Print Isn’t Dead

It’s not Halloween season anymore, but despite this fact…I think there is still room for a scary story. One such story is Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. This is Palahniuk’s most bizarre book. Not only is it bizarre, but it is incredibly disgusting. The stories are creepy and gory and I almost couldn’t finish it. I do not have a weak stomach and I am very hard to offend, but this book almost made me throw up. The novel is a collection of stories written by the members of a secret writer’s retreat. The retreat went horribly wrong when all the writers were locked in the building indefinitely. The characters tell their own disgusting and disturbing stories intermittently with the narration that furthers the main plot. The depiction of what the writers do to each other while locked in the house is disgusting and horrible. This is not a book I would suggest that anyone read unless they can handle something extremely vile. I had to force myself to finish this book, so I can’t exactly recommend it to anyone.

Survivor , by Chuck Palahniuk, is a very unique and amusing book.  The story revolves around a main character who is a surviving member of a suicide cult.  Like most Palahniuk novels, this book is written with an unusual story telling style.  The book is narrated to a black box in a plane on its way to crash.  The main character tells his story to the black box so that he will be gone by the time everyone finds out about his life.  This book is not my favorite, but it is still definitely worth reading.  The main character is an ex cult member who is now an indentured servant.  All of Palahniuk’s books are peppered with the most random facts that he claims are true.  For example, in this book, the main character is constantly referring to helpful unconventional cleaning tips.  This little break from the story is always amusing to me.  The book is also interesting because it begins at the end.  From the first page you know that he is on a plane on its way to crash, but the story that follows is so fascinating that I almost forgot about the plane crash a few chapters in.  Survivor  isn’t the greatest book, but it is a great book.

As a fan of Chuck Palahniuk, I was most disappointed by this book. Diary: A Novel is actually an interesting book, but it was just not my cup of tea. It is the story of an ex art student who moves to Waytansea Island. This is an island that is being overrun by tourists, and the inhabitants of the island are not very happy about this. The main character’s husband is in a coma, leaving his wife and daughter to live with his mother. The story is extremely bizarre and complicated, like most Palahniuk novels, but this one takes bizarre to another level. The story unfolds to expose a very complicated conspiracy perpetrated by the inhabitants of Waytansea Island. The book is a bit slow going, and the repetitive nature of the storytelling gets a little bit irritating after a while. All of my friends who have read Diary agree that this is Palahniuks least impressive book. I hate to say it, but I do not recommend this book.

Last Christmas, I went to Colorado to visit a friend. Unfortunately, after my one week stay, enough snow had piled up in Denver that they had to close the airport for a few days. The airport had been closed so long that hundreds of people were stuck there, which made the check in for my flight very, very delayed. After waiting for 3 hours in the security checkpoint line, I had missed my flight. Because of this, I had more than a few hours to kill in the terminal waiting for a new flight. I headed straight to the bookstore to see what was left for me to entertain myself with. While looking for a Chuck Palahniuk book that I hadn’t already read, I stumbled upon Fugitives and Refugees. I read the whole thing between the wait for my flight, and the entire trip back to Oklahoma. This book made me want to not only visit Portland, but also possibly live there. Palahniuk gives you the inside scoop on all the unknown aspects of Portland that a visitor may not always get to see. He mentions many haunted destinations one could visit in Portland as well as other quirky spots such as the 1940s Self- Cleaning House. This is a great book to read if you’re trying to pick out a place to go on a road trip, and maybe if I ever get to Portland, I’ll see you at the world’s largest hairball.

Chuck Palahniuk’s latest book, Rant, was a very pleasant surprise to me. For whatever reason, I had no idea Palahniuk had a new book out when my friend told me about it. As soon as I could, I had the bookstore order it for me. Once I started reading, I absolutely couldn’t stop. After being slightly disappointed by the last couple of Palahniuk books, Rant was especially wonderful. This book is written in a way I have never seen before. The entire book is about a man named Rant Casey, but we never actually get to hear from him. The book is written chapter by chapter by different people who knew Rant. You get to hear about his childhood and adult life from various acquaintances of his. The book is not only a personal story about a man, but is also a futuristic almost science fiction book. Science fiction is by no means one of my favorite genres, but Palahniuk does it in a way that was definitely palate-able. Rant is going to be my new book that I try to make all of my friends read.

As a close second to Lullaby , Invisible Monsters holds a very important position in my most loved books hierarchy. This book was the second Chuck Palahniuk book I ever read, and I loved it almost as much as I loved Lullaby. This story shows the life of a former model. One day, while driving down the freeway, a beautiful girl gets her jaw blown off by a shotgun. The rest of the story shows how this disfigurement affects her life. Her so-called friends disappear and she gets new ones. This plot may not sound funny at all, but I assure you- it is hilarious. I should qualify that statement by mentioning that it is only hilarious if you are not easily offended or grossed out. Also it is only funny if you have a very dark sense of humor like mine. Palahniuk’s books are filled with disgusting imagery and dirty words. If this offends you, I don’t suggest that you read this book, or any of his books. Invisible Monsters is a wonderfully hilarious book written in a very unique style. It has completely unanticipated twists and turns and I couldn’t put it down. This book is for anyone with a cynical point of view.

There is one book in my collection that I never actually have with me. This is because I am constantly loaning it out to everyone, or rather, forcing it on everyone. This is one of my most favorite books in the universe. Lullaby is not only my favorite Palahniuk book, but it could easily be my favorite book in general. It was the first Palahniuk book I ever read, so that may be why I fell in love with it so much. I had never read anything quite like it before and the ideas and plot points were so wonderfully bizarre I couldn’t put it down. The idea of a song that can kill people just by thinking it is so strange and interesting. Also, what that kind of power will do to people is fascinating to me as well. This book was a very quick read for me just because it is the type of book that I just can’t put down. The people I lend it to (or force to read it) often like it too. This book has helped me convert many of my friends and family to Chuck Palahniuk fans. Of all the books I talk about on this site, Lullaby is the one I want everyone to read as soon as possible.

This post is important because unlike all the other posts, this is one about a book that I did not like very much. All through college I have heard wonderful things about Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk. Many of my friends suggested that I read the book. They said it was wonderful, and that it was his best work. After a few years of hearing this, I decided to pick it up. I bought the book and took it home to begin reading. I started reading it with very high expectations, and this may be why I was so disappointed. After reading the first 4 chapters, I decided that I am not a fan of this book. It isn’t horrible by any means, it’s a perfectly good book…but it certainly isn’t my favorite. I found that I had to force myself to finish it. The plot, or lack thereof, didn’t catch my imagination. It was interesting, but just not interesting enough. I didn’t hate this book, but I certainly would not go around telling people it was wonderful and that they should read it. I would only suggest that if you are a fan of Palahniuk, you should give it a try and see if you like it. I won’t make any guarantees, but I don’t think this book is for everyone.

It may be a stretch to call this a book.  It is technically a book, but it is more of a collection of items published in a book format.  This is another one of my coffee table books and also has a place on my list of favorite books.  There is a magazine called Found Magazine that prints copies of little pictures or notes that people send in.  When you are walking down the street and see a paper blowing in the wind, you should pick it up.  After you pick it up, you can read it.  If you find that it is a lost love note that someone accidentally dropped, you mail it to Davy Rothbart.  He then puts it in his book, and I buy it.  That is the process that results in a fantastic book like Found.  There are millions of pictures people find in attics, or little notes people write to themselves.  Examples of these artifacts are printed in this book and provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of strangers.  There are funny pictures that children have drawn.  There are hate notes that people have found stapled to trees.  All of these little things are in Found and made me realize that everyone is just the same and everyone leaves behind proof.  This book is so unique that everyone should at least pick it up and look through it, if not buy it for all of their loved ones for Christmas.

Yet again, this is a David Sedaris book that features many stories about his family and friends. This book is on par with the rest of his books- absolutely hilarious. The stories in this book are extremely funny, but this book provides an extra insight into his life. After reading books about his mom, dad, brother and sisters, I never really considered how they felt about being written about in best selling books. Sedaris sells millions of books, and millions of people just like me read them cover to cover. I never really thought about the fact that the people in the books are real, and they may not be too happy about being written about. In Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim, David’s sister Laura complains about being in a movie based on his book, Naked . I actually felt sorry for her because if a movie was made out of that book, everyone would want to watch it because it would be funny. This would be bad for her because it would contain many personal memories she and her family share from their past. I don’t want this little insight into the book to make it seem like it isn’t funny, because it definitely is, and no book collection is complete without it.