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Survivor
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When a listless office employee (the narrator) meets Tyler Durden, his life begins to take on a strange new dimension. Together they form Fight Club - a secretive underground group sponsoring bloody bare-knuckle boxing matches staged in seedy alleys, vacant warehouses, and dive-bar basements. Fight Club lets ordinary men vent their suppressed rage, and it quickly develops a fanatical following.
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Not bad...
- By Nate_D on 04-11-14
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Oh please, not another abridged!!!
- By Pamela on 10-26-03
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I loved this!!
- By Carol on 03-23-12
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Lullaby
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New York Times best-selling author of Fight Club, which was adapted into a major motion picture, Chuck Palahniuk offers a haunting tale. Winner of the Northwest Booksellers Association Award, Palahniuk is one of the rare literary geniuses who has been able to bridge the gap between a cult following and commercial success.
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Palahniuk's New Hit
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American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Kurt Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of grey with a verdict that will haunt us all. Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense.
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“We are what we pretend to be”
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Haunted
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Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: 23 of them, to be precise. Twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter, sometimes all at once. They are told by people who have answered an ad headlined "Writers' Retreat: Abandon Your Life for Three Months", and who are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of "real life" that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them.
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True Horror -- Not for the faint of heart, stomach
- By Dominique on 05-24-05
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Fight Club
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When a listless office employee (the narrator) meets Tyler Durden, his life begins to take on a strange new dimension. Together they form Fight Club - a secretive underground group sponsoring bloody bare-knuckle boxing matches staged in seedy alleys, vacant warehouses, and dive-bar basements. Fight Club lets ordinary men vent their suppressed rage, and it quickly develops a fanatical following.
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Not bad...
- By Nate_D on 04-11-14
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Choke
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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.
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Oh please, not another abridged!!!
- By Pamela on 10-26-03
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Invisible Monsters
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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.
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I loved this!!
- By Carol on 03-23-12
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Lullaby
- By: Chuck Palahniuk
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New York Times best-selling author of Fight Club, which was adapted into a major motion picture, Chuck Palahniuk offers a haunting tale. Winner of the Northwest Booksellers Association Award, Palahniuk is one of the rare literary geniuses who has been able to bridge the gap between a cult following and commercial success.
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Palahniuk's New Hit
- By RockyToTheMoon on 01-12-05
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Mother Night
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Overall
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Performance
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American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Kurt Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of grey with a verdict that will haunt us all. Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense.
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“We are what we pretend to be”
- By Robert on 09-04-12
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Haunted
- By: Chuck Palahniuk
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Performance
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Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: 23 of them, to be precise. Twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter, sometimes all at once. They are told by people who have answered an ad headlined "Writers' Retreat: Abandon Your Life for Three Months", and who are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of "real life" that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them.
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True Horror -- Not for the faint of heart, stomach
- By Dominique on 05-24-05
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Damned
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“Are you there, Satan? It’s me, Madison,” declares the whip-tongued 13-year-old narrator of Damned, Chuck Palahniuk’s subversive new work of fiction. The daughter of a narcissistic film star and a billionaire, Madison is abandoned at her Swiss boarding school over Christmas, while her parents are off touting their new projects and adopting more orphans. She dies over the holiday of a marijuana overdose—and the next thing she knows, she’s in Hell.
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As a new Chuck Palahniuk reader, I liked it a lot!
- By William R. on 01-18-12
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Adjustment Day
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People pass the word only to those they trust most: Adjustment Day is coming. They've been reading a mysterious blue-black book and memorizing its directives. They are ready for the reckoning.
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Hard to listen to
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Invisible Monsters Remix
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Injected with new material, Invisible Monsters Remix fulfills Chuck Palahniuk’s original vision for his 1999 novel, moving a daring satire on beauty and the fashion industry even further into a wildly unique listening experience. Palahniuk’s fashion-model protagonist has it all - boyfriend, career, loyal best friend - until an accident destroys her face, her ability to speak, and her self-esteem. Enter Brandy Alexander, queen supreme, one operation away from becoming a bonafide woman.
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Read the book or get the original audio version
- By Tango on 06-19-12
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Diary
- A Novel
- By: Chuck Palahniuk
- Narrated by: Martha Plimpton
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
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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. It is a dark, hilarious, and poignant act of storytelling from America's favorite, most inventive nihilist.
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The uninitiated need not apply
- By Benjamin Johns on 07-10-04
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Rant
- By: Chuck Palahniuk
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- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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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?"
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4 for Creativity
- By Tech Nut on 08-04-07
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Pygmy
- By: Chuck Palahniuk
- Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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"Begins here first account of operative me, agent number 67, on arrival Midwestern American airport....Code name: Operation Havoc." Thus speaks Pygmy, one of a handful of young adults from a totalitarian state sent to the U.S. disguised as exchange students to live with typical American families and blend in, all the while planning an unspecified attack of massive terrorism
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A Kinder, Gentler Chuck
- By Maude Lebowski on 05-30-09
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No Country for Old Men
- By: Cormac McCarthy
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Cormac McCarthy, best-selling author of National Book Award winner All the Pretty Horses, delivers his first new novel in seven years. Written in muscular prose, No Country for Old Men is a powerful tale of the West that moves at a blistering pace.
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Typical McCarthy: SUPERB
- By David on 02-21-08
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Cat's Cradle
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Tony Roberts
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Cat's Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist; a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer; and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat's Cradle is one of this century's most important works...and Vonnegut at his very best.
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KV at his best.
- By Robert on 06-22-12
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Snuff
- By: Chuck Palahniuk
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Cassie Wright, porn priestess, intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication. On camera. With 600 men. Snuff unfolds from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, and Mr. 600, who await their turn on camera in a very crowded green room. This wild, lethally funny, and thoroughly researched novel brings the huge yet underacknowledged presence of pornography in contemporary life into the realm of literary fiction at last. Who else but Chuck Palahniuk would dare do such a thing? Who else could do it so well, so unflinchingly, and with such an incendiary (you might say) climax?
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It is worth the read.
- By Dean on 01-17-13
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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- A Novel
- By: Haruki Murakami
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 26 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat - and then for his wife as well - in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists.
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Wonderful book, flawed narration.
- By REBECCA on 02-08-14
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Cloud Atlas
- A Novel
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan's California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified "dinery server" on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation: the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other's echoes down the corridor of history.
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I laughed often with the kindly Mr. Cavendish
- By Aaron on 08-23-12
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Minority Report and Other Stories (Unabridged Stories)
- By: Philip K. Dick
- Narrated by: Keir Dullea
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Viewed by many as the greatest science fiction writer on any planet, Philip K. Dick has written some of the most intriguing, original, and thought-provoking fiction of our time. This collection includes "The Minority Report," "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," "Paycheck," "Second Variety," and "The Eyes Have It."
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Nice Collection of Four P.D.K. Short Stories
- By Travis on 05-12-11
Publisher's Summary
This is author Chuck Palahniuk at his deadpan peak, a mesmerizing, unnerving, and hilarious satire on the wages of fame and the bedrock lunacy of the modern world.
Critic Reviews
"A perfect comment on our apocalypse-fixated times." (Spin)
"Brilliantly satiric and savagely funny." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Mordant....One's sympathy for the improbably doomed hero is fully engaged." (New Yorker)
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5 Stars833
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Overall
- Adam
- Chicago, IL, USA
- 09-06-08
Clues to a mystery...
The thing that I've always liked about Chuck P's books is that they are generally less about story and more about odd coincidence. In answering one burning question about a character, he generally opens about ten new mysteries, and that makes his work really compelling. This book is no different, though I felt it dragged a bit in the last quarter. Still, he's never predictable, always surprising, and often disturbing -- a trio of characteristics that keep me coming back for more. If you travel through a Chuck P novel without running across an image that sticks with you for the rest of your life, then you're probably dead from the belly button both directions.
32 of 36 people found this review helpful
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- Kendall
- Rockaway, NJ, USA
- 08-04-08
Glad I Tried It!
After reading the reviews on this book I thought what the heck, why not give it a read. I did and I'm not disappointed. Even though we knew the ending at the start it was a fun getting there. I will now search more by this author.
17 of 19 people found this review helpful
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- R. Flaherty
- KY United States
- 05-02-13
Whew...It's Over.
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Mr. Palahniuk has a style of writing that I would describe as a rollercoaster ride. While some of his stories are fast paced, exciting and fun; this ride left me drained and feeling queasy. When the narration was over, I was happy to lift the safety bar and leave. Your experience may be different though.
What could Chuck Palahniuk have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Enjoyable? There are some quirky, insightful points of view in the story. However, I don't see how this book could ever come off as an enjoyable read.
Have you listened to any of Paul Garcia’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Paul Garcia, is a great narrator with a wide range of voices. He is good. His narration was what got me through to the end. I will search for other performances/narrations by him.
Could you see Survivor being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Sadly, yes. There is a character in this book called the Agent. I can see a Hollywood "Agent" type turning this book into some superficial CGI. There would be some irony there.
Any additional comments?
I hope this review is helpful. I admit that I am not an English Lit major and don't know much about tropes or styles of writing. I’ve listened to the finish and this review is really, just one guy's opinion. Read all the reviews and decide if you want to jump in the pool. What the heck, go ahead and listen to it. Then, figure out if you went into the deep end or the shallow end of the pool. You might like it. - I dare you.
52 of 63 people found this review helpful
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- AudioAddict
- 10-29-15
One. Messed. Up. Book.
STORY (fiction) - This book starts out really, really good. The main character, Tender Branson, is talking into the flight recorder of a plane about to crash. He's alone on the plane, and he is telling his life story. Sounds good, right? It gets better. As the story progresses, you learn he's the sole survivor of a strange religious cult (which is fictitious), and he has become depressed and suicidal. If the story just kind of stuck along those lines, I may have rated it five stars. But then it gets weird. I mean SERIOUSLY weird. As Tender tells his story, you will hear how he changes from a member of an ultra-strict religious cult into a messiah with a mass following. He takes steroids and all kinds of appearance enhancers. He publishes books, appears on television, Super Bowl halftime. He has an agent dictating his every move, and a lot more.
I'm not sure if the author means to be making comments about the absurdity of modern society, but there are lots of things that Tender does or sees that address religious brainwashing, vanity, sex, pornography, suicide, our poor choice of iconic figures, etc. Believe it or not, there is a sprinkling of helpful household hints in this book, as in one "life" Tender was a domestic servant. There is also some humor, but I disagree with reviewers that call this book hilarious. Overdone to the point of ridiculous, yes, but not hilarious. In my opinion, some of the stuff toward the end was pretty sick.
PERFORMANCE - Tender is telling the story of his life to the flight data recorder, so the book is in first person. Since he is depressed and suicidal for the entire book, the narrator has a monotonous presentation, which is appropriate and well-done.
OVERALL - (Actual rating 2 1/2 stars) I really liked the beginning of the book, the middle was okay, then the last third or half I didn't care for at all, thus my overall rating of 2 1/2 stars. THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. You must be open-minded, not easily offended and prepared for the absurd. There is cursing, sexual references, pornography, you name it. And a pretty gross scene involving Tender's brother, Adam.
16 of 19 people found this review helpful
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- A
- WinnipegScotland
- 01-29-08
Sucks you in
When this book started I wasn't sure of what to make of the depressed, monotone delivery of Tender Branson's autobiography, but it quickly drew me in. Despite the fact that you know things aren't going to ending well, it just draws you in to see exactly how they got this bad. Tender follows a narrow line of puppy-dog-lost and sociopath -- but Palahniuk had me routing for this anti-hero, right up to the end. If you are looking for shiny happy people, this isn't your choice. But looking for flawed and funny people this book delivers and was a great 'listen', although I felt a little Schadenfreude about it :-)
20 of 24 people found this review helpful
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- j phillips
- TN
- 08-18-18
One hell of a ride
This one doesn't start out bizarre and fast-paced, but it sure does end up that way. Hang in there. It does not disappoint. The narrator's voice sounds a bit robotic at first, but it's probably intentional, and it ends up being perfect for this story. This is a winner. Overall rating: 4.51 stars
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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- Zachary
- 02-06-13
It had me, then it lost me.
Would you try another book from Chuck Palahniuk and/or Paul Garcia?
I like Chuck's work, especially the way he peppers the story with oddball factoids, but this is far from his best offering. It's an interesting premise, though. Paul Garcia does a commendable job. He's appropriately deadpan and animated when the story calls for it.
What was most disappointing about Chuck Palahniuk’s story?
There is one particular moment in the book that was so out of left field that it really took me out of the story. After that point, I wasn't nearly as enthralled.
Any additional comments?
Worth it for a diehard Palahniuk fan, not the best place to start for the casual reader.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful
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- Lisa
- Spokane, WA, USA
- 02-08-07
Fabulous!
Probably my favorite of Chucks's books. Terrific narrator, incredibly startling and funny. You won't be able to stop listening. It grabbed me in the first five minutes and never let go.
16 of 20 people found this review helpful
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- Daniel Ray Parker
- 03-09-08
A True Master.
Survivor is one of my favorite Palahniuk books. The way the author organizes his story is excellent. I give this book the highest recommend.
12 of 15 people found this review helpful
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- JoE Q
- 04-04-16
Great and polarizing
I loved this book so much that I've read and listened to it several times. I believe Palahniuk has created a rare possibility that mega religions and snake oil salesman are dancing partners. Society has a love affair with our own mortality and legacy, so much so, that it gives this book an eerie revelation that pulls at those memories of existence that you thought were a distant past, it exposes the fraud of an instant messiah. The sense of wanting more, but realizing that you should be satasfied, it may be a cautionary tale that hints at the thought that you may have to live a maintenanced vain struggled life. Self actualization and instant Karma may not need catalysts to be fruitful, so live in moments not preconceived packaged, polished, philosophical dogmas and life might just be partly satisfied, that's what this book tells me.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- Tom
- 06-04-10
Good and dark
I was unfamiliar with this author (apart from the film of Fight Club) but I will definatly be exploring more of his work. It is a dark novel and the author has a really good descriptive way about him. He is able to describe really mundane things and fill them with meaning. This book also contains some good cleaning tips in the course of telling his story, strange I know but you will have to listen to see what I mean. The characters are really well formed and fit perfectly into their roles.
The narration is quite dry indeed the narrator seems to inject anti drama to the character of Tender, but the story and the pace of text compliments the narrators style really well.
I really enjoyed this book although I appricate it is not everyones cup of tea.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- umsfromumbridge
- 09-23-18
good, but not great
This is good, but it isn't as good as one would expect from Palahniuk. It follows a number of dystopian tropes, and combines them all together in a fairly realistic way, particularly given the times in which we live, and certainly if you live in a capital place like LA, then you will feel the messages in this book resonate. The main character is flat and sometimes, frustrating, both as a character and the way in which Palahniuk develops him. There are few other characters that are developed to any level of detail worth mentioning. Ultimately, the book is entertaining and the story line engaging, but it ends badly and is ultimately shorter and less developed than it should be. The narrator who reads the audiobook version is good, reading in just the sort of flat monotonous way that one would expect from the character, although his female voices all sound exactly the same. (Actually, his male voices don't vary much either.) I definitely recommend the book if you are a Palahniuk fan, but don't expect another invisible monsters or fight club.
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- Gareth Galea
- 10-06-17
Gritty, irreverent, anthropologically fantastic.
Thoroughly enjoyable, and the reader really does a great job. Reveals a lot about our consumer culture.
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- Mr
- 02-09-13
truely amazing
having read, seen and listened to fight club i couldnt wait to listen to this. the book is very well written, some very interesting ideas and well formed sentences that really made me think. the narration was really good, the tone fitted the text really well.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-19-18
Fantastic story!
I think I have found a new great author to binge books of! Great story and good narration!
0 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Stuart
- 11-30-17
Great
Awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome great lovely photos movies and pics
0 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- michael
- 07-19-18
did not know what i was getting my self into
very dark and strange but worth a listen the narrator has done a good job at portraying the main character