Invisible Monsters

published	2007 by Blackstone Audiobooks
first published	1999
binding	Audio CD
isbn	0786162341 (isbn13: 9780786162345)
ebook
description	When the plot of your first novel partially hinges on anarchist overthrows funded by soap sales, and the narrative hook of your second work is the bl...more [close] When the plot of your first novel partially hinges on anarchist overthrows funded by soap sales, and the narrative hook of your second work is the black box recorder of a jet moments away from slamming into the Australian outback, it stands to reason that your audience is going to be ready for anything. Which, to an author like Chuck Palahniuk, must sound like a challenge. Palahniuk's third identity crisis (that's "novel" to you), Invisible Monsters, more than ably responds to this call to arms. Set once again in an all-too-familiar modern wasteland where social disease and self-hatred can do more damage than any potboiler-fiction bad guy, the tale focuses particularly on a group of drag queens and fashion models trekking cross-country to find themselves, looking everywhere from the bottom of a vial of Demerol to the end of a shotgun barrel. It's a sort of Drugstore Cowboy-meets-Yentl affair, or a Hope-Crosby road movie with a skin graft and hormone-pill obsession, if you know what I mean. Um, yeah. Anyway, the Hollywood vibe doesn't stop these comparisons. As with Fight Club and Survivor, the book is invested with a cinematic sweep, from the opening set piece, which takes off like a house afire (literally), to a host of filmic tics sprayed throughout the text: "Flash," "Jump back," "Jump way ahead," "Flash," "Flash," "Flash." You get the idea. It's as if Palahniuk didn't write the thing but yanked it directly out of the Cineplex of his mind's eye. Does it succeed? Mostly. Still working on measuring out the proper dosages of his many writerly talents (equal parts potent imagery, nihilistic coolspeak, and doped-out craziness), Palahniuk every now and then loosens his grip on the story line, which at points becomes as hard to decipher as your local pill addict's medicine cabinet. However Invisible Monsters works best on a roller-coaster level. You don't stop and count each slot on the track as you're going down the big hill. You throw up your hands and yell, "Whee!" --Bob Michaels [close]
date added	04-02-07 edit book

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Mike rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

02/16/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: beautiful people, people who think critically about happiness

"it's an old woman who owns this house, i figure. ignored and aging and drugged out old women, older and more invisible to the world every minute, they must not wear a lot of make-up. not go out to fun hot spots. not boogie to a party froth. my breath smells hot and sour inside my veils, inside the damp layers of silk and mesh and cotton georgette i lift for the first time all day; and in the mirrors, i look at the pink reflection of what's left of my face.
mirror mirror on the wall,...more

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Emma rated it:

(review of isbn 0393319296)

10/20/07

Read in October, 2007

Chuck Palahniuk is the hugely popular author of modern, edgy books like Fight Club (also a movie with Brad Pitt--go ahead, act surprised) and Choke. For this reason I did not expect to like Invisible Monsters, originally published in 1999.

The story is told by a nameless narrator: a young woman who used to be beautiful. After a series of bizarre, haunting events involving a freeway, birds and a few other things those days are gone forever. Her face disfigured, her voice gone, the narrator is ...more Chuck Palahniuk is the hugely popular author of modern, edgy books like Fight Club (also a movie with Brad Pitt--go ahead, act surprised) and Choke. For this reason I did not expect to like Invisible Monsters, originally published in 1999.

The story is told by a nameless narrator: a young woman who used to be beautiful. After a series of bizarre, haunting events involving a freeway, birds and a few other things those days are gone forever. Her face disfigured, her voice gone, the narrator is invisible. And a monster in the eyes of most. Desperate for someone to save her, the narrator meets Brandy Alexander at just the right time. Brandy embodies the life that the narrator used to have--except for an important operation that Brandy still needs to have.

Riding off with Brandy, the narrator starts fresh. Life is a story. If you don't like the story you have, make up a new one. As the lives Brandy offers up as truth continue to change and the lies threaten to fall apart, it becomes clear that no matter where you run eventually you have to face the facts and really decide what story you want to tell.

That's the story. But it's really not even half the story.

Stylistically, this novel has a lot going on. It's written in the first person, present tense setting up a tone that is both conspiratorial and conversational. Despite that, the narrator remains aloof, unreliable. Talking to the reader like an old friend, the narrator reveals the smallest details of her past while leaving key plot points to herself until the right moment. There are few male novelists who can write as convincingly in the voice of a woman as Palahniuk. The narration is amazingly authentic even when the story becomes more and more over-the-top.

Palahniuk also brings a high level of complexity to the narrative, writing the story in a non-linear format. The novel opens with the final scene as the narrator tries to explain how she got to that point. Along the way flashbacks are interwoven with "the present" and other points in the time line of character's lives.

This is the kind of book that requires a lot of attention. Like the modeling world that the narrator comes from, nothing in this novel is exactly what it seems. Characters lie, information given as fact turns out to be false. Palahniuk manages all of these elements impressively well, making it all work despite the bizarreness and absurdity inherent to certain parts of the plot.

More than anything, though, this book is really a character study. Palahniuk creates a lot of unique characters whose lives intertwine unexpectedly. As might be expected from the plot description given above, many ofthe relationships between characters in Invisible Monsters are dysfunctional. But it is the dysfunction that allows Palahniuk to look at how people interact and what it really means to love someone. So, while it is utterly strange, this novel definitely puts the "fun" in dysfunctional.
...less

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Jesse rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

04/29/08

Read in March, 2008

Why would you be afraid of a monster you cannot see? This question wasn't ever answered by Palahnuik in his book, Invisible Monsters. In the book a female model is involved in a freak accident leaving her horribly disfigured. The book follows her as she changes from a harlot into a monster, as well as going into all the things she does after, the people she meets, and the drugs she consumes. The book doesn't seem to make sense until the end. Theres a 'twist.'

I cannot honestly say the ...more Why would you be afraid of a monster you cannot see? This question wasn't ever answered by Palahnuik in his book, Invisible Monsters. In the book a female model is involved in a freak accident leaving her horribly disfigured. The book follows her as she changes from a harlot into a monster, as well as going into all the things she does after, the people she meets, and the drugs she consumes. The book doesn't seem to make sense until the end. Theres a 'twist.'

I cannot honestly say the 'twist' is enough of a motive to get through this book. If you've read Palahnuik's books or even seen Fight Club, you'll be quite familiar with a lot of the 'things are god' and 'you're just a product' extreme anarchist refrences and theme, which has never sat well with me. I didnt like how over the top Palahnuik goes with his sexual innuendos. I'll admit I'm a fan of bathroom humor, but I feel Palahnuik goes over the top. I dont see how all the sex has much connection with the story, other than wanting sex with a good looking person and using it to get the things you want.

Another thing I didnt like about the books was all the drugs. In the book the drugs are stolen, and then sold. Also, the BrandiAlexander character can't seem to get enough. Why doesnt she just make life easier and switch to some more potent drugs? I guess what I cant understand is why the only drugs done are the perscription, and how does one sell perscription drugs on the street when most users have only heard of vicoden and percocet? Is anyone going to know what buprenorphine is? What I'm trying to get at is I think the demographic of their customers wouldnt know anything that isnt mainstream and has to be looked up in a book. Besides, the main character becomes entitled to a large sum of money, which makes me wonder why they have to push pills in the first place. Also theres a preface in the front of the book that says that their method is how people steal drugs. I dont want to spoil anything, but they tour houses that are for sale and snoop in medicine cabinets, in some instances, for extended periods of time. I found this kind of hard to believe, and being well informed about and occasionally involved with drugs, I can't say thats not how one goes about stealing drugs. If you want to steal drugs, you convince someone you dont know too well they can trust you to sell them and give them the money when you have it, and then never call them again. Stealing degrades ones ethics, and stealing things like drugs makes him or her even scuzzier.

All in all, I think what I liked least about this book is, like I said, how it takes everything over the top and too far. Because this is done, and in my opinion the theme, my perseption of the book is that it was written for attention, which I believe (or hope) Palahnuik hasnt intended. I'll admit there were a few parts I enjoyed and that the book isnt without its charm, but most the time I feel Palahnuik doesnt have quite as firm a grasp on the things hes talking about as he thinks he does.
And because of which, this book isnt something Im going to read again....less

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Madison marked it as to-read (review of isbn 0099285444)

07/19/08

bookshelves: to-read

Read in December, 2007

Pretty much right away I fell in love with Shannon and soon later, Brandy. Brandy was of interest because of the need for change and what he was willing to do for it. To not be normal. I know I could never do anything like that and reading about people who had the courage is nice. I never liked Evie. Even at the end, I still had this ehh feeling about her. The ending was well worth the rather boring begininning. And I enjoy the fact that I can relate well to her hating the physical parts of life...more Pretty much right away I fell in love with Shannon and soon later, Brandy. Brandy was of interest because of the need for change and what he was willing to do for it. To not be normal. I know I could never do anything like that and reading about people who had the courage is nice. I never liked Evie. Even at the end, I still had this ehh feeling about her. The ending was well worth the rather boring begininning. And I enjoy the fact that I can relate well to her hating the physical parts of life. I get referred to as stupid all the time because im pretty and I dont pull all A's but im far from it. And even though I know I could never blow my own face off, I can relate to wanting to change.
Giving her brother her identity was mayjor and i think she made the right decision. She regrets things in the past that she did to him and what could make up for that better than bringing his dream to life. It just funny that she hated him for being the center of attention and he just wanted to be her. Life's crazy and this book is another example of how things can go.

Shannon is model and obviously very beautiful. She has a fiance and a bestfriend and they all live the high and beautiful life. Then Shannons face gets blown off and its not clear until the end that Shannon infact blew it off herself. In the book, it seems like it could have been either Manus (the fiance) or Evie (the bestfriend). Manus and Evie were also having a fling, and both of them thought the other one shot Shannon so that broke it apart. While in the hospital, Shannon meets Brandy Alexander. Queen supreme. Brandy helps Shannon forget her past life and they live a life of traveling and selling and taking prescription drugs from houses for sale. Manus is also apart of this because Shannon dragged him along. Manus falls in love with Brandy because, coneinsideltily, she looks just like how Shannon used to look. Shannon hates this aswell but doesnt find out Brandy is her brother for alittle while. She figures it out at a visit to the three people who made Brandy. Shannon thought Brandy had to idea that she was his sister but Brandy knew all along as it was a plot thought up by Evie. Evie just wanted more drama added to her life and got just that at her wedding recepetion where Evie pretended to think Brandy was Shannon and shot her, missing the bullet proof vest. Luckly, a book Brandy always kept in her pocket slowed down the bullet, and the bullet just shot her boob job. At the hospital, Shannon completely gives Brandy (or Shane) her identity. She tells him not to try and find her because she just wants to live her life invisible. The phsycial beauty left not much inside and she wants to build that back up, be known for something other that her looks. She finally takes off her raps and lets her face be seen by all. She feels as if this is her third chance, and she wont let it slip by....less

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Pwntalive rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

07/14/07

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: Palahniuk fans who wear fishnets.

I believe up till this point every Palahniuk book ive been through has been written from a male perspective. Not to say that this one is some sort of dramatic departure from the norm, the same nihilistic self examination exists here. But the approach seems different, more aloof. And the structure, while still shattered, is more tangential then in previous efforts. Perhaps its just the main characters being female that makes this one seem more unique, but from the very beginning i had the feelin...more I believe up till this point every Palahniuk book ive been through has been written from a male perspective. Not to say that this one is some sort of dramatic departure from the norm, the same nihilistic self examination exists here. But the approach seems different, more aloof. And the structure, while still shattered, is more tangential then in previous efforts. Perhaps its just the main characters being female that makes this one seem more unique, but from the very beginning i had the feeling this one was going to be different.

A trip to Wikipedia tells us this book was written in the early/mid 1990's. That puts it Pre-fightclub. Labeling this as one of chucks earlyest novels really pushes my assertions about its uniqueness to the forefront of this article. While reading it i was struck by the way it deals with many of Palahniuks main theams but in a way that seems fresh and new. Perhaps after the release of the fightclub film, with the public clamoring for more, the publishers released this, previously unlikely, book in an effort to catch more eyeballs. Im glad they did.

In the opening pages we find that fashion model Daisy St. Patience got shot in the face while driving, ripping her jaw clean off. Once mind meltingly beautiful, shes now hideously deformed. Before youd have to try not to stare at her, now everyone looks away. Shes invisible, an invisible monster.

In hospital we get introduced to the cast of characters. Her fiance, her best friend and the drag queen thats going to change the way she thinks about everything. The plot twists and character development are slightly less stylized here then in say, Lullaby. Refreshing.

At this point it might be interesting to question the audiences infatuation with any artists early works over the later ones. The feeling of many is that the early works often reflect more the raw energy of the creative process. For lots of people this may be true, Palahniuk seems to be casting a wide net here, catching a lot more of the human condition then he might have to. If the author feels the need to tell a story on his own terms, surely the more experienced one will do it in the most deft and "correct" manor passable. It might be fair to say that the later works are most like the authors true intent. The early ones are more sophomoric trial and error. Anyone care to comment?

I learned (again) that we have to lose everything if we ever want to be truly free....less

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hypothermya rated it:

(review of isbn 0393319296)

02/14/08

bookshelves: modern

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: Fans of experimental fiction, sex changes, and destroyed beauty queens

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I grabbed a copy of this in order to help while away time on my trip to Shanghai and back. (Sixteen hour international flights just aren't tolerable without something engaging to read.) This is the first book I've read of Palahniuk's, and I have had numerous recommendations to read books by him.

On the whole, I can't say I loved it. I found myself really fascinated by his use of experimental narrative techniques, and how he made them very comfortable and friendly for the reader by integr...more I grabbed a copy of this in order to help while away time on my trip to Shanghai and back. (Sixteen hour international flights just aren't tolerable without something engaging to read.) This is the first book I've read of Palahniuk's, and I have had numerous recommendations to read books by him.

On the whole, I can't say I loved it. I found myself really fascinated by his use of experimental narrative techniques, and how he made them very comfortable and friendly for the reader by integrating them with a conversational narrative tone. His writing was very well crafted.

However, the plot itself rang very false -- I routinely read fantasy, and have yet to see a more fantastical protagonist than the one in this story. Her family, her friends, and her love interests seemed really fabricated. More over, it seemed like the story was written by a coffee house intellectual who was wanted desperately to know that the world of beauty and fashion really was being run by people who knew that they were vapid and plastic and were just too trapped by their lives to escape it. That, interspersed with a maze of hormonal drugs, sex changes, and histrionic social antics, was pretty much the bulk of this book.

I would have loved to have tossed it aside. I would have loved to have found another book on the plane that I could read. (I was sadly out of English books at this point in my trip.) But the thing that prevented me from tossing it aside, and the thing that ultimately kept me from abadoning the book or even my hope that the plot would somehow come out of its self-indulgent sprial into really fantastical plot twists, was that Palahniuk kept throwing in these really brief scenes of incredible beauty, openness, and vulnerability.

I'm pretty certain that he meant for the reader to feel the contrast between these scenes and the sarcastic, jaded feel of the rest of the book. I'm pretty certain that the protagonist was supposed to be that much more easy to relate to as a result. But...I just wasn't there.

There was enough substance in this book to make me think and consider a lot of the themes. There was enough in the book to make me consider reading another of Palahniuk's books. But this is not a book that I will keep or cherish, nor one that I really think of as life defining or life changing. ...less

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Miko rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

05/08/08

Read in April, 2008

****DO NOT LOOK THIS UP IN WIKIPEDIA IT GIVES AWAY EVERYTHING I REPEAT DO NOT LOOK IT UP! In fact, don't even read the synopsis, I would just dive right in knowing nothing.****

THE START:
So far it is pretty good. It says right from the start that you are going to read this book feeling like you are missing things and it's very true.

I am having a hard time holding on to any solid plot but am captivated from what I can grasp. It's the same author that wrote Fight Club and it kind of has ...more

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Billfrog rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

04/09/08

Read in April, 2008

I've been reading this book while wondering if this is the book I'd recommend to someone looking to begin their Chuck Palahniuk experience. Through the rare luxury of a slow day at the hospital, I got to read a lot of it at once, getting through the second half of it today (though the first half of it was read in rather short bursts). I just finished the last 50 pages at Allegro pizza, a UPENN undergraduate hangout, full of people who are all equally convinced that their life is the dominant sto...more

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Jessica added it (review of isbn 0099285444)

06/25/08

bookshelves: started-but-could-not-finish

recommended to Jessica by: my mother's hair stylist
recommends it for: no one...

I read about 100 pages of this book, and had to put it down. It was terrible. This is my first book by this author, and while I enjoyed the movie based on another of his books, Fight Club, his writing style may simply not be for me. Then again, maybe it’s just this story. I didn’t find it entertaining in any way, and didn’t think it would bring me anything of value.

The protagonist (whose real name is not revealed in the first few chap...more

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Elli Jo rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

06/30/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Elli Jo by: uhm - Damin.
recommends it for: Sick and twisted, dark-humored people

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Alexis rated it:

(review of isbn 0393319296)

10/21/07

bookshelves: advisory07-08

Read in January, 2007

Pages: 200+

So, it's safe to say that Chuck Palahniuk owns my soul. Not even a little bit of it. The whole thing.
Invisible Monsters blew my mind. I spent a good chunk of the book stuck in confusion and my mind felt like it had just been exposed to the trippiest thing ever. But, as I like to think, what is a Chuck Palahniuk story without mental mind trips and without confusion? It is not a Chuck Palahniuk story at all!

Right off the bat Palahniuk leaves his print by introducing a...more

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Kenneth rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

03/17/08

bookshelves: advisory-books

Read in March, 2008

“No one will ever love me again.” She’s a fashion model that has everything she can dream of: a boyfriend, a loyal best friend, a career. But when an accident suddenly leaves her disfigured and ugly, she looses it all. Quickly, her boyfriend dumps her, her best friend looses her loyalty to her, and her career is ruined. The only way she can make money now is stealing prescription drugs and selling them on the street with her partner Brandy Alexander.
At first, this book was interesting b...more

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amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

10/23/07

bookshelves: 50booksin07

Read in October, 2007

The narrator was once a gorgeous model, now left monstrously disfigured after a messy drive-by. Her jaw was shot off, leaving just her tongue & top row of teeth to show as a trophy for her pain. Quickly, nearly everything she once had (fiance, seemingly wonderful modelling career) is gone. Enter: Brandy Alexander. An amazingly sassy and gorgeous transgender woman, who pushes the narrator (whose name is revealed 3/4 of the way through the novel) to do what scares her most and forget about the...more

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Jillian rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

05/25/08

bookshelves: chick-lit, humor

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: the self-unaware, pretty girls

This book reminded me of Bret Easton Ellis novels and Normal Girl: A Novel by Molly Jong-Fast, (which I actually think is so similar to this/only better-that I would recommend it instead), but I was entertained.

I supposed b/c the book makes references to Seattle and LA I identified with it b/c I've lived in both places. I liked what the author says about why the main character "blew off her face in a fashion revolt," b/c she was trying to find freedom from the "looking good ...more

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Amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

10/12/07

bookshelves: disturbing, good, weird

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Palahniuk fans/"weird lit" lovers

Another strange one by Palahniuk, but probably one of my favorites, this book explores the stranger side of beauty and deformation.

After a bullet takes half of her face off, the narrator talks of just how invisible ugly people and people with deformities are. When they're not invisible, they're seen as monsters. This is quite the change as before her accident, she was a model.

Along with Brandy Alexander, a woman who loves the narrator completely, and Manus, the guy who the narrator lov...more

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Lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

04/20/08

Read in April, 2008

This was my third book of Palahniuk's to read and was the worst of the three. It took me FOREVER to get through this and really barely held my interest. There were many times I wanted to put this down, but I can't do that mid-book, especially to an author I deeply admire and cherished so much on my previous two reads (Survivor and Lullaby, both A+ books).

The last ten pages make the whole book worthwhile and are what saved me from giving this fewer than 3 stars. The characters and timelines a...more

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Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

05/18/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

A bleak and revelatory examination of the world of High Fashion, and a culture obsessed with beauty, Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters started strong, but reading the last 40 pages is like pulling teeth (or, to use a more apt metaphor, like losing a jaw).

The book went wrong somewhere near the climax, and though the impact of Palahniuk's message depends on themes such as narcissism, greed, and megalomania, the lack of a sympathetic main character just couldn't hold my interest for 300 pages.

I'...more

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Sara rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

04/24/08

bookshelves: fiction--madness--literaryish

Read in March, 2007

Check the shelf I put this on. Now you're ready: This book is insane. There's something on practically every page that makes you say, "What the *%$#!?" You'll keep reading anyway, though, and you'll love it. The book's like a really hard-core Swedish massage. It hurts SOOOOO good.
The story is essentially about beauty: who values it, what it means, how it can be good, and how it can be a horror. Not only do the characters suffer FOR beauty, they suffer BECAUSE of beauty, and that's a...more

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Tracey rated it:

(review of isbn 0393319296)

09/05/07

Read in September, 2005

This is one f-ed up story - probably not to be read by the easily offended (or while one is eating... especially at a Chinese buffet ...trust me on this). I was fascinated by the story; but am not sure if I'll read this one again.

The novel starts with the climax: Brandy Alexander has just been shot by a bride whose house is burning down around them. The narrator, a friend of Brandy and of the bride, is surprisingly blasé about the whole situation... treating her life like just another phot...more

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Jessie rated it:

(review of isbn 0099285444)

02/05/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in February, 2008

This book was interesting. I wasn't sure whether to give it a two or a three. There's something about his writing (intentional, of course, and very much what makes him the writer he is, but...) that rubs me the wrong way. Sort of like my love/hate with Stephen King, but...different. Stephen King is an easy writer, Chuck Palahniuk is just...unpolished. I guess that's one hundred percent what he's going for, but that whole angry, masculine, two dimensional characters thing - I'm sort of not into i...more

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