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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
i love palahniuk’s writing, i think he’s an amazing storyteller buuut i just don’t vibe as much with his short stories as his novels i think
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Rape, Cannibalism
The rating is for the following stories (the rest are a miss)
Zombies (5 stars)
Red sultans big boy (mr. Hands!)
Romance
Cold calling
Zombies (5 stars)
Red sultans big boy (mr. Hands!)
Romance
Cold calling
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book is just not for me. I like weird but this is more than I can handle.
Very creative but requires focus. I find his stories and one liners etc hit and miss, I think some of them could've been done better. Still generally enjoyable, lots of different perspectives from all kinds of likeable and unlikeable characters.
I feel like I say this about every short story collection I read. Short story collections just seem kind of hit or miss for me, and every time I read one there are stories I love and stories I hate. Make Something Up is no different.
Of course, there are the par for the Palahniuk course gross out stories ("The Toad Prince"), but there were several stories that I felt had a bit more nuance to them. "Expedition" was wonderful. I love the idea of Tyler being sort of hereditary, and I thought some of the things Palahniuk wrote about absent fathers in that story were particularly insightful. "Romance" bears up to re-reading as does "How a Jew Saved Christmas", both of which I had read when they were previously published elsewhere. I believe "Zombies" and "Tunnel of Love" were also previously published, but I didn't find them quite as compelling on a second read.
Overall, I think that this collection is a must read for Palahniuk fans. There were more good stories than not so good (and of course, some people will just prefer different stories). It's a solid set of stories from one of my favorite authors to read for fun. It was entertaining, quick, and occasionally unexpected. I especially liked some of the self-referential bits within stories, because it really highlights the tongue-in-cheek nature of so much of Palahniuk's work.
Finally, I truly hope that compiling a set of stories that were already written and working on a sequel (Fight Club comic books) has given Chuck a bit of a rest. Over the past several years, he's really been cranking out novels, and I think a little time to breathe might do a world of good for the next one he writes.
Of course, there are the par for the Palahniuk course gross out stories ("The Toad Prince"), but there were several stories that I felt had a bit more nuance to them. "Expedition" was wonderful. I love the idea of Tyler being sort of hereditary, and I thought some of the things Palahniuk wrote about absent fathers in that story were particularly insightful. "Romance" bears up to re-reading as does "How a Jew Saved Christmas", both of which I had read when they were previously published elsewhere. I believe "Zombies" and "Tunnel of Love" were also previously published, but I didn't find them quite as compelling on a second read.
Overall, I think that this collection is a must read for Palahniuk fans. There were more good stories than not so good (and of course, some people will just prefer different stories). It's a solid set of stories from one of my favorite authors to read for fun. It was entertaining, quick, and occasionally unexpected. I especially liked some of the self-referential bits within stories, because it really highlights the tongue-in-cheek nature of so much of Palahniuk's work.
Finally, I truly hope that compiling a set of stories that were already written and working on a sequel (Fight Club comic books) has given Chuck a bit of a rest. Over the past several years, he's really been cranking out novels, and I think a little time to breathe might do a world of good for the next one he writes.
I think perhaps I have outgrown Palahniuk. Maybe the internet has dulled my senses: his attempts to shock and awe no longer shock or awe.
I read half of it and returned it to the library with no regrets.
I read half of it and returned it to the library with no regrets.
This one is a mixed bag, so I'm going to do like I usually try to with collections and summarize and review each story separately. 5 stars usually go to ones I could read a whole novel of.
"Knock Knock": A guy whose shitty father thought it was funny to teach his kid dirty racist jokes finally realizes he was the butt of the joke all along. 3 stars.
"Eleanor": Ugh, I hated this narrative style when he did it in Pygmy. It's such a chore to parse. The story would have been fine without it. 2 stars
"How Monkey Got Married...": First of a few semi-connected stories in this volume told in a Aesop's fables/Coyote stories style where everyone is a type of animal. Salesperson Monkey is given a seemingly impossible task. 4 stars.
"Zombies": Is being brain damaged so bad if it means easy happiness? I read this previously when it was published somewhere online, still pretty great. 5 stars.
"Loser": Another "is winning really worth it?" question-raiser that Chuck is so fond of, in the frame of an acid-tripping frat boy on The Price is Right (basically). 5 stars.
"Red Sultan's Big Boy": Gross beastiality and kids trying to profit off of a viral video (what is with the crafty scheming teenagers in several of these stories?) Unexpected ending. 5 stars.
"Romance": Ignorance is bliss again. Who cares if she's dumb if she's blistering smoking hot? 4 stars.
"Cannibal": Pretty sure you can't perform an abortion like this. Also, fucking gross, Chuck. 1 star.
"Why Coyote Never had Money for Parking": Monkey might have envied Coyote his posting but in Chuck's world the grass is only ever green from the next yard over. 3 stars.
"Phoenix": I read this when it was a Kindle Single and loved it ever since. A business traveler deals with her stubbornly silent blind daughter, her weak-willed husband, and the "ghost" of a cat who more or less ruined their lives. 5 stars.
"The Facts of Life": An ultimate cautionary tale about premarital sex. I admit I laughed at the ending. Unexpected. 4 stars.
"Cold Calling": A telemarketer who can't get anyone to believe him and a customer who isn't who she pretends to be. A little cut-short feeling. 3 stars.
"The Toad Prince": Body modification and "natural male enhancement" taken to a pretty gross extreme. 2 stars.
"Smoke": a writer feeling like a slave to language. Pretty short. 3 stars.
"Torcher": Stoner meets hard-boiled noir detective at Burning Man. Make this a novel please? 5 stars.
"Liturgy": Good pacing and drawing out suspense, also does a great job of sketching out an HOA neighborhood. 4 stars.
"Why Aardvark Never Landed on the Moon": When excellence is punished, go for mediocrity. This one made me sad and pissed off. Fucking bullies. 4 stars.
"Fetch": A haunted tennis ball leads a teenager on a treasure hunt. No, really. I wouldn't mind a book of their adventures. Maybe I'm a weirdo, I dunno. 4 stars.
"Expedition": Some history of the Tyler Durden entity/mythos introduced in Fight Club 2 (the comic book). Interesting. 4 stars.
"Mr Elegant": Someone always has it worse than you even if you end up a viral embarrassment. I want a novel about what happens to the troupe that forms at the end. 5 stars.
"Tunnel of Love": A dying woman seeks a massage therapist's help to hasten the process. Fascinating. 4 stars.
"Inclinations": Kids pretending to be gay, hoping to scam their parents for money in return for attending a gay conversion program end up caught in a more sinister scam. 5 stars.
"How a Jew Saved Christmas": Secret Santa drama. 4 stars.
So in all, a good chunk of my favorite kind of Chuck stories, some gross-out, a few duds, ultimately worth the read.
"Knock Knock": A guy whose shitty father thought it was funny to teach his kid dirty racist jokes finally realizes he was the butt of the joke all along. 3 stars.
"Eleanor": Ugh, I hated this narrative style when he did it in Pygmy. It's such a chore to parse. The story would have been fine without it. 2 stars
"How Monkey Got Married...": First of a few semi-connected stories in this volume told in a Aesop's fables/Coyote stories style where everyone is a type of animal. Salesperson Monkey is given a seemingly impossible task. 4 stars.
"Zombies": Is being brain damaged so bad if it means easy happiness? I read this previously when it was published somewhere online, still pretty great. 5 stars.
"Loser": Another "is winning really worth it?" question-raiser that Chuck is so fond of, in the frame of an acid-tripping frat boy on The Price is Right (basically). 5 stars.
"Red Sultan's Big Boy": Gross beastiality and kids trying to profit off of a viral video (what is with the crafty scheming teenagers in several of these stories?) Unexpected ending. 5 stars.
"Romance": Ignorance is bliss again. Who cares if she's dumb if she's blistering smoking hot? 4 stars.
"Cannibal": Pretty sure you can't perform an abortion like this. Also, fucking gross, Chuck. 1 star.
"Why Coyote Never had Money for Parking": Monkey might have envied Coyote his posting but in Chuck's world the grass is only ever green from the next yard over. 3 stars.
"Phoenix": I read this when it was a Kindle Single and loved it ever since. A business traveler deals with her stubbornly silent blind daughter, her weak-willed husband, and the "ghost" of a cat who more or less ruined their lives. 5 stars.
"The Facts of Life": An ultimate cautionary tale about premarital sex. I admit I laughed at the ending. Unexpected. 4 stars.
"Cold Calling": A telemarketer who can't get anyone to believe him and a customer who isn't who she pretends to be. A little cut-short feeling. 3 stars.
"The Toad Prince": Body modification and "natural male enhancement" taken to a pretty gross extreme. 2 stars.
"Smoke": a writer feeling like a slave to language. Pretty short. 3 stars.
"Torcher": Stoner meets hard-boiled noir detective at Burning Man. Make this a novel please? 5 stars.
"Liturgy": Good pacing and drawing out suspense, also does a great job of sketching out an HOA neighborhood. 4 stars.
"Why Aardvark Never Landed on the Moon": When excellence is punished, go for mediocrity. This one made me sad and pissed off. Fucking bullies. 4 stars.
"Fetch": A haunted tennis ball leads a teenager on a treasure hunt. No, really. I wouldn't mind a book of their adventures. Maybe I'm a weirdo, I dunno. 4 stars.
"Expedition": Some history of the Tyler Durden entity/mythos introduced in Fight Club 2 (the comic book). Interesting. 4 stars.
"Mr Elegant": Someone always has it worse than you even if you end up a viral embarrassment. I want a novel about what happens to the troupe that forms at the end. 5 stars.
"Tunnel of Love": A dying woman seeks a massage therapist's help to hasten the process. Fascinating. 4 stars.
"Inclinations": Kids pretending to be gay, hoping to scam their parents for money in return for attending a gay conversion program end up caught in a more sinister scam. 5 stars.
"How a Jew Saved Christmas": Secret Santa drama. 4 stars.
So in all, a good chunk of my favorite kind of Chuck stories, some gross-out, a few duds, ultimately worth the read.
I can't believe it's been a fucking DECADE since I last picked up a Palahniuk. Good to know he's still as dark and viscerally unsettling as always. There's even a cameo of Tyler Durden (that I didn't pick up on til I read the back cover)! Some of the short stories were real gnarly, some were affecting, some were meh- overall it was oddly comforting to get sucked back in.
The more I read Palahniuk, the more it seems to become an exercise in diminishing returns. He starts with some sort of gimmick, throws a lot of repetition at the reader, and towards the end, he rolls out some sort of twist intended to turn the story on its ear. But what works in Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, and Choke wears thin by the time we get to Tell All and Damned. After reading 11 novels, the prospect of another Palahniuk was no longer that enticing.
But the short story from is a different animal than a novel, and interestingly, with the short story Palahniuk's able to free himself from his worn out tricks. Somewhat. The stories in this collection are all about the right length, say what they need to say, then get off the stage. And, perhaps because of their brevity, the stories that tend to fall back on those well-worn tricks seem more effective: the linguistic repetition carries more of a punch and the surprising bits tend to actually be more surprising. Somewhat.
It was also refreshing to see him step outside what I'd call a Palahniuk story/theme without losing his unique voice, to see him stretch a bit more than usual. There are a few I would happily have left unread (the gross-out story "The Toad Prince" is the epitome of the collection's subtitle) but there are some rather decent takes amongst the 23 collected here ("Knock, Knock", "Fetch", "Torcher") and this collection was enough to once again make the prospect of reading another Palahniuk novel more enticing. Somewhat.
But the short story from is a different animal than a novel, and interestingly, with the short story Palahniuk's able to free himself from his worn out tricks. Somewhat. The stories in this collection are all about the right length, say what they need to say, then get off the stage. And, perhaps because of their brevity, the stories that tend to fall back on those well-worn tricks seem more effective: the linguistic repetition carries more of a punch and the surprising bits tend to actually be more surprising. Somewhat.
It was also refreshing to see him step outside what I'd call a Palahniuk story/theme without losing his unique voice, to see him stretch a bit more than usual. There are a few I would happily have left unread (the gross-out story "The Toad Prince" is the epitome of the collection's subtitle) but there are some rather decent takes amongst the 23 collected here ("Knock, Knock", "Fetch", "Torcher") and this collection was enough to once again make the prospect of reading another Palahniuk novel more enticing. Somewhat.