reviews
Oct 22, 2011
Read in an attempt to understand. Wasn't successful.
47 comments
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(24 people liked it)
Feb 23, 2010
before reading
I'm presuming that this will be enough of a departure from Against the Day that it will help me remember how to read regular books.
(Also noted: the print is really big. Odd.)
after reading
Ok I'm really sorry to say this, but this book blew. I suppose that given the subject matter, that's kind of a double entendre, but fuck it. Actually, you know what? That's about as hard as it seems Palahniuk tried to make this book any good. It was like some co More...
I'm presuming that this will be enough of a departure from Against the Day that it will help me remember how to read regular books.
(Also noted: the print is really big. Odd.)
after reading
Ok I'm really sorry to say this, but this book blew. I suppose that given the subject matter, that's kind of a double entendre, but fuck it. Actually, you know what? That's about as hard as it seems Palahniuk tried to make this book any good. It was like some co More...
30 comments
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(31 people liked it)
Aug 06, 2008
(Today's review is much longer than Goodreads' word-count limit; find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
As I'm sure a certain amount of CCLaP's readers are already aware, there's a new type of pornography that's become more and more popular within the last half-decade now, a type that I'm positive will eventually say m More...
As I'm sure a certain amount of CCLaP's readers are already aware, there's a new type of pornography that's become more and more popular within the last half-decade now, a type that I'm positive will eventually say m More...
0 comments
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(19 people liked it)
Jan 17, 2009
I just absolutely enjoyed this book. I just came off of reading "Rant" with my Composition 2 students, and I had one student object (quietly, coming to me during office hours to do so) to reading it because it goes against everything she believes in (which is following the word of God and ridding the world of moral filth. Her words, not mine). So of course I respected her position, gave her a new assignment, and kept on trucking with the rest of the class. Her comments did, however, gi
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3 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Feb 12, 2009
I don't believe I've ever read (or heard of) any good fiction written about the porn industry. Drug addiction and alcoholism have been written about ad nauseum, but the porn industry -- a bizarre world in which so many of its participants (from the actors to the viewers) have hit a rock bottom similar to that of the most addicted alcoholic or dope fiend -- seems to be a tougher nut to crack, if you will. Maybe it has to do with the old "write what you know" philosophy. Any writer ca
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9 comments
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(9 people liked it)
Jul 28, 2008
This is the second worst book I have ever read. I don't know if I can say I've even read it because I just cannot bring myself to finish it. This guy has no concept on how to write a good sentence. Not one good sentence. Pick a page, then put your finger on a word. It will all be stupid and bad. A friend of mine paid $30 to take me to hear him speak, and this is how I wound up with a signed copy of this book. Everybody in his cult following crowd was young and ultra hip, and obviously has
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6 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Jun 23, 2008
I refuse to spend more time reviewing this book than Palahniuk spent writing it (which couldn't have been very much), so I'll be brief. Snuff takes place entirely in the green room of a porno movie. Cassie Wright is an aging porn star who is trying to set a world record for having sex with 600 dudes in one film, an act that everyone seems to think will kill her. Cassie thinks this too, but that appears to be the whole point. She's hoping that if she dies trying to break the record, then the film
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5 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Jun 01, 2008
Snuff is not for everybody. Those who have never read a Chuck Palahniuk novel will probably not enjoy the story or the way it is presented while others may be drawn to the subject matter alone. "Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages." Come on, it's about porn! Palahniuk fans will certainly enjoy this short tirade that seems more like a novella than an actual novel. Snuff is Chuck's shortest novel to date. Fact. Every single letter is in brown ink! Fact. It cert
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0 comments
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(10 people liked it)
May 20, 2008
Five stars, because it gives you everything you'd want in a Palahniuk book. No child is left behind.
Think of this book as...as the Oedipus myth, filtered through the worldview of Philip Larkin and the grossout slapstick of Jackass.
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What the hell is with the brown ink?! Were they out of...out of lemon juice?! I'm sorry, but this is an annoyance on par with the invisotext (click and roll cursor to highlight the spoilers!) that was all the rage in...in your livej More...
Think of this book as...as the Oedipus myth, filtered through the worldview of Philip Larkin and the grossout slapstick of Jackass.
---
What the hell is with the brown ink?! Were they out of...out of lemon juice?! I'm sorry, but this is an annoyance on par with the invisotext (click and roll cursor to highlight the spoilers!) that was all the rage in...in your livej More...
7 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jun 09, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Jul 30, 2008
Okay, I can't jump on the Snuff hate train. This wasn't the best book, but it's really not a bad offering at all.
Basic premise - an aging porn star goes for one last hurrah - a 600 man gang bang. However, many of the people involved, including the aging starlet herself, think that this last movie just might kill her.
The author let's us into the thoughts of the men standing in line for the movie and into the thoughts of one of the production people. These are very damag More...
Basic premise - an aging porn star goes for one last hurrah - a 600 man gang bang. However, many of the people involved, including the aging starlet herself, think that this last movie just might kill her.
The author let's us into the thoughts of the men standing in line for the movie and into the thoughts of one of the production people. These are very damag More...
5 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 17, 2008
So far it's not the sex that's making me queasy and itchy as much as the gleefully elaborate descriptions of all the various stains, smears, smudges, dribbles, crumbs and residues that the characters in this book seem to leave on every surface that they come into contact with. Chuck is smart enough to realize that he probably isn't going to shock any of his loyal readers (or anyone who has ever watched a porno) with endless mechanical details, so instead he concentrates on making everything so d
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0 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Feb 14, 2009
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Aug 29, 2010
"Snuff" is another work by my fav author, Chuck Palahniuk. An aging porn star, Cassie Wright, decides to go out with a bang - one that lasts all day and includes 600 guys and to be preserved on film. The film really revolves around her, her assistant, Mr. 600 with whom she has a long history with, Mr. 72 a washed up actor that will do anything to get back on top, and a adopted Midwestern kid who think Cassie is his natural mother.
It is a story of flawed people who makes bad More...
It is a story of flawed people who makes bad More...
Jan 21, 2011
Quando ho visto "Snuff" in una libreria di San Diego non ho resistito, e per la prima volta sono entrato in un romanzo di Chuck Palahniuk dalla porta principale, quella della lingua originale.
La prima cosa che ho notato confrontando Snuff e i passati romanzi che ho letto nell’edizione Mondadori è l’ottimo lavoro fatto dai traduttori, Dobner e Colombo in primis. La “voce” di Palahniuk, quella modalità di scrittura che lo rende così riconoscibile, mi sembra sia stata resa ottimamente in More...
La prima cosa che ho notato confrontando Snuff e i passati romanzi che ho letto nell’edizione Mondadori è l’ottimo lavoro fatto dai traduttori, Dobner e Colombo in primis. La “voce” di Palahniuk, quella modalità di scrittura che lo rende così riconoscibile, mi sembra sia stata resa ottimamente in More...
0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Apr 01, 2008
A guy here on Goodreads was nice enough to send me an advance copy of Chuck P's new book set for release May 2008. I'm really digging it so far. It's got all those great observations and incredibly quoteable lines that Chuck seems to have a knack for coming up with.
I'm not fixing that.
I'm not fixing that.
6 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Nov 21, 2008
This book is certainly not for everyone (it takes place during the filming of a porno movie) but it was a fast, funny read. The story is told from the point of views of 3 men waiting for their turn in the spotlight as well as the porn star's personal assistant. The book is filled with interesting little tidbits (Marilyn Monroe cut down the heel of one of her shoes to give her an exaggerated hip sway when she walked) and some that you were probably happier not ever knowing (I'll spare you the e
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Jul 09, 2008
After his previous two novels, I remember going off on this whole rant (no pun intended) about how Chuck's like an Alkaline Trio record, or a David Lynch movie. You know you're gonna entertain it's existence, you know it will have a handful of one-liners, but you know its going to be jusssst like all the rest and nothing special.
So then you ask the age-old question, "Is it better if one of your favourite bands keeps making the same music for 15 years and bores you, or takes the chance More...
So then you ask the age-old question, "Is it better if one of your favourite bands keeps making the same music for 15 years and bores you, or takes the chance More...
6 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jun 04, 2008
Disappointing effort from one of my former favorite authors. Chuck has really let himself fall into a rut, I think - his writing has become so formulaic that his stories, however interesting they seem on face value, have really started to lose their appeal for me.
Snuff is about a porn queen in the twilight of her career attempting to set a world record by having sex with 600 men in a single film. Gets your attention, right? But then you actually read the book, and after the fourth or f More...
Snuff is about a porn queen in the twilight of her career attempting to set a world record by having sex with 600 men in a single film. Gets your attention, right? But then you actually read the book, and after the fourth or f More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jun 03, 2008
wow was this ever a disappointment. I was looking forward to a good Palhaniuk novel since my disappointment with Rant. I was eagerly anticipating the release of this one and bought it within a week or two of it coming out.
It's a short book, ~200 pages large margin large type, I finished it in 3 or 4 sittings, but its just the same old thing.
The story is told from the POV of three guys waiting for a change to join into the largest gangbang ever 600men and one woman, 1 at More...
It's a short book, ~200 pages large margin large type, I finished it in 3 or 4 sittings, but its just the same old thing.
The story is told from the POV of three guys waiting for a change to join into the largest gangbang ever 600men and one woman, 1 at More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jun 01, 2008
Sometimes entertaining, often tiresome, this book furthers Palahniuk's descent into self-caricature. What little plot there is has to be stretched paper-thin to fill the book's 200 pages, and most of the book consists of random porn-related facts and sexual euphemisms. Where Chuck's previous books tried to make some sort of statement about society, Snuff just tries to shock you. What Palahniuk fails to recognize, though, is that the sort of person who will read a book about a porn star trying
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Jul 31, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 02, 2008
SNUFF (Chuck Palahniuk) was a definite improvement over his last two book DIARY and HAUNTED, I loved LULLABY, SURVIVOR and CHOKE.
And SNUFF was often-times more laugh-out-loud funny than CHOKE and that's saying something. This book finally shows the maturing of Palahniuk's factual-anecdote-over-driving-storyline narrative style. He has gathered together some of the most bitter and twisted character in history into the basement of a 600-man-1-woman porn shoot. The right and only place More...
And SNUFF was often-times more laugh-out-loud funny than CHOKE and that's saying something. This book finally shows the maturing of Palahniuk's factual-anecdote-over-driving-storyline narrative style. He has gathered together some of the most bitter and twisted character in history into the basement of a 600-man-1-woman porn shoot. The right and only place More...
2 comments
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(2 people liked it)
May 01, 2008
Having luckily scored an advance reader's copy of this book, I decided to get through my first Chuck P novel since Diary (I couldn't finish Lullaby or Rant, though I didn't try very hard on Rant.) And, well... It was ok.
I'm not sure if it's my standards have gotten higher, or his quality has gotten lower. Alls I know is that I really liked his first several books, and I've been progressively less entertained as time goes on. I like still like him, a lot, but I'm waiting for him More...
I'm not sure if it's my standards have gotten higher, or his quality has gotten lower. Alls I know is that I really liked his first several books, and I've been progressively less entertained as time goes on. I like still like him, a lot, but I'm waiting for him More...
3 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 27, 2008
Wow, that was some sick weirdness right there. Of course I expected no less. But this one kinda lost me halfway through, it started to sound like what it probably started as: an exercise in thinking up imaginary porn movies. "World Whore I. Piledriving Miss Daisy." ad nauseam.
On the other hand it was full of his strange trivia and household hints. Like marilyn monroe laying for hours in tubs of ice to firm up or the fact that the color cyan comes from the fact that cyanid More...
On the other hand it was full of his strange trivia and household hints. Like marilyn monroe laying for hours in tubs of ice to firm up or the fact that the color cyan comes from the fact that cyanid More...
2 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 14, 2008
I wanted to love this book. I really did.
First of all, it's from CHUCK! Secondly it's about a GANG BANG!!! These are two of my favorite things for gosh sakes!
But alas, I did not love it.
I can't put my finger on why, exactly. My summation is that it felt like Chuck did a walk-through on this one. It was like he spent five minutes on it, slapped on a cool cover and hit publish. It was pretty predictable and even boring.
I was dissapointed.
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First of all, it's from CHUCK! Secondly it's about a GANG BANG!!! These are two of my favorite things for gosh sakes!
But alas, I did not love it.
I can't put my finger on why, exactly. My summation is that it felt like Chuck did a walk-through on this one. It was like he spent five minutes on it, slapped on a cool cover and hit publish. It was pretty predictable and even boring.
I was dissapointed.
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0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 21, 2008
I love Chuck Palahniuk, but this might be among the worst books I've ever read. Maybe it's also that I don't like to read five billion clever euphemisms for masturbation when I'm riding the subway to work first thing in the morning. Lots of this book just really grossed me out, and not in an envelope-pushing way. Palahniuk still gets one star, however, for knowing a surprising amount of feminist theory (he's apparently read his Ariel Levy) and for some compelling research (who knew that Hitler i
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2 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 06, 2011
Definitely not my favorite Palahniuk book, but better than I was expecting. It must be the shortest of his books (though none of them are very long) and I zipped through it very quickly. As usual, his writing style is engaging and easy to read. I really wish he'd stick to one POV character per book, though. His narration is so quirky and distinctive that while I can believe one person per book sounds like that (though really, it's stretching things considering how vastly different the people he
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Feb 05, 2009
Palahniuk has followed his tendency towards sensationalism to its logical conclusion and written a novel about a pornographic film, to mixed reactions. Naysayers wrote that Snuff either failed in its satirical role or, worse, Palahniuk has simply run out of ideas and only wants to make readers cringe. Yet other reviewers felt that, as in previous novels, Palahniuk's strong, character-driven explorations of the unseemly actually reveal a great deal about our society. Certainly, he riffs cleverly
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