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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Book Review: "Rant" by Chuck Palahniuk

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
By Chuck Palahniuk ©2007
Published by Doubleday

Date I read this book: Sept. 16 - Sept 20, 2014

My rating: Four Stars! I enjoyed this book so much!

Before I recommend this book to anyone, have you read anything by Chuck Palahniuk before? If yes... You have an idea of what you're getting into and no further warning is needed. If you have not read books by this author before, (Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Diary, Lullaby, Haunted, Survivor, Choke) then fair warning should be given: this author has a way of pushing the boundaries of "acceptable" subject matter and will do his best to make the reader uncomfortable to say the least.  If you have seen "Fight Club" the movie, this will give you a good idea of his writing style. Intellectual, psychological, disturbing, fascinating.

In "Rant", the life of Buster Casey is told by the people who knew him, it is like reading sound bites from interviews. Trying to figure out who is giving you "the truth" is part of the mystery... As you read you figure out more about the people he knew and their personalities as you go.
But what is it about? I'm avoiding spoilers here but I will try to find a few words to describe the story.
Disease.
Rabies.
History.
Class. (As in separation of people by class & stature)
Government control.
Escapism.
Fate.
Crashing Cars.
Parent / Child relationships.
Sex.
Time travel.
Philosophy.
Morality.
And a whole lot of "What The F%@& Did I Just Read"? (In true Palahniuk style)

All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. When it comes to this author, there are books I loved, and books I didn't. This one fits into my "Best of Palahniuk" list along with Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, and Diary.

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