Snuff

First off, I have to say I love Chuck. He is cool, he is irreverant, he is way outside the box, and I love all that. I have seen him do a book reading, which was awesome and totally in your face. Fight Club, Rant, Survivor, Choke, all great books. But Snuff? No way. Facile, stupid idea, superficial, lazy writing. Chuck does not have his edge here, and the characters are loathesome and mere cut-out figures without backbone, without shape. And there is no plot, and basically no theme, except maybe that the porn industry is completely disgusting. No way Chuck. This book misses the mark by a long shot. Can't wait for you to get back on track with a real book, not this little sketch. That said, the book is still not forgettable, because it is so weird and unique. Who else can write about the sleaze of porn with such terse style?

I've never read any of Chuck's books before, but a friend of mine is always talking about his novels, so I took her advice and bought Snuff. I thought the idea of an ageing porn star going out with a bang, or six hundred of them, quite intriguing. A bit of a surprise book in many ways and I was particularly impressed with how Chuck really gets inside his characters and we really see their hidden depths. Having read it and thinking back on it, I really like it. Its a bit of a change for me, because I'm really into the erotic short story genre, such as Best Women's Erotica 2008 and the unbelievably sexy 100 Percent Erotica. Still, its given me food for thought and I shall seek out more of Chuck's books.

This is everything you've come to expect from Palahniuk. Being one of my favorite writers, I wanted to love this. Great idea for his sort of twisted humor. But frankly, it wasn't nearly as well executed as his other novels. It was short, seemed rushed at the end, and wasn't nearly as shocking as one would expect. That said, still solid and funny and worth the purchase for a fan. Pick it up.

Yes, I know Chuck Palahniuk is not to be taken seriously. Yes, I know all his books have plots that do not dive too far into the deep end. Yes, I know his books all have those small little twists that are supposed to bring a smile to our faces. Even knowing all that, SNUFF is one of the worst books I have ever read. And read it I did, until the predictable, unfunny and bitter end.

The story of the world's most famous pornstar giving everything for her last movie, SNUFF actually shifts focus between four different characters, none of them being the famous pornstar herself. The characters are not merely shallow (this is Palahniuk, after all), they are, even worse, boring. None are developed enough to capture our attention, none are witty enough to make us chuckle. And the one with the autograph dog! Really, just how dumb can we get?

We see most of the 'twists' a mile off, and the ones we don't, well, they're really not all that anyway. Added to this is Palahniuk's use of 'factoids' that are clearly filler material for anything better. By the end of SNUFF, I felt like I was the main attraction in such a film and death was to be produced by...reading SNUFF

Do you enjoy reading "clever" porn titles based on hit movies? Do you enjoy reading facts (true or not) about famous Hollywood actors that do nothing to advance the plot whatsoever, but take up about a quarter of the writing? Do you enjoy one dimensional characters, who by the end of the novel you still don't care about? If you answered yes, this book is for you.

I was so bored by this book that it took me two months to read and it is only 197 pages long! I had to force myself to finish only because I have read everything else Chuck Palahniuk has ever written. There really is no story here. Just a bunch of, shall I say "dudes" standing around for about 200 pages. Also, (Spoiler Alert) how can a book be title Snuff and no one dies.

This is a huge disappointment.