Brilliant Short Stories wrapped in a Parody of Culture

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	• Haunted : A Novel of Stories Chuck Palahniuk Doubleday, 2005 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 185 reviews view larger image
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Brilliant Short Stories wrapped in a Parody of Culture

Twenty-three stories told in a novel about a group of people trapped in an old theater. For the chance at success, fame, and the true great story, they make their time in the theater as gruesome, as horrible, as disgusting as possible - - because the public loves that. It's a satire on reality television. It's disgusting. It's brilliant.

Perfectly Gross

This book was so shocking and disgusting I couldn't put it down! When I did, I immediately bought 3 more of his books and was not disappointed. Not for the weak stomach. Excellant shock factor.

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Great First Introduction

I just finished reading Chuck Palahniuk's latest novel "Haunted." Palahniuk, some may know, wrote the novel version of "Fight Club." He has also written four other fiction novels and a non-fiction guide to the Portland, Oregon area.

For those that are familiar with the film-adaptation of "Fight Club" they will find a similar narrative style to this novel. It is the same raw, voice-in-your-head, narration that made that movie so wonderful.

Structurally, the book is unique. It is really a collection of 23 short-stories, accompanied by 21 poems, woven into a larger, over-arching plot. Palahniuk works out a pleasant pattern of a chapter of plot, followed by a poem about one of the many main characters, followed by a story written by one of the main characters.

Palahniuk's basic premise for this book was to present "the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter -- sometimes all at once." And he delivers. The very first short-story presented had me putting the book down three separte times just to shudder or let one of those ghost-sympathy feelings play out. Other stories truly were crazy.

It pays to read the book through once, in order, as the over-arching plot is quite interesting and has many of the same qualities as the shorter-stories. The book has an index for all of the short stories and poems as well for when you want to retell them and blind-side your friends with an extreme story.

As a work of literature, "Haunted" delivers a plethora of themes and insight. Palahniuk delivers a message about humanity's need for a Devil, some evil to fight against. He tells of our true, secret love of pain and humiliation, for they are what we base our own humanity on. There is enough here, and most of it is something none of us would freely admit to, for almost everyone to identify with something. That is the beauty of this story, it is very human, and yet it is hard to accept.

"Haunted" was my first real introduction to Palahniuk's novels, and it did not dissappoint. I think I will go out and pick up "Fight Club" next, as it should be a very interesting read.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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