Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wacked out and fun, 28 Jan 2009
If you're new to Chuck Palahniuk's work, might I suggest that you read some of the reviews and even do some online research before diving right into his work, the reason being that he is unlike any other author. The phrase "pulls no punches" comes to mind. I read somewhere that this was actually Mr. Palahniuk's first novel, but that it had been rejected by publishers because it was too out there, too violent, and too weird. As a result he wrote FIGHT CLUB, which has since become a classic of the underground sort, and publishers flocked to pick up INVISIBLE MONSTERS. Now Mr. Palahniuk has several books under his belt, and this is by far one of the better ones.
The story of a fashion model gone wrong, the author uses fashion lingo and punches up the story with brilliant writing techniques that really give you at once a feeling of the vapidity of the industry, the falseness, and also the underlying problems, both emotional and physical. This is not a hard book to read, but, like most books, it took me a chapter or two to get into the flow and style. Once there I had no problem folliwing what was coming, though there are surprises galore in this tawdry and fantantasic tale. Everyone in the book is a mess, but the author somehow gets us to like and follow them through this labyrinth of weirdness.
The book has an almost hallucinatory feel, reminding me of THE ELECTRIC KOOLAID TEST, or even some of Burrough's works---NAKED LUNCH comes to mind, though INVISIBLE MONSTERS makes more sense and is more fun. I would recommend this book to those who have a warped sense of humor and who are not easily offended, along with Sedaris's works (ME TALK PRETTY) and those of Christopher Moore.
My only hesitation with recommending this book is that there is one scene, one description of a sexual act that I hope is not frequently performed, and this was the only part that really turned me off. Other than that, it was a wild ride of a time.
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23 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
see through good, 1 Nov 2007
i was so impressed by this book that i will now be reading everything Chuck Palahniuk wrote. He's now one of my favorite writers, along with Christopher Moore and Jackson McCrae.
"Invisible Monsters" is a really twisted work that everyone should read. You WILL be put off by some of the humor and references to sex, but that's part of Palahniuk's deal. I can tell you, even if you don't like some of the sections in this book, the coming together at the end makes up for it.
The basic idea of the book is about a fashion model who has become disfigured. Palahniuk uses fashion-type references throughout and the word "Flash!" to denote the fashion world or the remnants of it. A truly well thought out book from cover to cover. I would also recommend the Christopher Moore book "Practical Demon Keeping" and the McCRae "Katzenjammer" for other equally entertaining reads.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing! So intense it will stop you from sleeping!, 2 Sep 2008
As someone who has recently completed a BA in English Literature it shocks (and worries) me that I can barley even begin articulate just how incredible this book is. Recommend to me by a friend, I was at first sceptical because of the book's basic premise i.e. - the story of a disfigured fashion model, which sounded slightly vacuous and shallow to me. I was extremely wrong! This is a great meaty read, almost overflowing with substance. The text is a great example of literary postmodernism and as such presents a fervent and continuous challenging of our societies established notions of gender, of sexuality, and most definitely of narrative and our assumptions about how a story should be told. In this latter respect I found "Invisible Monsters" reminiscent to the works of Jeanette Winterson, particularly "The Powerbook" and "Lighthousekeeping".
A word of warning though, do not read this novel before you go to bed. I did and for two nights running it seriously disrupted my sleep, which is a testament to just how intense Shannon's narrative is. You will be so totally absorbed into the darkness and twisted logic of her world it becomes very difficult to escape yourself!!
The novel does have its lighter moments though with some great laugh-out-loud comedy, particularly coming from Shannon's parents and their zealous and overcompensative crusade for gay-rights.
An intensely dark, disturbing and thought-provoking classic for our times!
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