating his rock-audience-sized fan base.

The clichés begin with the title and get worse from there.

The book is essentially a haphazard collection of hastily written notes. Some of them concern the author's own fame and the good things about it. Others concern celebrities he knows personally and who know him.

Palahniuk celebrates himself with all of the enthusiasm of an out-of-work B-movie actor. He tells us that he "SO writes" in order to meet people who look like Uma Thurman and JFK Jr.: "This is SO why I write." How noble! Unfortunately or fortunately, Uma Thurman, who would not consider herself a writer, is infinitely more eloquent and thoughtful than "the writer" Palahniuk.

There are "essays" on Marilyn Manson and Juliette Lewis that contain nothing but quotes from Marilyn Manson and Juliette Lewis.

In the "essay," "Brinksmanship," Palahniuk laughs at his readers, telling them that what he is writing is "rushed and desperate." But, he also seems to say, "You'll read it anyway. After all, I'm a big name now." In other words, he spits out garbage on the page, and we have to spend our valuable time on reading this drivel. And the writer laughs and laughs and laughs...

There is an entire "essay" on Brad Pitt and his super-gorgeous lips. But, O no, don't be fooled, Gentle Reader. Palahniuk assures us that this isn't mere tabloid celebrity gossip. No. Don't be deceived. Palahniuk writes: "This wasn't really about Brad Pitt. It's about everybody." Really? You don't say!

When the writer makes cursory references to serious writers (ie. those who are not merely celebrities), such as Venturi or Derrida, it seems unlikely that he spent more than 15 minutes reading them.

The style is not simple; it's simplistic. Minimalism is a powerful literary device, but this isn't minimalism. It's infantilism. Minimalism only seems simple; there is profundity in its pregnant cadences and silences. This book reeks of unearned profundity. There is no depth beneath the grade-school-level prose.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Palahniuk writes like a subnormal, unintelligent teenager. Here is what he writes to Ira Levin (whose ROSEMARY'S BABY he ripped off in DIARY): "That's very, VERY creepy!"

Palahniuk seems to believe that his life is interesting and that we will find his life interesting, as well. But the only things that can be important about a writer are the books that he or she writes. A writer's life is not a source of "importance."

Absolutely boring, self-glamorizing, and unreadable---unless you are Mick, Chick, or Chimp, of course.

---Dr. Joseph Suglia, the author of WATCH OUT

boring and lazy.......2007-04-26

I became a fan of Palahniuk when I read, Choke, one of the funniest books I've ever come across. Then reading "Survivor" furthered my affection for this author, however after reading the synopsis' of most of his other works I just couldn't find myself willing or interested enough to pick up said other works.
Stranger than Fiction did spark my interested and I was dupped into reading the majority of this trash, oddly enough, none of which is stranger than fiction.

Rather Dry.......2007-03-27

I have a problem getting into books if they dont grab me right away. Call me simplistic, but Harry Potter books catch my attention right away.

This book, is probably the worst of his so far. I was expecting short stories...not what was the length of a newspaper story. When I saw the book I noticed three distinct sections. I thought to myself, nice..three short stories. I read the first "chapter" and then started the second. I was like..wait. Was that a story? What happened?

When I think of short stories I think of Poe. Shorter than a whole book but enough to get you involved. I have read the first 3 or so "chapters so far and I am about to give up on it. There is not enough meat and bones to this one.

Like others said..this is no Lullabye, Fight Club, or the like. If you are interested in this book...ask me, I'll sell you my copy.

Are they really true stories?.......2006-09-04

When you call your book true stories, especially in this year of heightened awareness about what is truth and what is fiction, you should expect a higher level of scrutiny from your readers. As such, I have to admit that I'm highly dubious as to the legitimacy and honesty of some of these stories.

I'm sure that they are all based on some grain of truth, but the specter of exaggeration lurks in the background of many of the stories. Am I to really believe that people were punching him in the kidneys because he was walking around Seattle in a dog suit? The height to which the story goes on-and-on seems like a rant.

Other stories also come across as rants. The writing workshop story comes across as being written by someone with a big chip on their shoulder, a frustrated writer, and comes across and quite demeaning actually.

Many of the stories are down right obnoxious and boring. Some are interesting as a brief diversion perhaps before bedtime. Bottom line, I'm not sure if it was the attack on Seattle, or the underlying obnoxiousness and seeming exaggeration, but I found myself hating this book and hating its author.

Average customer rating:

Lullaby (Palahniuk)
Compelling Cross Country "Romp"
gave it as a gift and it was perfect!
Savannah Austin's Review
The Truth about Lullabies

Lullaby: A Novel
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385504470
Release Date: 2002-09-17

Amazon.com

The consequences of media saturation are the basis for an urban nightmare in Lullaby, Chuck Palahniuk's darkly comic and often dazzling thriller. Assigned to write a series of feature articles investigating SIDS, troubled newspaper reporter Carl Streator begins to notice a pattern among the cases he encounters: each child was read the same poem prior to his or her death. His research and a tip from a necrophilic paramedic lead him to Helen Hoover Boyle, a real estate agent who sells "distressed" (demonized) homes, assured of their instant turnover. Boyle and Streator have both lost children to "crib death," and she confirms Streator's suspicions: the poem is an ancient lullaby or "culling song" that is lethal if spoken--or even thought--in a victim's direction. The misanthropic Streator, now armed with a deadly and uncontrollably catchy tune, goes on a minor killing spree until he recognizes his crimes and the song's devastating potential. Lullaby then turns into something of a road trip narrative, with Streator, Boyle, her empty-headed Wiccan secretary Mona, and Mona's vigilante boyfriend Oyster setting out across the U.S. to track down and destroy all copies of the poem.

In his previous works, including the cult favorite Fight Club, Palahniuk has demonstrated a fondness for making statements about the condition of humanity, and he uses Lullaby like a blunt object to repeatedly overstate his generally dim view. Such dogmatic venom undermines the persuasiveness of his thesis about mass communication and free will, but thankfully, Palahniuk offers some respite here by allowing for sympathy and love, as well as through his razor-sharp humor, such as his mock listings for Helen's possessed properties: "six bedrooms, four baths, pine-paneled entryway, and blood running down the kitchen walls...." At such moments, Lullaby casts a powerful spell. --Ross Doll

Book Description

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Choke and the cult classic Fight Club, a cunningly plotted novel about the ultimate verbal weapon, one that reinvents the apocalyptic thriller for our times.

Carl Streator is a solitary widower and a fortyish newspaper reporter who is assigned to do a series of articles on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In the course of this investigation he discovers an ominous thread: the presence at the death scenes of the anthology Poems and Rhymes Around the World, all opened to the page where there appears an African chant, or “culling song.” This song turns out to be lethal when spoken or even thought in anyone's direction–and once it lodges in Streator's brain he finds himself becoming an involuntary serial killer. So he teams up with a real estate broker, one Helen Hoover Boyle–who specializes in selling haunted (or “distressed”) houses (wonderfully high turnover), and who lost a child to the culling song years before–for a cross-country odyssey to remove all copies of the book from libraries, lest this deadly verbal virus spread and wipe out human life. Accompanying them on this road trip are Helen's assistant, Mona Sabbat, an exquisitely earnest Wiccan, and her sardonic ecoterrorist boyfriend Oyster, who is running a scam involving fake liability claims and business blackmail. Welcome to the new nuclear family.

On one level, Lullaby is a chillingly pertinent parable about the dangers of psychic infection and control in an era of wildly overproliferated information: “Imagine a plague you catch through your ears . . . imagine an idea that occupies your mind like a city.” But it is also a tightly wound thriller with an intriguing premise and a suspenseful plot full of surprising twists and turns. Finally, because it is a Chuck Palahniuk novel, it is a blackly comic tour de force that reinforces his stature as our funniest nihilist and a contemporary seer.

Download Description

Carl Streator is a solitary widower and a fortyish newspaper reporter who is assigned to do a series of articles on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In the course of this investigation he discovers an ominous thread: the presence at the death scenes of the anthology Poems and Rhymes Around the World, all opened to the page where there appears an African chant, or "culling song." This song turns out to be lethal when spoken or even thought in anyone's direction -Ã,Â- and once it lodges in Streator's brain he finds himself becoming an involuntary serial killer. So he teams up with a real estate broker, one Helen Hoover Boyle -- who specializes in selling haunted (or "distressed") houses (wonderfully high turnover), and who lost a child to the culling song years before -- for a cross-country odyssey to remove all copies of the book from libraries, lest this deadly verbal virus spread and wipe out human life. Accompanying them on this road trip are Helen's assistant, Mona Sabbat, an exquisitely earnest Wiccan, and her sardonic ecoterrorist boyfriend Oyster, who is running a scam involving fake liability claims and business blackmail. Welcome to the new nuclear family.

On one level, Lullaby is a chillingly pertinent parable about the dangers of psychic infection and control in an era of wildly overproliferated information: "Imagine a plague you catch through your ears... imagine an idea that occupies your mind like a city." But it is also a tightly wound thriller with an intriguing premise and a suspenseful plot full of surprising twists and turns. Finally, because it is a Chuck Palahniuk novel, it is a blackly comic tour de force that reinforces his stature as our funniest nihilist and a contemporary seer.

Customer Reviews:

Lullaby (Palahniuk).......2007-06-19

This is one of the best books I have read in my life. The dysfunctional characters seem very real, and it is LoL funny at times. Palahniuk makes this piece of fiction almost believable. The ending is quite a shocker. This book is worth your time, and it will probably lead you to reading all of his work. I know thats what it did to me.

Compelling Cross Country "Romp".......2007-06-01

What do you think you would do if you had the power exact the ultimate revenge without any recourse? Most of us would say we wouldn't use it. But what if you couldn't help it? Carl Streator happens across an old rhyme (spell) that when spoken or even thought, will kill the listener. He figures out the secret to this spell quickly, but it's like getting a song stuck in your head - you can't stop it. Customer service reps beware.

Palahniuk's novel assembles his signature quirky group of loners who somehow find each other and develop into an odd disfunctional family. They cross the country in search of all the copies of the book containing the spell, but not all members of this family have the same motives.

This book made me laugh out loud. I've read the word "horror" in some reviews, but I don't see that here or in any of Palahniuk's work. Gruesome and unsettling, but not horrific. The motivations of the characters make sense in the odd world they find themselves in.

Loved it

gave it as a gift and it was perfect!.......2007-05-20

Came very quickly and in excellent condition.

Savannah Austin's Review.......2007-05-17

Review on Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

Imagine if you had the power to kill someone by just thinking about it. In the novel Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk also the author who wrote Fight Club and Choke, has introduced this dark humorous story what is called a culling spell. This spell originated from Africa found in Poems and Rhymes from Around the World which was sung to give a painless death to the elderly or someone who was dying. The main character in the book manages to get a hold of this cursed poem and reaps the consequences by accidentally murdering his child and wife.

Reporter, ex husband and father Carl Streator devotes his life in finding all copies every made of the poem and destroying them. On his way in a cross-country journey he meets two people who share the same power and join him in the mission for they also have lost loved ones and know about the spell. To Streator's horror, he finds that by reciting and even thinking about the culling song becomes lethal to others lives. Through out the book he comes in contact with people he deeply dislikes and deserves the culling song. Ironically he can restrain himself with those he hates rather than innocent people he encounters. Streator has lost himself in his observations of others and their stories; he forgets to worry about his own. This is used as a metaphor for the problem of information overloaded in society today and how we become distracted watching others lives within the media, advertising, and ect..that we forget to watch our own lives. He eventually learns how to control this power. However some characters that he is with who also share the power urn to have the power and use it for their own needs weather it being used for evil or good.

Helen Hoover Boyle, a real estate broker, spends her time trying to sell haunted houses to buyers, continually confuses you through out the novel of weather or not she is bad or good. She uses other spells that they find in the Book of Shadows to control Mr. Streator and uses him to get what she wants. They end up having a sort of love affair even though Mona Sabbat, a soft-spoken Wiccan who works for Helen, thinks that Helen has put love spells on Mr. Streator to keep him distracted with her and not on the poem. On the way in their mission to destroy the poem they stumble upon a grimoire, which contains the original poem, and other spells as well that hold different kinds of powers. Whether the grimoire should be destroyed or put to good use is a question, which they have not reached consensus.

The author uses a lot of reference to society and human behavior and good references to this we find throughout the novel; " Think of all the generations of women who looked in that mirror,..They took it home. They aged in that mirror. They died, all those beautiful young women, but here's the host. A big fat predator looking for its next meal." (52). In this passage the women who have looked into the mirror have been judging themselves because they are convinced by the mirror, who is the `predator' which represents society, that this is how you are suppose to look. In the materialistic society that we live in, the media manipulates the public's perception on women's image and what is socially accepted.

Palahniuk effectively examines patterns of human behavior with the characters and their relationship with the world; "All that work and love and effort and time, my life, wasted. Everything I hoped would outlive me I've ruined...And sitting here, I've run out of parts. All the walls and roofs and handrails. And what's glued to the floor in front of me is a bloody mess. It's nothing perfect or complete, but this is what I've made of my life. Right or wrong, it follows no great master plan. All you can do is hope for a pattern to emerge, and sometimes it never does. Still, with a plan, you only get the best you can imagine. I'd always hoped for something better than that. In this passage the character refers to this playhouse he has unsuccessfully built as a symbol of his unfinished and failed life. The expectations for the house was suppose to go to his now dead daughter and outlive generations to come. Left with this incomplete and broken house, he feels lost and unsure of what is left for him to save or fulfill in the world. There is no turning back after spending all that hardship and time into something you have destroyed and destroys you.

I think the clear message in this story that the author is getting across is from an Anthropological view of why humans act the way they do and why we are so useless at fulfilling our own lives. Other than a few part of the novel it can become twisted and visual, but all round it was an excellent book of choice. I would recommend for everyone to read in some point in his or her life. It is extremely intriguing and makes you thinking differently about life, death, humanity, and existence itself. There is a lot more to this darkly humorous book then you think.

Savannah 5/9/07

The Truth about Lullabies.......2007-05-16

Almost everybody has a memory of being sung a lullaby by their parents. Do you remember the soothing voices of your parents as you lie in your bed trying to fall asleep? We all remember how safe we felt and how much we loved those lullabies. Unfortunately for all the lullaby lovers, author Chuck Palahnuik in "Lullaby" takes our beloved lullaby and turns it into something scary. And it is because the author is able to turn something which seems harmless into something scarefully harmful that I suggest readers to buy this book. This is one book which will make you wonder, what if this were true?
What if you were able to discover a lullaby which kills the listener? How would you handle the power? These are the questions which Chuck Palahnuik echoes throughout the book. I personally enjoyed the importance of the moral strength of the characters to restrain themselves from abusing their new power. It seemed as if each of the characters had their own reasons why they could abuse the power which I believe draws the reader into the story. It draws the reader into the story because one wonders if the characters will act on these reasons. Plus everybody can relate to the experience of temptation. Imagine having a power which would allow anybody to erase people from their hidden "people I hate" that lies inside them. How tempting one would be to help shorten this list! Fortunately, we are all born with a conscience and one could only hope the conscience would put the guilty trick on those with the power. In other words, if one is born with what we call a "short fuse" this is definitely not a lullaby for them.
I was very impressed with how creative the author was with the main characters. As mentioned earlier, he created the characters to have personalities which tempted them to abuse the power but at the same time had a side to them which made them question their abuse of the lullaby. This contradiction within the characters was what I believed created urgency within the story. One wonders which side of the character will be dominant and who will display the courage to let their good side be the dominant side. It could be Carl who has a past history with this lullaby which causes him to have anger but to his defense he seems to have a good conscience in place as well. It could be Helen who also has a past history but unlike Carl she hides her anger and her conscience is also in question. And it could be either Oyster or Mona because they seem to have a plan of what they want to do with lullaby but luckily for the world one of them seems to have a better conscience.
The possibility of the truth of the lullaby spreading across the world in this story is another attention catcher. What if more people found out about the lullaby? We all know what would happen if the lullaby did get out. Instead of a noisy world like today it would be a silent world where speech, music, and noise were banned. Quite a scary thought! Thankfully, this story is not real and there is no chance of this ever happening but the fact that the author acknowledges this possibility within the story is another example of his ability to make the story seem real.
Another evident theme in the story was trust which is played out through the characters of Helen and Carl. Both of them have different goals in mind with the lullaby but both have to work together. In other words, both have to restrain themselves from killing each other off because they need each other. I found it funny how both of them knew they needed each other but did not want to admit it until they were sure it was safe to do so (198). And although they were quite certain they could trust each other throughout the story the author always keeps the possibility of one of them not being trustworthy planted in the back of the readers mind.
Overall, this was one book I would suggest others to read. If one is looking for a quick read which also contains a matter of depth to it, then this is one book I highly suggest. It is fast paced, action packed, and filled with a lot of twists and turns. In other words, this is a good book. A book which you will find you want to reread over and over again.

Average customer rating:

great
Don't Marginalize Our Opression
Sex, Beauty, and Loss
It's the Voice that Got Me
There's something reassuring about a novel this satisfying...

Invisible Monsters
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0393319296

Amazon.com

When the plot of your first novel partially hinges on anarchist overthrows funded by soap sales, and the narrative hook of your second work is the black box recorder of a jet moments away from slamming into the Australian outback, it stands to reason that your audience is going to be ready for anything. Which, to an author like Chuck Palahniuk, must sound like a challenge. Palahniuk's third identity crisis (that's "novel" to you), Invisible Monsters, more than ably responds to this call to arms. Set once again in an all-too-familiar modern wasteland where social disease and self-hatred can do more damage than any potboiler-fiction bad guy, the tale focuses particularly on a group of drag queens and fashion models trekking cross-country to find themselves, looking everywhere from the bottom of a vial of Demerol to the end of a shotgun barrel. It's a sort of Drugstore Cowboy-meets-Yentl affair, or a Hope-Crosby road movie with a skin graft and hormone-pill obsession, if you know what I mean.

Um, yeah. Anyway, the Hollywood vibe doesn't stop these comparisons. As with Fight Club and Survivor, the book is invested with a cinematic sweep, from the opening set piece, which takes off like a house afire (literally), to a host of filmic tics sprayed throughout the text: "Flash," "Jump back," "Jump way ahead," "Flash," "Flash," "Flash." You get the idea. It's as if Palahniuk didn't write the thing but yanked it directly out of the Cineplex of his mind's eye. Does it succeed? Mostly. Still working on measuring out the proper dosages of his many writerly talents (equal parts potent imagery, nihilistic coolspeak, and doped-out craziness), Palahniuk every now and then loosens his grip on the story line, which at points becomes as hard to decipher as your local pill addict's medicine cabinet. However Invisible Monsters works best on a roller-coaster level. You don't stop and count each slot on the track as you're going down the big hill. You throw up your hands and yell, "Whee!" --Bob Michaels

Book Description

She's a fashion model who has everything: a boyfriend, a career, a loyal best friend. But when a sudden freeway "accident" leaves her disfigured and incapable of speech, she is transformed from the beautiful center of attention to an invisible monster, so hideous that no one will acknowledge she exists. Enter Brandy Alexander, Queen Supreme, one operation away from becoming a real woman, who will teach her that reinventing yourself means erasing your past and making up something better. And that salvation hides in the last places you'll ever want to look.

Customer Reviews:

great.......2007-05-30

i really like this book, i also like the song based on the book, it is called time to dance by panic at the disco, it is a really good song, and has a lot of the same lines and words in the song as in the book, i recomend the book and the song. they are both great

Don't Marginalize Our Opression.......2007-05-29

Is this book derivative? Almost completely. Is it pretentious? Absolutely. (And how could it not be when but a few pages in a fashion model begins ventriloquizing a postmodern polemics-lite about the lack of originality in contemporary life?) But this book is also rather entertaining, and is filled with moments of snide humor worth laughing out loud over. The core conceits of the plot are just outrageous enough to work, although the amassing of coincidental ways in which the lives of the characters tie together can get a bit precious. While not unique in contemporary fiction, the cynical voice of the narrator and the non-linear structure are employed to good effect to keep the story moving, making Invisible Monsters a fun afternoon quickie at under 300 pages in widely-spaced type. The ending builds to a pop-cultural gloss on Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra that is quite well-done, but the very end is ultimately unsatisfying.

Sex, Beauty, and Loss.......2007-05-10

This novel is about a model injured in a drive-by shooting whose life is never the same again. It's told in monologue style.

It's the Voice that Got Me.......2007-04-26

The whole book, Invisible Monsters, is an experiment in the voice of the fashion magazine you find while waiting for a haircut or the overheard conversations of shallow drag queens ready ready to go out to the clubs. It's the voice of speed and distraction, of a drug-induced haze of a Paris runway crossed with a late-night phone sex commercial.

The plot spills forth in front of the reader through an unreliable narrator, a former model, a fashion horribly disfigured in an accident, wasted on painkillers and looking for meaning in her life and revenge on everyone and everything in her path. It's the plot of disgust where nothing is sacred - gender, sex, orientation, or plastic surgery.

It runs so fast, the monologue, through a highway of pop culture that it throws out television and cultural references like trash tossed from a speeding convertible. Daisy St. Patience is the narrator, taking us through her accident, remembering her life as a beautiful person, a shallow beautiful person using sex and good looks like weapons and suffering the other side of the coin as a disgusting monster. Brandy Alexander, the beautiful woman who was all that Daisy had been with a penchant for excitement unrivaled. Evie Cottrell, the b**** that took Daisy's man and stole her life. Manus, the former fiance and vice cop with model's good looks.

It's a book that hooks you, plays with you, and then tears your preconceptions apart in witty repartee delivered on the end of a knife.

Loved it.

Snap.

Like a photographers flash, it was gone and I wanted more.

- CV Rick

There's something reassuring about a novel this satisfying..........2007-02-16

Initially believing that Chuck Palahniuk could do no better than his inspired debut `Fight Club' I must say that I was blown away when, after closing this book, I realized this novel is even better. This, of course, is my own humble opinion, but `Invisible Monsters' just grabbed a hold of me and refused to let me go, page after page, chapter after chapter, plot twist after plot twist! I will say that upon reading some of the other reviews I'm a little perturbed that so many have spoiled some of the key plot twists in this novel, ruining the whole experience for any who have as of yet to read this wonderful satire. I personally had not read a single review for this novel when I read it so I was in shock and awe every step of the way.

There are a few things I feel I can mention about this novel and its prose without spoiling any surprises or detracting from the overall satisfaction upon finishing this novel. The plot does revolve around former model Shannon McFarland whose career came to an end when her jaw was blown off in a strange drive by shooting. Her life as it seemed had changed for the worse. She was no longer longed for by millions; no longer recognizable as the star she was before but instead became feared as nothing more than a monster. She soon becomes enraged at those who were closest to her, those whom she thought were her friends but in the end appear to be nothing more than superficial acquaintances. The first of these is former best friend Evie who seems all too eager to replace Shannon in the world of modeling. Second is Shannon's fiancée Manus Kelly who seems more interested in Evie now that Shannon is no longer quote-unquote beautiful.

After meeting Brandy Alexander while attending speech therapy things begin to change. Brandy is a transgender patient who has modeled her entire look, everything from her face to her breasts to her figure on Shannon (she has the entire look, all except the hands). Brandy then accompanies Shannon on a cross country trip for revenge with Manus trapped in the trunk of the car so-to-speak (literally and then not so literally). The novel braches off from extreme to sentimental to overly chaotic and yet every page, every moment of every sequence of events seems to fit so perfectly together. Attacking real human emotion ranging from loyalty, love, trust and self-pity, `Invisible Monsters' is more than just a novel about the dire desperation and shallow loathing of the fashion industry (although that subject is breached to an extent).

Palahniuk's writing style is enthralling, imaginative and executing with such reassuring aggression that the reader is forced to be nothing less than absorbed in every sentence. I found myself held victim to this mans diabolical plot and I loved every minute of it. To me, the best way to read Palahniuk is blindly. The less you know about what you're about to experience the better the end result will be, that way when key elements are revealed your left in utter anticipation for the next revelation. Chuck does wonders with his plot here, revealing just enough at the end of each chapter to make the reader compelled to read on. I personally read the last 100 pages in the same sitting for as each page turned I was engaged in something new and just needed to continue. I have no doubt you too will feel the same!

Average customer rating:

He did it to me again...
I loved it...it might not be as nihilistic as Fight Club
Una historia sobre una mujer que cree ser ordinaria...
Not his best...
lame.

Diary: A Novel
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

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ASIN: 1400032814
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Book Description

Misty Wilmot has had it. Once a promising young artist, she’s now stuck on an island ruined by tourism, drinking too much and working as a waitress in a hotel. Her husband, a contractor, is in a coma after a suicide attempt, but that doesn’t stop his clients from threatening Misty with lawsuits over a series of vile messages they’ve found on the walls of houses he remodeled.

Suddenly, though, Misty finds her artistic talent returning as she begins a period of compulsive painting. Inspired but confused by this burst of creativity, she soon finds herself a pawn in a larger conspiracy that threatens to cost hundreds of lives. What unfolds is a dark, hilarious story from America’s most inventive nihilist, and Palahniuk’s most impressive work to date.

Download Description

Chuck Palahniuk, the bestselling author of Fight Club, Choke, and Lullaby continues his twenty-first-century reinvention of the horror novel in this scary and profound look at our quest for some sort of immortality.

Diary takes the form of a "coma diary" kept by one Misty Tracy Wilmot as her husband lies senseless in a hospital after a suicide attempt. Once she was an art student dreaming of creativity and freedom; now, after marrying Peter at school and being brought back to once quaint, now tourist-overrun Waytansea Island, she's been reduced to the condition of a resort hotel maid.

Peter, it turns out, has been hiding rooms in houses he's remodeled and scrawling vile messages all over the walls -- an old habit of builders but dramatically overdone in Peter's case. Angry homeowners are suing left and right, and Misty's dreams of artistic greatness are in ashes. But then, as if possessed by the spirit of Maura Kinkaid, a fabled Waytansea artist of the nineteenth century, Misty begins painting again, compulsively. But can her newly discovered talent be part of a larger, darker plan? Of course it can...

Diary is a dark, hilarious, and poignant act of storytelling from America's favorite, most inventive nihilist. It is Chuck Palahniuk's finest novel yet.

<HR>

"Just for the record, Diary is as hypnotic as a poised cobra. Chuck Palahniuk demonstrates that the most chilling special effects come not from Industrial Light and Magic but from the words of a gifted writer."    IRA LEVIN, AUTHOR OF ROSEMARY'S BABY

<HR>

Customer Reviews:

He did it to me again..........2007-06-21

Just when I thought that I had an idea of just where he was leading my reading, Chuck Palahniuk does it again. Never once did I actually see the end coming, and when it does come, I still could not believe what happened.

This tale is woven with the thread of how society consumes the artist, and the artist is often a slave to their own vision, which often feeds the appetite of society and drives to greater self-demand and visionary drive from somewhere the artist never quite understands. Until it is often too late. And it all spirals out of control and .....

...and this one is a definite add to the personal library. No where the same theme of overt violence of his first novel, and very different from his others, this is an ideal introduction to the works of Chuck Palahniuk.

I loved it...it might not be as nihilistic as Fight Club.......2007-06-14

Why all the bad reviews? I enjoyed Diary SOOO much more than Survivor. The book was entertaining, spooky, and very gripping. Unlike other reviewers, I never felt the pace drop, and I could have easily read it in one sitting. The only thing that Palahniuk fans, especially people who liked the quotes from Fight Club ("you are not a unique snowflake..."), is that there isn't much dark humor. Instead, there are insights on the creation of art, and self-expression. READ THIS BOOK!

Una historia sobre una mujer que cree ser ordinaria..........2007-05-26

Diario: Una novela, segunda novela que leí de Palahniuk y octava en ser escrita por él en 2003 se define como "una historia de horror sátira", francamente en su totalidad no le veo sátira por ninguna parte, sin embargo hay líneas o diálogos que definitivamente arrancan una risa: "Palahniuk es famoso por su humor negro cínico e irónico que aparece en toda su obra.".Diary: A Novel

Según Wikipedia, Diario es una de las pocas novelas lineales de Palahniuk, pues el pana escribe de atrás hacia delante - no he tenido el gusto todavía de comprobarlo-. Diario al principio parece más normal y corriente que Nana, lo que hace a esta novela mucho más "impactante" porque no te lo ves venir. Yo con Nana me divertí infinitamente, cerraba los ojos y me imagina "¿y si yo...?"; pero con Diario no.

Diario sí da miedo. Es la historia de una mujer frustrada por su pasado y molesta muy molesta con su presente, una mujer de clase media baja a punto de la quiebra, común y ordinaria - eso cree ella-, que empieza a escribir un diario tras una desgracia que lleva a cuestas sin muchas lamentaciones. Así, que Diario está narrado en primera persona y uno como lector se entera de lo que se entera y cuando se entera la protagonista Misty Tracy Wilmot, hasta el punto en que uno como lector empieza a sufrir por "la pobre Misty" y su historia se vuelve muy atemorizante y compleja pasando de una ordinariez insulsa a un mundo de complicados secretos, de sociedades secretas, de profecías y mártires, de destino y sacrificio, y en definitiva de sobrevivencia.

Not his best..........2007-03-29

The beginning is a promising start, but as you start getting further and further into the novel, the more you want to stop reading. I'm a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk's work, and I enjoy reading his morbid and gruesome take on the world around us, but this story seemed like it would never end. Not my favorite story by him, but still better than many other things I've read

lame........2007-03-28

diary was my first and perhaps last chuck palahniuk experience (other than watching fight club, the movie, which i really liked). i was expecting so much... i love weird diluted subversive fiction, and i'd heard good things, but i was sorely disappointed. the writing was not good, nor was the story. it kept me interested (hence the 2 stars); i wanted to keep reading, but the main reason was that i was waiting for it to get good, and it just... didn't.

my main complaint was how obnoxiously repetitive this thing was. i'll be the first to admit that, when used properly, repitition can work well. it didn't here. it was just excrutiating. especially that chapter (take a drink) about misty marie's waitressing job (take another drink)... it was laughable (take 2 drinks) in a painful, want to poke my own eyes out or knee chuck in the groin kind of way (take 5 drinks and a bottle of pills).

also, the story, which had an interesting premise (at least, so it seemed when i read the back of the book), turned out to be about as brilliant as an RL stein novel (goosebumps, anyone? ..this is coming from a former fan. read: former, as in when i was 10.) it went on and on (about half of it was comprised of repetition, not that much even happened), and the ending-- the twist (stupid and far-fetched and not at all brilliant) was more like a suggestion to bear left.

the story is basically: there's this fat ugly woman named misty marie, towards whom i felt utterly neutral (other than perhaps a slight annoyance at her mental density) and her weird comatose husband who liked to stick brooches through his nipples (which chuck loved to describe in detail each and every pointless time) and who [almost] kills himself, leaving behind weird&crazy messages in houses he worked on as a contractor. on an island. with a bunch of creepy island people... "why dont you do art anymore? i dont want to. do art! no. my husband is in a coma and is all curled up like a fetal pig. do art! no. do art! no. do art! ok. [insert art.] misty gets skinny. [insert stupid plot twist.] [insert random italian man in tight leather pants.] [insert unnecessary gross description of man pulling earring out of ear and leaving 2 flaps of bloody skin behind.]"

think i'm being irritating? try reading diary.

Average customer rating:

the best opening line EVER!
Fantastic Read
Decent read, but a let down considering the Chuck plug.
The honesty shines through her unreal world
A Superb Truth for the Baloneytown and Rubber Chicken in All of Us ...

Clown Girl: A Novel
Monica Drake
Manufacturer: Hawthorne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0976631156

Book Description

Clown Girl lives in Baloneytown, a seedy neighborhood where drugs, balloon animals, and even rubber chickens contribute to the local currency. Against a backdrop of petty crime, she struggles to live her dreams, calling on cultural masters Charlie Chaplin, Kafka, and da Vinci for inspiration. In an effort to support herself and her layabout performance-artist boyfriend, Clown Girl finds herself unwittingly transformed into a "corporate clown," trapping herself in a cycle of meaningless, high-paid gigs that veer dangerously close to prostitution. Monica Drake has created a novel that riffs on the high comedy of early film stars — most notably Chaplin and W. C. Fields — to raise questions of class, gender, economics, and prejudice. Resisting easy classification, this debut novel blends the bizarre, the humorous, and the gritty with stunning skill.

Customer Reviews:

the best opening line EVER!.......2007-06-15

i have to say that most times when an author i like pawns thier name out to sell another book im usually left wanting. but this book hooked me on the first line. what better way to start a story than with "balloon tying for christ"? well bravo to the author. the tone and wit about this book runs deep bellow the surface... a formitable arch rival indeed mister Palahniuk. Miss Drake will sit among my new favorite writers for some time to come...

Fantastic Read.......2007-05-25

I was a bit skeptical about a book that claimed to be in Chuck P's literary style - because nothing beats Chuck! BUT i was very pleasantly suprised to find out that this is a fantastic read that I have a hard time putting down! I would definately recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a witty, clever, well written novel that has some Chuck P. in it! Fantastic opening act Monike Drake!!!

Decent read, but a let down considering the Chuck plug........2007-05-15

The book is an easy read but the story is boring. I was expecting more.

The honesty shines through her unreal world.......2007-05-04

A great book that left me craving to know more about Nita, and the possiblites of her life in Baloneytown. She is honest, sexy, dark, and hilarious, dealing with strife only a clown recieves. I recommend this book to anyone whos ever dreamt of another world where sex, drugs, and rubber chickens speculate the high life. Good job Monica Drake, I dont know whats in the water up there in Portland but keep doing what your are doing. Thank you Chuck Palahniuk for recommending it. Bravo.

A Superb Truth for the Baloneytown and Rubber Chicken in All of Us ... .......2007-04-24

So Monica Drake's debut, Clown Girl is truly amazing. Baloneytown is the hometown of Nita (aka: Sniffles the Clown). It is not anytown America ... it is really an unreal world ... surreal in almost every way except its constant presence of reality-seeped pain, strife, and struggle.

This book took me weeks to read ... a rare occurence for me. It took me this long not because I was not enjoying myself but because I found myself identifying with Sniffles more than I think I have ever identified with another character. I did not find myself identifying with her religious icon balloon forming, her rubber nose ... actually until now I was afraid of clowns. Though I still do not want to meet a clown in a dark alley or in my dark dreams anytime soon ... but I do feel I have lost a rubber chicken, at least metaphorically.

Sniffles' displaced and hopeless feelings, loss, and complete confusion within her world, as well as her bouts of sadness was what sometimes made this a tough read for me. This book was chock full of great truth and an ugly-beauty that is rare and priceless in contemporary fiction. Drake's writing style and quirky, even sometimes other-worldly observations always kept me extremely excited, entertained, and constantly moved.

It is also a book I will value because of its existence in my life when so many changes were happening -- discoveries and finally maybe finding that rubber chicken I (and all of us) so desire to find.

Average customer rating:

It Shoots Itself In The Foot
Parts do not equal a whole...
Yuck for Chuck
Engrossing, page turner
This is not "A Novel"

Haunted: A Novel
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400032822
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Book Description

Haunted is a novel made up of twenty-three horrifying, hilarious, and stomach-churning stories. They’re told by people who have answered an ad for a writer’s retreat and unwittingly joined a “Survivor”-like scenario where the host withholds heat, power, and food. As the storytellers grow more desperate, their tales become more extreme, and they ruthlessly plot to make themselves the hero of the reality show that will surely be made from their plight. This is one of the most disturbing and outrageous books you’ll ever read, one that could only come from the mind of Chuck Palahniuk.

Customer Reviews:

It Shoots Itself In The Foot.......2007-06-26

I like this book. I want to love it. But I can't. It is entirely way too long. This book could have been cut in half and become an amazing story, instead it lingers on and on and on and on and on for over 400 pages. 24 stories. Too many characters. By the end of the book it felt like a chore. This book had so much potential. Starting off with Guts made it seem unstoppable. Oh but it did. After about 200 pages of which I remember nothing great about, I started thinking about cutting off my own fingers. I did NOT want to turn another page. But I did. Finished it today, and I no longer want to read any more of his novels.

As of now I've tackled 4 of his novels. Fight Club and Survivor were amazing. Choke left me wanting, and Haunted left me dissapointed.

Parts do not equal a whole..........2007-06-16

Haunted struck me as a gimmick: A collection of short stories and (poorly written) poetry, strung together by a thin main plot. Throw in a glow in the dark cover, and you have a marketing package fit for an R.L. Stine book.

The stories themselves are miss and hit. I enjoyed many of them immensely, such as Gut, the most famous of the collection, which, supposedly, caused 22 people to faint during Palahniuk's readings of the story, which is about the sexual experiments of three boys which all end in disaster, Obsolete, a Sci-Fi story about a world that has found heaven on Venus, and devises a plan to force 'immigration' on the world's population, Foot Work, about practitioners of alternative medicine turned prostitutes and assassins, and Dog Years, about...well, this one is best read fresh. Palahniuk has a talent for concocting strange and humorous situations, and creating interesting characters. Note that interesting does not mean well developed. Many of his characters are simply a collection of eccentricities.

Some of the other stories, such as Dissertation and Green Room, left me puzzled, and not in a good way. I simply didn't get them. But perhaps that's my fault.

I intended to write a summary of each story, but in reading the list of them, I've forgotten what many of them were about. Take from that what you will.

Given Palahniuk's talent for memorable characters, it's strange that the main characters of the main plot, the glue that holds this collection together, or holds it down, depending on perspective, seemed like the same person. The flat characters may have been Palahniuk's intent, given the heavy-handed symbolism of the novel. But instead of leaving me enlightened, it left me yawning.

The plot also left me incredulous. That so many people would mutilate themselves for their fifteen minutes is unlikely, and that none of them died from infection or blood loss is unlikely.

Yes, we get it. Reality TV is bad. A message doesn't make a good book, especially a message widely accepted.

Is this book worth reading? Yes, if you've read Palahniuk and know what to expect. I enjoyed the gross-out, which often bordered on gratuitous, because I'm used to it. But others may only be disgusted, instead of delighted AND disgusted. If you do decide to give this one a go, get it from the library or the second-hand book store, and skip the main plot and the poems. Pretend this is a book of short stories, and not a novel of them.

Yuck for Chuck.......2007-06-01

I love Chuck Palahniuk's work - I've read everything. This one seemed desparate, though. Palahniuk has always been creatively sick, and frankly, that's what I've loved. And although, this book was sick, and I'll even give it creative, the two didn't blend well together. The premise was terrific, and I had high hopes. The execution, however, was just plain hard to stomach. I don't want to read chapter after chapter of people starving to death, detailed descriptions of their body fluids, and a blow by blow of the disintegration of civility. That was done much better in Lord of the Flies. The book also has one of the worst endings I've ever read. Love Chuck - hate this book

Engrossing, page turner.......2007-05-13

I liked this book. Chuck has his own style and he keeps it alive and kicking in this book. Once you get started in this book it moves along very well, the stories keep you glued,some shocking others thought provoking either way it's a good fun read. I didn't give it 5 stars because I didn't care for the Ending but if your a fan of Chuck like I am this is a must read.

This is not "A Novel".......2007-05-10

This is what's happened here, folks, if you're curious. Short story collections are very hard to sell - many bestselling authors will merely do okay with their short story collections, with a few exceptions. So what this author has done is collected a bunch of stories over the years and tried to milk the collection for the same kind of sales he'd get for a novel. The result is: some quite good shock-value short stories tied together very tenuously indeed, to a thin convoluted plot concerning not characters but a bunch of odd names. Characters? What characters? Each is identical, aside a few details we're told about, as opposed to shown. Each has identical motivation, speech, and defects. They all react identically to each situation. In reality you'd be flat out finding one person so demented he'd be willing to cannibalize others just for fame and money, yet I'm supposed to accept there are more than a dozen of them here. The book is a cynical fake, in its intent and its tone.

The passages between short stories took all my determination to keep reading. Such flat, ineffectual, insincere padding I don't think I've ever encountered before. The poems? Thankfully they were short. The short stories? They weren't all bad, although why anyone would accuse the author of possessing literary merit I don't know - it's shock value, gross-out humour. Nothing wrong with that, but there's something wrong with falsely advertising this book as a novel.

Rant - Limited Edition: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

Average customer rating:

Rant - Limited Edition: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
Chuck Palahniuk
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385523297
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Book Description

The Rant Limited Edition is specially packaged in a one-piece preprinted case, printed black, with the title created in spot gloss; a 4-color slipcase that matches the original jacket of the trade book; a 1/8" ribbon marker; a signed tip-in sheet, speckled edges; and an exclusive 1300-word "Automotive Afterword" entitled "Recipes for Disasters" which is not available in print anywhere but only in this limited edition.

“Like most people I didn’t meet Rant Casey until after he was dead. That’s how it works for most celebrities: After they croak, their circle of friends just explodes…”

Rant is the mind-bending new novel from Chuck Palahniuk, the literary provocateur responsible for such books as the generation-defining classic Fight Club and the pedal-to-the-metal horrorfest Haunted. It takes the form of an oral history of one Buster “Rant” Casey, who may or may not be the most efficient serial killer of our time.

“What ‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon was to typhoid, what Gaetan Dugas was to AIDS, and Liu Jian Lun was to SARS, Buster Casey would become for rabies.”

A high-school rebel who always wins (and a childhood murderer?), Rant Casey escapes from his small hometown of Middleton for the big city. He becomes the leader of an urban demolition derby called Party Crashing. On appointed nights participants recognize each other by such designated car markings as “Just Married” toothpaste graffiti and then stalk and crash into each other. Rant Casey will die a spectacular highway death after which his friends gather testimony needed to build an oral history of his short, violent life. Their collected anecdotes explore the possibility that his saliva caused a silent urban plague of rabies and that he found a way to escape the prison house of linear time…

“The future you have, tomorrow, won’t be the same future you had, yesterday.”
–Rant Casey

Expect hilarity, horror, and blazing insight into the desperate and surreal contemporary human condition as only Chuck Palahniuk can deliver it. He's the postmillennial Jonathan Swift, the visionary to watch to learn what's–uh-oh–coming next.

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