Most helpful customer reviews
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inverse Wow, Jul 19 2006
Chuck Palahniuk is most known as the author of Fight Club, the book that became the movie with Brad Pitt and Ed Norton; and overnight Palahniuk had a cult following. Erie, scary, and terrifying; if I had to use three words to describe this book, that would be it. Robert A. Heinlien the classic Science Fiction author once quipped "One man's theology is another man's belly laugh." of this book I would state, 'One man's perversion is another man's pleasure." This book will hit both, depending on who you are and your sensibilities.
This book is a collection of short stories, written by characters who are on a writer's retreat. They all responded to an ad to "give up three months of your life and create the masterpiece you have always said you would". Each of the 18 respondents had an idea of where they would be going - to a large country estate, a camp in the woods; yet the reality is they get locked into an old ornate theatre house. They have food, shelter, and facilities, yet all doors are locked, all windows bricked over and no way out.
From there the book becomes a cross between Fear Factor, Survivor and your most feared horror story. We see the depths to which people will descend to achieve fame and riches. Palahniuk, during the current book tour, was reading the first story called 'Guts' and to date there have been 63 people who have passed out with many people being injured falling into book cases in book stores. This book will at times, turn your stomach, but will give you an understanding of the darkest side of human nature.
Readers beware! This book is like the fight club movie on super steroids.
(First Printed in Imprint 2005-06-03 as 'Fight Club author gets Haunted')
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, Jul 19 2006
Chuck Palahniuk is most known as the author of Fight Club, the book that became the movie with Brad Pitt and Ed Norton; and overnight Palahniuk had a cult following. Erie, scary, and terrifying; if I had to use three words to describe this book, that would be it. Robert A. Heinlien the classic Science Fiction author once quipped "One man's theology is another man's belly laugh." of this book I would state, 'One man's perversion is another man's pleasure." This book will hit both, depending on who you are and your sensibilities.
This book is a collection of short stories, written by characters who are on a writer's retreat. They all responded to an ad to "give up three months of your life and create the masterpiece you have always said you would". Each of the 18 respondents had an idea of where they would be going - to a large country estate, a camp in the woods; yet the reality is they get locked into an old ornate theatre house. They have food, shelter, and facilities, yet all doors are locked, all windows bricked over and no way out.
From there the book becomes a cross between Fear Factor, Survivor and your most feared horror story. We see the depths to which people will descend to achieve fame and riches. Palahniuk, during the current book tour, was reading the first story called 'Guts' and to date there have been 63 people who have passed out with many people being injured falling into book cases in book stores. This book will at times, turn your stomach, but will give you an understanding of the darkest side of human nature.
Readers beware! This book is like the fight club movie on super steroids.
(First Printed in Imprint 2005-06-03 as 'Fight Club author gets Haunted')
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Haunted [Review for Ms.Clark D2 P4], Mar 28 2006
Chuck Palahniuk is, in my opinion an amazing writer. He's able to incorporate the wisdoms of everyday life with euphism. Every book of his I've stumbled across on, I've considered a work of art. Haunted is a story about 23 different people, in all areas of society being drawn together by a flier which dictates, "Writers' Retreat: Abandon Your Life For Three Months.". Lured in by an old man, Mr Whittier, these individuals all christened a name depicting the story of their life (Saint Gut Free, Mother Nature,ect)go on to tell a tale. I think myself a quite open minded person, but after reading the first tale, I felt bombarded with gruesome imagery. It was a while before I picked up the book again, although I must say it was worth it. These are the stories which fuel society's gossips, the ones that start, "Oh I heard once from a friend that this.." surreptitiously whispered and shared amongst many circles of friends. Horrying, yet intriguing. I find the general plotline that consists each person being more and more desparate in hopes of starring in a tale which will glorify their own mortality, not as exciting as the single stories. It was hard to get drawn into the main plot when you kept being interrupted by a poem and a story by one of the 23 characters. I find it easy to relate to Palahniuk's writing style; articulate and verbose, everchanging to convey a point, and always running off on a number of different tangets. It is probably the reason which I love his work so much. There's so much real and fictionalized information compacted in each book, that you feel the need to read it once, or twice, or maybe even thrice. Just something of substance that will always be mystified in your head.
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