Rating: 
Summary: Im sorry but its just not that good
Review: Now i am a huge fan of chucks works and have read all his books except for lulaby which i am in the process of now and this book at times was just down right boring. The plot is that there really isnt a huge on just mini sub plots about his mom him being jesus or somwthing and a whole load of other [stuff]. The begining was ok but twards the middle and end it just began to repet itself. Now if you would like to read a good book read survivor by chuck now that is a work of art and has a great story line (probley one of my fav books)
Rating: 
Summary: Have never read anything like this! Must Read!
Review: This is the first book by Palahniuk that I have read and it will not be the last....I just stumbled upon this book while in a rush on my lunch hour....the description on the back intrigued me and I liked the movie "Fight Club" - two days later the book was finished....every second I got I found myself pulling it out of my bag...just trying to read a little more on the life of Victor Mancini.Victor's life is anything/everything except boring....a drop out medical student that has a full time job by day in a old colonial theme park and choking at various restaurants around town by night to make some lucky person feel like a hero - AND what is all this for? Well, many reasons....you'll have to get the book! Victor sounds pretty busy with all this going on but he still finds time to visit his mother who suffers from alzheimer's and classes for sex addicts. Believe me - this is a must read, a page turner! Palahnuik has a way of describing each character and the scenarios will have you laughing out loud. I can not wait to read another book by Palahnuik.
Rating: 
Summary: First time reader of Palahniuk
Review: This is the first Palahniuk-book I've read. His voice was generally alright, but I stumbled
through the first chapter, finding it hard to go on up that long hill. Perhaps I just
didn't get the humor. In any event in hindsight I think the book would have been a lot
stronger and momentous if that chapter was left out. Palahniuk is sarcastic. >>For real<< the book is funny. Although at the same time it's utterly
depressing, because the picture Palahniuk paints of the U.S. is grim and miserable. It's
accurate. I've never read any author that writes like Palahniuk. It's written in a very simple style,
like spoken language, and it works well. The language is concise, colorful...modern. The plot is somewhat boring and I didn't find that to be what pulled along to keep reading
(I finished the book in three sittings). It was the humor, the misanthropy,
the gritty reality of it all that kept me flipping the pages. In the end there is a tiny twist, not even a twist, a few revelations. The entire book is a downward-spiral until at the end the characters get their dung
together and realize that we're all in the mud together. This book was a great contrast to the film "Fight Club" because it contains no violence.
The velocity is completely different than "Fight Club": the book moves about as
fast as a group of teenagers drinking coffee at Denny's. You know, that type of
"Breakfast Club"-momentum. I'll be glad to read another book by Palahniuk. I can imagine though that the formula
is going to be the same: cynicism, sinking lower, lower still, realization.
Rating:
Summary: What would Jesus NOT do?
Review: He would not read this book... I've enjoyed every Palahniuk's creations, but this is not good at all. It's in the same Palahniuk-Fight Club style, but it lacks an entertaining story. It is very raunchy, dicey, and weird like Palahniuk's great novels, but it lacks entertainment value. You read chapters after chapter before anything happens. I will say that the end is rather intresting. But to get to that point, it takes so much energy to pick up the book and plow through. What would Jesus NOT do? I know Chuck-- he would not read this novel. At least Palahniuk has Fight Club behind his name.
Rating: 
Summary: Disgusting Post Modernism
Review: Chuck Palahniuk continues his legacy of bizarre storylines that highlight some flaw in society as well as a problematic citizen bothered by those flaws. It started with "Fight Club" and resurfaced with "Survivor". Each novel is a piece of work and leaves the reader wondering just what exactly is Palahniuk thinking of? Where does he get these ideas? Victor Mancini: protagonist we love to hate, and yet idolize. He constantly screws over rich people by faking choking in high class restaurants. His actions are based on the philosophy that once someone saves your life they feel responsible for you. Mancini uses the money to fund his mother's stay in a 'nursing' home while he works a day job as an eighteenth century recreation to support himself. In the past Palahniuk's writing has been severe and sharp, not for the easy stomach or fragile mind. Choke is no different, but it leaves something to be desired. Chuck carries on in his inclusion of random but useful tidbits of information and even incorporates a philosophy of human character and pessimism, but the novel isn't pulled together. The twists are entertaining until the last fifth or so in which they become ludicrous and so scattered that things feel discombobulated. And maybe that's intentional. But unlike Fight Club and Survivor, Choke doesn't offer much insight and the loose ends stay pretty loose. I am reminded of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Trilogy in which the fifth book succinctly ends the phenomenal series with one unsatisfying paragraph. While these sorts of wrap ups may be for shock value or the author just trying something new, they leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Endings don't have to be happygolucky or even complete, but to so hurriedly finish off a novel is in poor taste and is quite uncharacteristic of Palahniuk. All said, though, the book *is* interesting and gripping, and I would recommend it to someone desperate for something new.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the easily depressed
Review: I thought I was cynical, but I don't compare to the characters in this novel. But it was a funny, insightful, read about modern life and values.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: This book is disgusting. It goes against the whole nature of humanity. It is the story of a little boy who grows up with his estranged mother - who comes to claim him everytime she gets arrested for various crimes. The mother is mad and the child eventually believes that he is the product of a genetic association between his mother and the foreskin of Jesus Christ. Imagine the storyline. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 star because there are several interesting twists throughout the novel
Rating:
Summary: Resonates with my thoughts like no other modern author
Review: Tremendous. Witty and deep. The perfect antihero in the age of dehumanization. This book glories in its anti-intellectualism. Mr. Palanhuik is not for everyone, but definetly at the top of my list. He crosses the line between harsh realism and fantasy in such a subtle way that it becomes impossible to distinguish. This may seem like a criticism but it is the opposite.
Rating: 
Summary: If you're reading CHOKE, don't bother.
Review: Con-artist Victor Mancini pretends to choke in restaurants. Invariably, scores of patrons rush to "save his life." The one who succeeds in dislodging the food from his throat inevitably feels the warm glow of admiration from the other patrons; he experiences a moment of self-glorification. He has been heroized. As a result, the one who "rescues" Victor Mancini voluntarily donates money to the 25-year-old womanizer. Do you find this premise plausible? Do you think that this premise is logical, that it makes sense? If so, CHOKE is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: DUDE!
Review: Palahniuk is by far one of the most disturbing authors I've read in a long time. He is a mixture of Kurt Vonnegut at his more witty and sarcastic, Don Delillo when he views society, and the carnal side of William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Choke is basically about a con artist who deals w/ a sex addiction, a mother w/ Alzheimer's, and pretends to choke on food at restaurants to earn money. He is also a med-school dropout who works as an indentured servant at some colonial theme park. The main character, Victor Mancini, is a very tragic and tortured man, like many of the characters in this book. He can't make his real self talk to his Alzheimer's stricken mother when he goes to visit her, instead putting on a bogus alias and their relationship was obviously very tortured. He also deals w/ a major sex addiction which he cannot seem to overcome no matter how hard he tries. Choke is another example of Palahniuk's grim view of society, like his novel Fight Club, and it symbolizes the death of the American dream, by revealing the ugly side to society, such as illness, corruption, addiction and war (both political and personal). Choke is not a book for everybody, obviously. For me it was too hard to put down, with suspense and curiosity literally bouncing off of every page, but it's hard to fathom what would happen next in Victor Mancini's insane life, and it was too disturbing to ignore. Perhaps this is one of the most bizarre and disturbing books I've read in my life. After I put it down I was in awe, and I didn't know what to feel. It was very powerful, but it was also very negative the way Palahniuk ignores the beauty in society and literally plunges straight into a Hedonistic and corrupted underworld.
| 
