elise

See, here's my thing about Palahniuk (not that you asked, but that I'm giving freely): He's a great writer, but he's got too much of a formula. It's a formula that works, but it's still a formula.

He starts the book near the end, at an interesting juncture before the real break-down. That's a short-story trick, to start in the middle of all the action, and that's so you can end it quickly and make it a short story and not a novel. Palahniuk does that with all of his books. Then, twenty or so pages in he flashes back to the beginning and tells the story as normal. Well, as normal as he gets.

This works great for Fight Club. It works really well for Survivor. It works pretty well for Invisible Monsters. Then... well, then it's a formula, and you can see it coming. That might not diminish the pleasure for some, but for me...

So, here's my advice for reading Chuck Palahniuk: read Fight Club, read Invisible Monsters, and then read one other book by him. Then, when it comes to his other books, let someone summarize it for you.

Red lipstick has never looked more perfect on someone....and The Cure owns me.......