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Snuff

Chuck Palahniuk (Goodreads Author)

3.20 · Rating details · 56,876 ratings · 2,936 reviews

From the master of literary mayhem and provocation, a full-frontal Triple X novel that goes where no American work of fiction has gone before

Cassie Wright, porn priestess, intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication. On camera. With six hundred men. Snuff unfolds from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, and Mr. 600, who await th ...more

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Hardcover, First Edition, 208 pages

Published May 20th 2008 by Doubleday

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Feb 11, 2008 Oriana rated it it was ok

Shelves: why-werent-you-better, read-2008

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 college student aping Palahniuk for a ...more

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Jun 20, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it really liked it

(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 more about th ...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it it was ok

Shelves: liburrrrrry-book, mommy-issues, the-great-white-hype, read-in-2015, hide-the-salami

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages. A must-have movie for every discerning collector of things erotic. Didn’t one of us on purpose set out to make a snuff movie.”

You’re probably reading a Chuck Palahniuk sex story.

The premise of Snuff is simple enough – a world record is about to broken. This is the story of a day in the life of 600 dudes, including an aging porn star . . .

a boy with a secret . ...more

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Mar 18, 2008 Laura rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Any die-hard fan of Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis

I 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, give me pause as ...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Edward Lorn rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one

I'm not gonna beat around the bush. Snuff is as enjoyable as a wet fart in a hot shower. This is also the book that started Palahniuk's dive into mediocrity and self parody. Pygmy is the deepest depth to which Chuck sank before grabbing the life preserver that was Damned, at least in my opinion. I know people still think he hasn't written a good book since Diary, but I thought his romp in Hell was big fun.

This is my second time reading this one, and I only gave it another chance because a) I had I'm not gonna beat around the bush. Snuff is as enjoyable as a wet fart in a hot shower. This is also the book that started Palahniuk's dive into mediocrity and self parody. Pygmy is the deepest depth to which Chuck sank before grabbing the life preserver that was Damned, at least in my opinion. I know people still think he hasn't written a good book since Diary, but I thought his romp in Hell was big fun.

This is my second time reading this one, and I only gave it another chance because a) I had a spare Audible code, b) it was short, coming in at just under 5 hours, and c) I figured maybe the book would be better if I listened to it. Hey! It's happened before, I swear!

The premise is simple. Instead of the Houston 500 (the real-life super orgy wherein 500 dudes all try and hump a porn queen name Houston), you have 600 rock-hard chaps snackin' and slappin' and plottin' to be a part of Cassie Wright's final spacklin' party. During this time, we're led to believe that Cassie might be related to one of her bones-at-the-throne. And that's about it. There's the signature Palahniuk twist and shocking ending, only this one is more befitting an episode of Columbo than it is a novel from the writer of such mind-blowingly original shit as Invisible Monsters and Choke.

Snuff reads as if Chuck Palahniuk simply wanted to see how many faux-adult-film parodies he could title before the end of the book. Not a single movie reference was funny. In fact, most of Palahniuk's witty humor is missing in action. I think I laughed once, and that was because I couldn't believe how it ended. Not because I was shocked but because I couldn't believe that THAT was supposed to be the twist. Kinda like opening a Mystery-Flavored Airhead and finding the word PINEAPPLE stamped across a strip of white taffy.

In summation: Sadly, this is only the first in a series of total letdowns from one of my favorite authors. I don't talk about Chuck Palahniuk enough, but the guy's one of my literary heroes. It always hurts when I hate something from him, as it does when Stephen King lets me down. My advice is to stay away from Snuff. There really is nothing noteworthy going on here. Just an author lurching through the motions and stumbling over his own feet.

Final Judgment: A Ron Jeremy product placement. ...more

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Jan 18, 2009 Matthieu rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: Greasy café-haunting types

Read in an attempt to understand. Wasn't successful. ...more

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Jun 23, 2008 Maggie rated it did not like it

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 ...more

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Oct 26, 2020 Lori rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, reviewed

I love Chuck P. But it's clear that his work has been on a steadily downward trajectory. Some think he peaked with Flight Club, arguably his best. I love many of his later works including one of my Favorite books of all time, Survivor, and I adore Choke, Haunted, the original version of Invisible Monsters and Stranger Than Fiction. I didn't enjoy Diary and if I have the chronology right, stopped there.

A GR friend reviewed this and it made me nostalgic for the twisted one (Palahniuk, not the GR f I love Chuck P. But it's clear that his work has been on a steadily downward trajectory. Some think he peaked with Flight Club, arguably his best. I love many of his later works including one of my Favorite books of all time, Survivor, and I adore Choke, Haunted, the original version of Invisible Monsters and Stranger Than Fiction. I didn't enjoy Diary and if I have the chronology right, stopped there.

A GR friend reviewed this and it made me nostalgic for the twisted one (Palahniuk, not the GR friend, though arguably he's twisted too). This had plenty of offensive material, but none as gross as "Guts" in Haunted. The gross-out factor here mostly comes from descriptions of aging male genitalia and who else but Chuck P. can make a normal biological process read like horror.

It's about porn, a silly tale of an iconic porn star who wants to set a record for banging the most men in a film, six hundred to be exact. It's actually based on real porn stars, one who set the current record, another who was thought to but found to have cheated. One of the things I enjoy most about Chuck P. are the facts he includes throughout every book. Here they're mostly about the porn industry but there's one man waiting in the cattle call for his turn at the star in the bed upstairs who has an eye for clothing and there are frequent detailed descriptions of garments, styles, buttons and fabrics, one of Chuck P.'s signatures done better in other books and sprinkled in with info about blowup dolls, body fluids, occasionally feminists and feminist ideologies, and an interlude about Messalina.

There are also "true facts" about the tricks old Hollywood stars used to look sexier or younger. I Googled a lot. Only one turned out to be true, that Marilyn Monroe always had an inch taken off one heel so her derriere would look even more sexy as she walked. But he had me going that Rita Hayworth rubbed strawberry Jello-o powder on her nipples and Lucille Ball -- never mind, it didn't happen.

There's a plot besides the hundreds of naked men downstairs waiting for their number to be called while munching on a buffet of awful snacks, and the porn star busy in the bed upstairs. It involves the child she gave birth to who she gave up for adoption. And I must admit the resolution to that was unexpected and satisfying. If only it had been the very end, which was so bizarre and obscene I won't do that to you.

The most enjoyment I got out of the book was from the names of her films showing on monitors downstairs to keep the men excited (along with their blue pills). Face it, some of you have or still watch porn and others like me (well, I've seen a bit) have landed by accident on the series of cable channels displaying the names of the movies. They're amusing but Chuck P., as is his wont as an author, dials them to eleven and I laughed out loud over and over. So the last paragraph lists some of them and if you're offended, and I get that, or just don't care, it ends for you at the end of this paragraph. You see I gave it three stars and they're for his gift with words, no matter how lame the plot and some of the characters, and for making me laugh...except for this: One beautiful simile (he really can write), a description by a male former porn superstar of the only time he actually made love to a woman as "like our skin was having a conversation." I adore that description. And now leaving the lovely for the lewd...

These are :giggle: some of the X-rated titles Chuck P. has concocted for Snuff: On Golden Blonde, Three Days of the Condom, Sperms of Endearment, The Handmaid's Tail, Moby Dicked, The Ass Menagerie, Lady Windermere's Fanny and A Tale of Two Titties. ...more

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Jul 16, 2008 Jacob rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-2015

March 2013

Tired and unimaginative and uninspired and dull...just like everything else Chucky P. has written. And grog forgive me, I read it twice.

There's a reason for that. Ok, two. One is, I keep reading good books, and all those four- and five-star reads have me worried that something might be wrong, that my judgement is off, so I decided to read something bad to compensate. Nope, nothing wrong here. This book is bad and all the others I read so far this year were pretty good. Nothing to worry ...more

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Jul 30, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it liked it

I feel icky.

description

Chuck Palahniuk's take on the porn industry blows wades of sex euphemisms all over the reader like moneyshots at a gangbang. The language is as base as the subject matter. The characters have all the nuance of a cookie cutter. The plot, slightly more complicated than the old school "I've come to fix the pool" porn of yesteryear, is nonetheless as formulaic as a whodunit mystery. And yes, all this works in the author's favor. He is, after all, writing about porn.

Is this titillation pu ...more

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Oct 07, 2014 Jonathan Ashleigh rated it it was ok

This was too filthy, even by my standards.

But somehow, the copy I have was signed by Chuck Palahniuk so it is a book I will never get rid of. ...more

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Oct 25, 2020 Fabian rated it really liked it

Uproarious and absurd, the last time I read Palahniuk was fifteen years ago. Choke was were I stopped. after being obsessed with Fight club in my high school formative years. Then, it seemed to me like there was an influx of never-readers only-reading him. And he's shocking, oftentimes just for the value of that shock. His characters are all second rate, more id than hollow shells. They are radical, and, well, ABSOLUTELY TWO (1?) DIMENSIONAL. If we're lucky.

Yet I was pretty involved with SNUFF. ...more

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Jul 27, 2008 Kelly B rated it did not like it

Shelves: cant-finish-the-damn-thing

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 really 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 really bad taste in writing. If that is our future it's gonna be bleak. The story he read at that lecture was a short story about someone at a game show on acid, and normally I love acid stories, but eww. It was totally obvious and predictable and dull. Horribly dull. Not at all creative or insightful. I don't know how he sells books. His stories are based on shock which can only be shocking to the most plain unread reader. It's overdone to the point you can't even call it that. He tries to go so far in shock it comes off as totally unbelievable but not far, or interesting enough, to be any type of fun exaggerated fantasy. And I think he got all his research off the internet. If he was a baddass he would have made a porno. Or at least watched one. It feels like he just randomly threw facts in to sound credible. It was so painful to read. Physically painful too, not only brain aneurysm painful. My face hurt from screwing it up grossing out at the bad writing. The only redeeming thing I got from his crappy unintelligent lecture and this stupid book (and I like porn) is that if he can do it so can I. Or maybe not, cuz if this is what society is digging the tastes and intelligence of America is so dumbed down they may forget what good taste is and we will soon be the way of that Idiocracy movie. When someone asked him who his influences were he couldn't even quote any good writers. He quoted The Hardy Boys or something similar but not as good. What? I'm not dogging The Hardy Boys, but that was really all he could come up with. He needs to never have a book published ever again. I guess I should say I never read any of his other books so I don't have anything to compare this to, mostly because I hated the movie "Fight Club," yeah I said it, and that's a shitty way to judge whether or not you're going to read the book but I just had a feeling, you know, I get those on books. And this being my introduction to his writing does not make me want to waste any time picking up any other book of his.
Oh yeah, and he used the word "dude" a lot. Annoyingly so. And not in dialogue. Ugg. He sucks. ...more

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May 23, 2008 Owen rated it did not like it

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 ...more

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Jun 01, 2008 Mike Kleine rated it liked it

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 certainly does 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 certainly does not take away from the aesthetic feel but it may come as a surprise to some when they first begin reading though it is not immediately noticeable.

Overall, Snuff is not a bad story at all, Chuck has just put himself in a bad spot with his previous novels. He has raised the bar to such great heights with novels such as Fight Club, Haunted, and Survivor that fans may see Snuff more as something of a writing exercise, rather than a true piece of accomplished work. Opting for a multi-character narrative, the storytelling is different from his other books. There is very little dark humor, instead, the humor in Snuff is much more apparent; not that it's a bad thing, just a little different than usual. It wouldn't be fair to completely bad mouth this book. It certainly does have its golden moments. Each character definitely breathes and acts Palahniuk but everything just seems a bit toned down. For a book about pornography, it seems pretty tame. It still does have its gross-out moments but about ¾ of the novel is spent inside the green room. The entire experience does seem to have a life of its own and the descriptions are nicely depicted, making it easy for readers to picture the room.

There is a great deal of suspense during each narrative and though the chapter titles claim that a different character is narrating, it doesn't always feel unique to the specific character. Sure, one may repeatedly use the word "dude" and another may repeatedly be carrying a stuffed animal but thought-process-wise, they all think alike. Every single character in the book seems to be a walking trivia machine and though that may be synonymous to Palahniuk's style, it just detracts from the authenticity of the story. The shortness of Snuff also seems to alienate us from any of the four main characters. Though we do spend a lot of time in the green room with each character, it just doesn't last long enough for us to feel attached to any of them.

There are a few plot twists but they are all mildly predictable. Anyone who has seen a soap opera in the past month or watched an episode of Family Matters will know what to expect on the next page. The ending is a bit unexpected and true to Palahniuk's signature style but it also feels a little far-fetched. Then again, this is only a book and not real life. Some stuff needs to be far from the truth; nobody wants to read about the mundane reality of life. Palahniuk claims to have already completed the first draft for his next novel Pygmy so Snuff can arguably be passed off as something to tide us over for the wait. Though it is short, somewhat predictable at spots, and a bit tame for what it is depicting; it is full of humor, wonderful trivia, plot twists, and memorable quotes. This book may not win any awards but it certainly will be mentioned in the years to come and you will be glad to have read it. ...more

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Sep 24, 2007 R. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 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.

---
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 livejournal blog circa 2002.

The book ...more

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Sep 13, 2008 Hertzan Chimera rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of LULLABY and CHOKE

Recommended to Hertzan by: my conscience

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 for such Fr ...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Mizuki rated it it was amazing

Shelves: pretty-good, humor

I think everyone knows what 'snuff' means, right?

It is not Mr. P's best book but it's still mightily entertaining and it gives us a better understanding on the creation and history of porn, it's a fun read. I own this book and I wish to re-read it ASAP.

a review which lists the funny *fake* titles of porn. Wow, 'The Postman Always Cums Twice'? Really?
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ...more

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Jan 30, 2014 Ｆｒａｎｋｈ rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-reviews, transgressive-fiction

I was very entertained while reading this book, primarily because the very premise of Snuff was the ultimate parody of the dehumanization and commercialization of sex that I've always wanted. I've been waiting for someone of Palahniuk's caliber and sense of humor to write something about sex and I was pleased Palahniuk's focus was on the pornography industry. He takes us into a very intimate look on how porn goddesses are made and coveted, and the men who lose themselves in the fantasies and fet I was very entertained while reading this book, primarily because the very premise of Snuff was the ultimate parody of the dehumanization and commercialization of sex that I've always wanted. I've been waiting for someone of Palahniuk's caliber and sense of humor to write something about sex and I was pleased Palahniuk's focus was on the pornography industry. He takes us into a very intimate look on how porn goddesses are made and coveted, and the men who lose themselves in the fantasies and fetishes provided by the audio-visual art form that is pornography.

But this book was appropriately entitled Snuff, because the story centers around Cassie Wright, a retiring porn star who planned to end her career by fornicating with six hundred men on camera. There's an implied death wish to this proclivity indeed, and I just know while reading that Cassie might not make it out alive. The plot was actually loosely based on the real-life story of porn actress Annabel Chong, who set the record for engaging in 251 sex acts with around 70 men in 10 hours.

The story is told in the alternating points of view of Mr. 600, Mr.. 72, and Mr. 137, men who are a part of Cassie's world-breaking goal. While waiting for their turn, each of these men begin to share their true reasons and motives for coming, and what follows then are hilarious, upsetting and touching accounts about their need for relevance, affirmation and family. Their narratives also included how Cassie Wright came into their lives and left a huge impact; something they now try desperately to re-capture through sexual congress, and a chance to speak to her before she leaves the profession forever.

Snuff's dark humor is sharp and, just like most Palaniuk books, his storytelling will make you laugh and feel sad all at once, and sometimes in an uncomfortable and mildly exciting way. Palhaniuk's attention to detail is astounding as always. The descriptions of the setting where these six hundred men are gathered are cringe-worthy; snacks and condoms are in bowls that are placed beside each other, creating an unsanitary and negligent picture about how these people treat sex merely as a soulless, menial task. Clearly, there is nothing erotic about the way Palahniuk told this story, and he wants you to know that. He also wants you to feel sorry for these characters as they step into the brief but harsh spotlight.

RECOMMENDED: 8/10
* A delicate but absurd tale on the the complications and subtleties of sex and intimacy. ...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Ramya (Idea Smith) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I picked this one up, having loved Fight Club and wondering whether Chuck Palahniuk would turn out to be a one-book wonder.

The blurb implies that the story will be about the porn industry. Cassie Wright, pornstar is out to set a record by having continuous sex with 600 different men on camera. The story shifts between the vantage views of three of the men crowded into that green room - Nos.37, 137 and 600 as well as Sheila, the assistant/wrangler who decides who goes in what order.

Sex, such an i I picked this one up, having loved Fight Club and wondering whether Chuck Palahniuk would turn out to be a one-book wonder.

The blurb implies that the story will be about the porn industry. Cassie Wright, pornstar is out to set a record by having continuous sex with 600 different men on camera. The story shifts between the vantage views of three of the men crowded into that green room - Nos.37, 137 and 600 as well as Sheila, the assistant/wrangler who decides who goes in what order.

Sex, such an intensely private act, is brought out and dissected as an everyday act, adding that demented Palahniuk quality to the story. Cassie fancies herself an artist and provides endless diatribe on famous stars' horrific secrets in pursuit of their art. She herself trains as if for a marathon, on what sound like Kegel exercises on steroids - all in preparation for the act.

In real life, sex often ends up being so little about the act and so much about dealing with everything else that comes up when you go in so deep - love, trust, families, motherhood, child abuse and sexuality. Similarly the book spends very little time on the actual act and zips across all of these in that manic way, characteristic of the writer.

I found the book disturbing but not as brutal as Fight Club. That's not an assessment of how good it is though. A dark sense of humour pervades through the entire novel, keeping it palatable. I finished it in three hours flat. And no, Palahniuk isn't a one-book wonder. For the record, I've got another book by him coming up.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 02, 2009 Chris rated it did not like it

Shelves: poop, read-in-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 can drink himse 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 can drink himself into oblivion or go on a drug binge for a while and then write about it. It would take a special kind of writer to do porn (or hang around porn stars or watch endless amount of porn) for a couple of years and then write about it.

Approximately ten years ago, David Foster Wallace wrote an essay ("Big Red Son," which can be found in his book of essays Consider the Lobster) about the porn industry after he attended the annual Adult Video News Awards (the Academy Awards of porn). It was filled with everything a fan/admirer of DFW would expect to find in his writing: humor, insight, unique observations, excruciating detail, and heavy doses of The Truth. And lots of footnotes, including one in which he likens Peter North's ejaculations to mortar rounds.

Shortly after this essay was published, one of DFW's fan sites, The Howling Fantods! reported that he was rumored to be working on a novel set in the porn industry. Unfortunately, those were just rumors and no such novel was ever published, which is a shame because that novel could very well have been the greatest novel about porn ever written. After reading Chuck Palahniuk's embarrassing attempt to tackle the subject in Snuff, I'm even more disappointed that DFW never wrote a porn novel because it would have, at the very least, saved me from ever having to read this dreck. I highly doubt Mr. Palahniuk would have ventured anywhere near this subject matter if a talent like DFW had already thoroughly dissected it.

If DFW's novel would have been a Peter North-like mortar round capable of coating the faces of three or four women, then Snuff is a premature ejaculation dripping down some 16-year-old kid's boxers before he can even get his girlfriend's bra off. In less than 200 pages, Palahniuk manages to include at least 50, maybe closer to 100, mock titles for porn movies, such as To Drill A Mockingbird, The Da Vinci Load, and The Tale of Two Titties. I had fun doing that when I was 14. Then you've got a female character who thinks of all men as masturbators and calls them pud-pullers, yogurt-yankers, jerk-jockeys, and on and on, never using the same hilarious name twice. There must be close to 100 of these brilliant gems scattered throughout the book. Sure, this stuff can be funny in small doses but using the same joke a hundred times? I could go into great detail about the lifeless narrators/characters, the plotless plot, and the twists that weren't really twists since you knew they were coming a long, long time before they came, much like most male porn stars, now that I think about it. I could do that, but I think I've already put more time into this review than Chuck put into writing this book, so I think it's time to pull out prematurely. Get it? Imagine a groaner like this on every single page.

This was the first Palahniuk book that I've read and it will likely be the last, which is too bad because he seems like a guy who takes chances and tries to write about topics that others don't. I imagine that this is why people like him. He's edgy. He's unique. He's brave. Unfortunately, as far as I can see from this book, he's not a good writer.

David Foster Wallace was every bit as edgy, unique, and brave as Chuck Palahniuk, but he was so much more. What I loved most about him was that, no matter what the topic was, he peeled back its layers until there was nothing left to peel and all of the sadness, hilarity, banality, and ugliness of that topic had been revealed. I'm probably going a bit too far here given that I've only read one of Palahniuk's books, but Chuck seems like a guy with no interest in peeling back the layers. He can sell his books and gather his loyal following without any of that deep thinking. ...more

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Mar 20, 2019 Armand rated it really liked it

Shelves: transgressive, read-2019

A still bankable pornstar slowly inching past her prime goes for one last shot at fame. She's got 600 guys primed to run a train on her in a magnum opus that will decidedly break smut records, aptly entitled World Whore Three: The Whore To End All Whores. If she's going out, she's gonna do so with a (gang)bang. And in a production of this scale with so much hanging in the balance, can murder be far behind? The reasonable answer to that is "prolly not", but this is a bonkers Palahniuk book, so ye ...more

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Mar 24, 2014 Stay Fetters rated it it was amazing

Shelves: yet-again

"When your agent sends you in a look-see to f**k a dead woman, you know your career’s in the toilet."

One of my favorite things about Chuck Palahniuk is that he’s not afraid to put something strange and bizarre out into the world. He loves that shock factor that his books bring to the world and I’m here breathing it in like it’s my last breath.

Snuff is one of my favorite books by Chuck. It’s one that gets even more bizarre every time you read it and I can’t get enough. Who would have thought a b ...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Diana Gangan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, fiction

Don't watch porn. Read Palahniuk. It's filthier, you'll see. Filthier but brilliant. True fact. ...more

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Jul 11, 2017 Timothy Urges rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Sick sense of humor required.

Six hundred men and one woman are on a mission to set a record. Three of the men have personal missions (and emissions).

Read it if you like the ridiculous.

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Oct 25, 2014 Mel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-stars, library, read-in-2015

This book was a disaster. I don't understand why this book exists at all. I don't know why it was published, why anyone thought it would be a good idea, and why I bothered to read it.

This is the first time in my life a book has made me question reading. It made me question why we read and why people write. If this is the kind of stuff being published, why do I read. I get nothing from this. No benefit and no education. I don't know why reading and writing has become such a big industry when this This book was a disaster. I don't understand why this book exists at all. I don't know why it was published, why anyone thought it would be a good idea, and why I bothered to read it.

This is the first time in my life a book has made me question reading. It made me question why we read and why people write. If this is the kind of stuff being published, why do I read. I get nothing from this. No benefit and no education. I don't know why reading and writing has become such a big industry when this is all we have to show for it. It's really an embarrassment to the literary world and I personally didn't enjoy questioning why I bother to read.

Now, I might have felt a bit different about this book had it created some sort of awareness to the realities of the porn industry. There are so many books lately creating awareness to mental health, diseases and cancer, abuse, etc. I thought you know that maybe this would create awareness about the porn industry and maybe break some of the taboos surrounding it. This did neither of those. I didn't really find it to be groundbreaking and give people a new take on porn, I actually saw it as doing the exact opposite. It makes them out to look like disgusting gross people who have nothing else in the world. I've never been on a porn set, never been in porn, have very little knowledge of how porn actually works, so maybe I am wrong here, but I feel like this was a kind of crude depiction of the industry. I can't even really tell if this book was offensive at all because it was so poorly written.

The writing was horrible. It's clustered, confusing, and grammatically terrible. Things like "I'm touching the necklace Cassie gived me" and "don't lets be coy." Also, he had this habit of giving some weird fact and ending it with "true fact." Got old really fast. Maybe this is a usual thing for Palahniuk or his signature or something but I really was underwhelmed with the writing from a man I have heard so much about,

This is a completely sorry excuse for a plot. Mostly because, there isn't one. Okay so you have 600 men waiting to have sex with a porn star and you get to hear from 3 of those men. That's not really what I'd call a A+ plot. It's quite lacking. There are 600 guys and you chose to focus on 3 of them? I mean I get it because of the connection between 2 of them, but why did he include guy 137? Plus why did this have to turn into a weird incestuous sort of plot? Having one of the 600 be her son and another of the 600 be her sons father just was weird. Like this brings an already messed up family dynamic into the most messed up scenario. Not to mention you have Guy 600 aka baby daddy urging his son to have sex with his mom, and later urging him to kill his mom. I really don't get it. Then there were useless beauty tips thrown in which I really didn't see the point to. They just seemed to mostly add length to this already short book.

I feel like Palahniuk really only wrote this book because he wanted to show how creative he is at naming porn movies. There were at least 2 porn titles a page. It was excessive and useless to the "plot". I've never read a Palahniuk book before. I'd heard great things because he's the creator of Fight Club (which I've never seen the movie either) so I expected greatness from this man. I was let down like I've never been let down before.

This was my first... and last Palahniuk book. He's really not my type of author if this is what he considers publishable material.

Book Challenge book # 31 - A Book With Bad Reviews ...more

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Jul 06, 2008 Kemper rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: Chuck Palahniuk fans. Fans of Boogie Nights.

Shelves: s-e-x, humor

As a Chuck Palahniuk fan, I was disappointed. It's got all the usual elements of a Chuck P. novel. Dark humor, gross material, oddball characters, and plenty of plot twists, but it's a let down after the superior Haunted and Rant.

It's very short. In fact, a shorter version might have made a great story in Haunted. And after the mind bending sci-fi of Rant, it seems like a far less ambitious novel. It's not bad, but it reads like something that Palahniuk did as a side project while working on som ...more

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May 30, 2008 OutlawPoet rated it liked it

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 damaged people - one might say e ...more

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Oct 10, 2015 Henz rated it it was ok

Shelves: disappointment

Awww too bad, I really loved Fight club and I was really looking forward to find some grit in this novel, sadly all I’ve read were a parody of porn titles and porn slangs that made me uncomfortable but I must say that it’s a bold move for Chuck Palahniuk to write a novel about Porn.

“Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages. A must-have movie for every discerning collector of things erotic.”

Yes that’s right!!! I must say the premise really caught me. To write about how the ...more

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Apr 05, 2015 Bill rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This one is about as palatable as purple buttercream veins on a Devils food cake erection.

Everybody loves Cassie. Who wouldn’t love the star of movie mega hits such as Good Will Humping and Emergency Room Backdoor Dog Pile? Plus, 600 dudes later, she is about to make a world record for the ages. The problem is, it just may kill her. That’s the plan anyway.

First off, I like Palahniuk…usually. This was definitely not my favorite of his, but a friend of mine gave me the audio book so I thought I wo ...more

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About Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk

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Written in stolen moments under truck chassis and on park benches to a soundtrack of The Downward Spiral and Pablo Honey, Fight Club came into existence. The adaptation of Fight Club was a flop at the box office, but achieved cult status on DVD. The film’s popularity drove sales of the novel. Chuck put out two novels in 1999, Survivor and Invisible Monsters. Choke, published in 2001, became Chuck’ ...more