Take a photo of a barcode or cover
nancyadelman 's review for:
Haunted
by Chuck Palahniuk
A group of writers are gathered together at an artist's retreat for three months to write what they believe will be their best works. It turns out they are abandoned in an old and desolate theater with little food, no heat, or electricity. They take turns telling their stories to each other, each one trying to outdo the one before him.
This was a really weird book. I had read a short story titled "Guts" which was one of the versions of the opening stories. It was about a young man masturbating in a pool. The structure of the book is like a framework with 20+ short stories and poems within the frame. The frame of the story is the larger story about these characters being trapped in the old theater. Almost none of the characters in the frame story have actual names: instead they are called by nicknames like Miss America, the Earl of Slander, Chef Assassin, Lady Baglady, and Saint Gut-Free. None of these characters are even close to being adequately developed so the reader doesn't really feel any connection to any of them. I enjoyed reading the short stories but not so much the frame story. There is a lot, A LOT of violence, and sexual violence especially throughout this book. There are many references to sex, including some descriptions of oral sex and sex with child-sized dolls. There is some alcohol and drug use. This is not a book for the faint of heart or for young people.
I am giving this book 2 stars. I really didn't like it. But some of the short stories were pretty decent.
This was a really weird book. I had read a short story titled "Guts" which was one of the versions of the opening stories. It was about a young man masturbating in a pool. The structure of the book is like a framework with 20+ short stories and poems within the frame. The frame of the story is the larger story about these characters being trapped in the old theater. Almost none of the characters in the frame story have actual names: instead they are called by nicknames like Miss America, the Earl of Slander, Chef Assassin, Lady Baglady, and Saint Gut-Free. None of these characters are even close to being adequately developed so the reader doesn't really feel any connection to any of them. I enjoyed reading the short stories but not so much the frame story. There is a lot, A LOT of violence, and sexual violence especially throughout this book. There are many references to sex, including some descriptions of oral sex and sex with child-sized dolls. There is some alcohol and drug use. This is not a book for the faint of heart or for young people.
I am giving this book 2 stars. I really didn't like it. But some of the short stories were pretty decent.