false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170400557m/53186.jpg 22283 19 Some say that the apocalypse swiftly approacheth, but that simply ain't so according to Chuck Palahniuk. Oh no. It's already here, living in the head of the guy who just crossed the street in front of you, or maybe even closer than that. We saw these possibilities get played out in the author's bloodsporting-anarchist-yuppie shocker of a first novel, <I>Fight Club</I>. Now, in <I>Survivor</I>, his second and newest, the concern is more for the origin of the malaise. Starting at chapter 47 and screaming toward ground zero, Palahniuk hurls the reader back to the beginning in a breathless search for where it all went wrong. This time out, the author's protagonist is self-made, self-ruined mogul-messiah Tender Branson, the sole passenger of a jet moments away from slamming first into the Australian outback and then into oblivion. All that will be left, Branson assures us with a tone bordering on relief, is his life story, from its Amish-on-acid cult beginnings to its televangelist-huckster end. All of this courtesy of the plane's flight recorder.<p> Speaking of little black boxes, Skinnerians would have a field day with the presenting behavior of the folks who make up Palahniuk's world. They pretend they're suicide hotline operators for fun. They eat lobster before it's quite... done. They dance in morgues. The Cleavers they are not. Scary as they might be, these characters are ultimately more scared of themselves than you are, and that's what makes them so fascinating. In the wee hours and on lonely highways, they exist in a perpetual twilight, caught between the horror of the present and the dread of the unknown. With only two novels under his belt, Chuck Palahniuk is well on his way to becoming an expert at shining a light on these shadowy creatures. <I>--Bob Michaels</I> 1602338 1999 Survivor total:14805|5:4342|4:5642|3:3717|2:918|1:186| 14805 57451 18617 976 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 2 6 false Fri Sep 05 04:34:51 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 14:16:45 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 04:34:51 -0700 2008 every character voice is exactly the same....more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 5 6 false Mon Jan 14 09:32:48 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 15 13:55:05 -0800 2008
as others have mentioned, the book starts on page 247 or so and goes backwards to page 1. a simple, but clever gimmick that made me ...more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 2 4 true Tue Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 07:56:21 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 20:26:01 -0700 2008
I have been told by SO MANY PEOPLE to read books by Chuck Palahniuk! I do enjoy the twisted irony in writings such as Kurt Vonnegut, and other similar authors, so I came to this book WANTING to LOVE it...and it "fell" flat.
...more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 5 4 false Sat Feb 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 27 20:55:11 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 16 18:40:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 2 2 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 28 18:22:26 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 13:53:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 1 2 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Tue Feb 26 16:54:40 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 17:15:23 -0800 2008
I knew I was going to finish this book (Survivor), it was easy to read. I read it a few years ago and don't remember much at all about it story wise, but I do recall feeling l...more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 4 1 false Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 10:15:24 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 04:44:14 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 5 4 false Wed Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 08:34:16 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 15:40:13 -0700 2008
I didn't read it. I DEVOURED it. I started reading it yesterday afternoon, and I literally could not go to bed until I had finished it. There are only three othe...more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 4 1 false Thu Apr 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 19 19:06:41 -0800 2007 Thu Apr 24 09:45:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 4 1 false Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Oct 02 13:50:36 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 13:51:53 -0700 2007
I breezed through reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Survivor" in less than a week. This book was a very entertaining read, although not recommended if you are depressed or have suicidal tendencies.

The main character is a "survivor"...more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 3 1 false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jul 16 13:57:49 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 16 14:12:40 -0700 2007 more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 4 1 false Sun Jun 24 02:20:51 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 18 15:28:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 5 1 false Thu Jul 03 02:13:10 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 20:59:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 5 1 false Fri Nov 21 04:42:22 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 04:46:58 -0800 2008 more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 5 1 false Sun Nov 23 04:31:41 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 04:33:37 -0800 2008 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 5 1 false Sun Feb 01 19:59:12 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 19:59:29 -0800 2009 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 3 0 true Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 03 19:51:08 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 20:10:27 -0800 2009
But slowly, Palahniuk's craft (more than his storyline) sucked...more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 2 0 false Wed Nov 26 03:18:28 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 03:20:01 -0800 2008
This is the first one I've read since I read some Amy Hempel. You can see her influence all over him. The notion of minimalist writing. No spare adjectives. No unnecessary descrip...more...]]> 404048 0385498721 9780385498722 2883 252 3.88 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255890365m/404048.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/404048.Survivor_A_Novel 5 0 true Sun Nov 22 20:08:21 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 08:14:00 -0800 2009
The group that the narrator...more...]]> 22283 009928264X 9780099282648 11293 683 3.88 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor 4 0 false Thu Nov 19 11:30:37 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 11:37:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=53186