Rant

By: Chuck Palahniuk

Narrated by: various

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Chuck Palahniuk, the author of the New York Times best-sellers Fight Club and Lullaby, is known for his edgy novels, and Rant is no exception. Palahniuk presents this fictional biography of Buster "Rant" Casey in a series of vignettes told by the people who knew him best. As intricate as a spider web, Rant succeeds in recounting the story of one man's life only through the eyes of others. But the question remains, "Who was Rant Casey?"

©2007 Chuck Palahniuk (P)2007 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"This dark religious parable (there's even a resurrection) from the master of grotesque excess may not attract new readers, but it will delight old ones." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Outrageous but not quite over the top, full of energetic humor, Rant...is a memorable portrait of the cults that gather around authentically different people and a portrait of dystopia that feels unsettlingly contemporary." ( Booklist)

like previous versions

If you loved Fight Club and want more of the same look no further here comes more shock and shlock. I have to give kudos to Chuck for mixing a tired scifi tale with some shock and awe mystery to twist things up and telling it feels like reality show interviews. While the innovation and creativity is to applauded the tale itself is forced and tiring. Just like Fight Club there are some great one liners, but there's not enough to save it in the end. I had trouble getting into the written book, but Audible has a recording that is a veritable listening feast with the number of readers. Personally, I give the audible version a 3 but the tale itself barely makes a 2.5.

A story that makes you think!

Disease epidemic, the future, neurology, time travel. yes please!
the story is choppy, as it is told by many characters about the main character, Rant. but I enjoyed a different style. it makes you think and put the puzzle together however you want. my fav of chucks so far.

Read after experiencing COVID-19

Highly recommend reading this!
Rant features an epidemic gone wrong with parallels to COVID-19 in how people respond to the disease and the book follows its history and origin in the legendary character of Rant Casey!

//TW: Adult themes prevalent, discusses rape throughout book, one chapter depicts said rape.

Read it

This book is a complete mindfu**.

LOVE. I read this book over and over and it never disappoints me. The narrators are INCREDIBLE. And the writing is so wonderfully disgusting.
The audiobook version of this seemed a lot easier for me to follow than the hardback itself.

Great Audiobook

It was a great listen, the different characters' voices add to the story. Worth a listen and a credit.

A unique read

Always a fan of Mr Palahniuk. This is no exception.
Possibly my favorite of his work.

Fun twist

The twist at about 2/3 through was fun. The last couple hours of the book were great. Leading up to that point was only mildly interesting

After finishing it the first I had to read it again and everything was there in the beginning.

Wow this book is amazing. I love how the builds builds the world around the main character and leaves the juiciest part as the twist that can’t be missed. I had to reread it and just the first couple chapters had more depth knowing how the ending went. The universe he created should be delved into futher. I seen rumors online that it was the first of a trilogy but their hasn’t been any news of that matter. But yeah you should check it out. Right up there or even ranked higher than fight club. (Which gets referenced in the book.)

Great on audiobook

This is one of the best audiobooks I've ever owned. The book was actually much easier to follow in spoken form vs written form. The character voices were great! I would recomend listening to this on audiobook over reading the hardcopy any day.

As for the story, just like other Palahniuk tales it is strange, captivating and just plain gross at times. It's occasionally hard to follow, but it's a story that will make you think. I've listened to it three times now and every time I've caught something new that I missed the time before. I can't wait for a sequel!

violent postmodern genre stew performed well

It seems like there's an abrupt genre shift partway through. The Recorded Books Repertory Company does a fantastic job, every single character has nuance and life. I don't know that this book would have kept me engaged had I read it in the traditional format.

Lots of folksy anecdotes and commentary from specialists in their field awkwardly segues into a sci-fi future where urbanites have Night and Day castes and bizarre hobbies. Oh and convoluted time travel.

So if you liked Donnie Darko, you'll probably like this.