You wasted your money on Diary, that was so stupid(the story, not you buying it). The only other Palahniuk book I've read was Choke and that was alright.

The order in which I read Palahniuk determined my responses -- he's got an inflexible style (As you read with this parentheses you'll find out. You'll know. It's clear. Understand. What does it all mean? You push. And push. Forward.) that, as I read through his stuff, revealed to be his selling point: with Palahniuk it's about the style and envelope-pushing but never about character.

So, after Fight Club, I made my way through Diary, Lullaby, Choke, and then took a break. The impression that Palahniuk had some more tricks up his sleeve, beside the attitude, disappeared and it became impossible to differentiate the themes from book to book. After finishing his output with Snuff I made a quiet vow to never waste my time on the guy again; his stuff is uncomplicated, undifferentiated, and rooted 100% in attitude.

That being written, check out some Alex Garland. It's the same in terms of theme, kind of, but it's far more impressive. The Beach in particular.

I've read all of Palahniuk. My favorites in order are Survivor, Fight Club, Lullabye and then Choke. Definitely check out Alex Garland. The Beach was great despite the terrible movie.

The Average American Male. A novel. by Chad Kultgen. A very twistedly funny novel centered around the lead character's chauvinistic ways. worth reading if you like your novels with some tasteless humor and aren't easily offended.

Catch-22 is one of my favorite books. I didn't have any trouble getting through it, it took no perseverance, I thought it was one of the most hilarious things that I have ever read. Maybe I'm just wierd. I would definitely recommend seeing the movie, it stars Alan Arkin as Yossarian and even has an Orson Welles appearance. The cinematography is beautiful.

Jane Eyre is a book that I had to read for school when I was a freshman. My teacher's (the best teacher I have ever had) daughter's middle name is Charlotte, after Charlotte Bronte, the author. Yeah, I know. Overall I wasn't too impressed with this book. It represents one end of the Victorian era that I did not enjoy. I liked Heart of Darkness WAY more, it is one of my favorite books and is pretty much the opposite of Jane Eyre.

Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors. I have read most of his novels, and I have to say that Invisible Monsters is my favorite, followed closely by Survivor. Choke was alright, Lullaby was not very memorable, and Diary did not really interest me. I got about halfway through Haunted and decided that I was done with it because it was the most disgusting thing that I had ever read, and it takes a LOT to get me to do that. I consider it the Saw of literature. It also made me ponder, "Where could this possibly be going? They are all going to die, this is ridiculous."

If you've got a thread of interest left, go back and read the last story "Obsolete". It's one of the best things he's done and, as I read it when my interest in his work was in sharp decline, the most persuasive as well. It's a promise that Palahniuk can go in another direction, if he so chooses. His name might not be used often in reference to Kurt Vonnegut but this one story establishes him as a protege of sorts. It's something unlike anything else he's done and it's too wonderful to belong in the company of "Guts". Feh.

You know what, I just looked at my book shelf and I realized that the Chuck Palahnuik books I'd bought were Choke and Diary. My bad.

So begins No One Left To Lie To by Christopher Hitchens. I stumbled upon this little book (113 pages) whilst scanning the shelves of the lackluster local library. This book is all about Bill Clinton corruption. What sets this apart from other anti-Clinton books is that it attacks the man for the right reasons. The Lewinsky scandal is mentioned but only in passing or where it ties into dirty Clinton deeds (i.e. dropping bombs to draw attention elsewhere).

Insightful and disturbing yet a very short and easy read. Well worth your time if you enjoy reading about shady politicians. It's a shame it took a British journalist to write this book.

I also finished Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine by Allan MacDonell. Follow MacDonell from lowly copy editor to editor of Hustler and read firsthand accounts of some of Larry Flynt and Hustler's finer moments. The chapter about tricking Bob Livingston into resigning from Congress is pretty schnazzy. Not to mention stories of celebrity sex tapes that people tried to hawk to Hustler including one rock 'n' roll legend that was allegedly caught on tape eating fresh processed poo.

If you enjoyed that book you'd probably like this one: America's Thirty Years War: Who is Winning? by Balint Vazsonyi....also a non-native across the ponder. Looking at the current American political landscape the guy was practically prophetic in his foresight...

Just wanted to pipe in and say how much I've enjoyed reading this thread. I keep adding to the list of books i need to read.

Anyways I just finished reading Miami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman Mailer about the 1968 Republican and Democratic conventions. Man he was prophetic, especially about the decline of the Left and the rise of Reagan. It's also a great read for fans of New Journalism in general - I loved Hunter S. Thompson's stuff, now this, so I think I'll finally try some Tom Wolfe.

Wolfe is pretty cool up to around the late-1990s when he started singing the vernacular of the hip young folk. Added Miami and the Siege of Chicago to the cart at Amazon... Mailer, when steam started spouting from his ears and his eyes went red with furious, righteous Sam Jackson-like anger was one of the most entertaining blowhards on earth. And he was sharp, too!

In Mailer's movie Maidstone there is a great scene at the end, totally unscripted, when Mailer cracks Rip Torn over the head with a hammer. Rip Torn then kicks the holy living shit of Mailer... all right there on film, an accidental documentary.

And check out The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature for a great, 150 page riff on Mailer's writing style. Included therein: an essay titled "I Am Friends with a Working Class Black Woman" with the following passage:


Mailer rules and so does everyone who satirizes him.

i remember that episode! isn't it the one where they all hate and feel insulted that the davinci code is doing so well? or am i thinking of something else?

Wow, I had to hunt down that video of Rip Torn and Mailer (which wasn't too hard) and here it was: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2815238?cmpn ... id=2815238

That scene is so unbelievably bizarre. Mailer's just so calm about the whole damn thing and I'm not sure if the things he says are part of the script or not - he refers to Torn as his dad and says that Kingsley, not Mailer, must die in the picture or something. I guess I'd have to see the whole movie for it to make relative sense. And of course the woman breaking up the fight is priceless.

As for Wolfe I think I'm gonna start with The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test just because that's the "classic" and everything, but I'll definitely check out that anthology after - I love anthologies.

Books I'm reading for fun, lets see.

I'm starting to read "Chasing the Flame" by Samantha Power. It came out in 2008 and I heard has a very good account of the attack on the UN hotel in the Green Zone in 2003.

I'm also rereading "The Runaways" Volumes I-III which I loved.

Ah, Tom Wolfe. Have you read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey? If so, then I highly suggest that you read Tom Wolfe's book about Kesey called Electric Kool-aide Acid Test. Good stuff.

Finished reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road over last Sunday's afternoon and wow... it's got to be one of the most depressing and bleak novels I've ever read. My feeling towards it is comparable to Requiem for a Dream, a movie that I absolutely loved but have no desire to ever see again.

On a side note they're making a film adaptation of it starring Viggo Mortenson scheduled for release latter this year.

I finished Dracula and it was awesome.

*begin cheap plug*

I have an entry on my blog reviewing it, just written today.

*end cheap plug*

Richard Price's Lush Life. He's responsible for Clockers and Freedomland, to name a couple. He told an incredible story on This American Life that pushed me to read his latest. Like Neil Gaiman, what he writes takes second place to the way he tells his story: with endless enthusiasm.

Loved the book and am hopeful about the film, but I'd really appreciate it if they actually gave a release date. It was supposed to be released November 2008, but was pushed to Q1 2009. Since then, it's been changed to just '2009', so I guess it'll be out anytime between now and December 31st.

I just finished reading the first novel of the "Alatriste" series by Arturo Pereze Reverte. don't suppose anyone here has eve read it, but for the record, it was a very enjoyable, fun, old-fashioned adventure novel.

actually, a movie was shot with Viggo Mortensen in the lead a couple of years ago. It's called Alatriste, pretty decent adaptation. I was pleasantly surprised by by Mortensen's Spanish.