Rating: 
Summary: Not for all, but a MUST for some.
Review: One of the things I like most about Mr. Palahniuk is that he can write about a topic using fewer words than most authors do, and yet he can still get his point across ten times as effectively. Like in all of his other books, you will notice his... "curtness" in Survivor; and because of this, the book is a little on the short side (around 300 pages, one could read it in an afternoon). To many this is a bad thing, but it's really such an enjoyable book that length isn't of any importance. If you're interested in the sheer girth of a book rather than the quality of the materials, I'd suggest that you pick up a telephone book instead. If you're still interested: Keep reading...Survivor is by far my favorite book by the author, and is possibly even my favorite novel, period. Some people might consider it "graphic" at times, so if you're worried about that, I'd suggest you pick up a good Chicken-Soup-For-the-Whatever book. If you're still interested: Check it out, it's a good read- and hey, if you don't like it, you can send your copy to me.
Rating:
Summary: Suicidally Good!
Review: After seeing the movie Fight Club, I became very interested in Chuck Palahniuk's work. So I went to the bookstore looking for some of his other novels. You know the saying "don't judge a book by its cover"? Well I do judge books by their covers. The covers of books now are just so... corny. I could tell Survivor was going to be a good book from its unique cover. It is very plan, almost completely silver, but it has style. The novel is centered on the thought to be only survivor of a Creedish Death Cult, Tender Branson. In the first chapter, chapter 47, it is explained that Tender Branson is alone on a high jacked commercial airplane and he is going to crash it into the Australian Outback. But before that happens he is going to tell his life story to the "indestructible black box of Flight 2039". As the chapters work their way down to 1, there is a very dark apocalyptic story of Tender's rise to stardom from a housemaid for a strange yuppie couple. In his work experience with this yuppie couple, Tender learns helpful facts like how to get bloodstains off of wallpaper. Also how to hide stab holes in tuxedos. No book is complete without a love interest, and Fertility Hollis adds that and much more. Tender falls for the very interesting character Fertility, who happens to be the sister of a man Tender killed (in a round about way). The plot takes many twists and turns that keep you very interested, for instance Tender's twin brother might be trying to kill him so that all of the Cult would be in their rightful place, dead. "'What's the difference between a Creedish and a corpse?' Just a matter of hours." It is a very unpredictable, enticing, hilarious novel that is so real, it might make you consider suicide. I loved this very unique novel and would recommend it to everyone, except people who have considered suicide, because it might just push them over the edge.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: Most of us were introduced to Palahniuk via FIGHT CLUB. And why not? It's stil his greatest work. I'm still blown away by that book and movie. But the really interesting thing about Palahniuk's work is that so many people, from so many backgrounds can warm to his work. Granted, he covers a lot of different topics, but good writing is good writing, and for me, SURVIVOR is one of his best efforts. There are some absolute gems--one-liners--in this book as with all his books, but don't feel that that cheapens his writing. It doesn't, for few can compare with Mr. Palahniuk's style, wit, and craftsmanship. Do yourself a favor: Buy this book and simply enjoy. Would also recommend "Naked" by David Sedaris, and "The Bark of the Dogwood" by Jackson McCrae.
Rating:
Summary: Another awesome book by Palahniuk
Review: I already read Fight Club and Choke, and they were by far two of the most enticing books I have ever picked up. I read both of those in 2 days (1 day per book). Then I read "Survivor" another masterful complicated tale about Tender Branson, a man who survived a death cult (Creedish), and goes on to be a self-help mogul and a bizarre prophet. The way this book was written was very interesting. It starts at Chapter 47 (or 49, I can't remember, it's early in the morning) and the chapter numbers descent throughout the entire book. It starts with Tender, now a wanted fugitive for murder, on a plane about to crash into the Australian outback since the engines have all burned out, and he has only a few moments to figure out where his life went wrong. From there, as the chapters (and his plane) descend, you are given a view of his less-than-ordinary life, and the less-than-orindary people he comes across, most importantly Fertility. It's a book filled with bizarre twists, characters, events, and revelations. Palahniuk is probably the best modern day author out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but it's no Fight Club
Review: I'm a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk and this, I believe, is his 2nd novel. Nutshell plot: guy from a Creedish cult meets a strange psychic woman and then rises to stardom. Meanwhile, someone is murdering all the left-over cult members. The book has the trademark black humor, cynicism, and originality that makes Palahniuk so great...but I felt like it didn't live up to his other books. My rating is based on the bar Palahniuk set in his other books (in case you're wondering), and if you're new to his works, save this story for later. I liked the amibiguous ending, the backwards running page numbers, and the quiet ironic wit. If you've only watched the movie version of Fight Club, read Fight Club the book and then Choke and then this book. I recommend this book to readers who've done their pre-requisite reading and to those who like to jump in the deep end of the swimming pool first. Palahniuk expects the reader to really think about what he's writing so don't go in expecting "freebies" like in F.Club, you're going to have to root around for his messages. Also, if you haven't already read it: read CHOKE, it's GREAT!
Rating: 
Summary: sophmore jinx ?
Review: I absolutely loved the later works Choke and Lullaby. I found both to be incredibily interesting, sharp and well-crafted works of satire. This one just didn't do it for me. Maybe after Fight Club, Chuck was wrestling with the "sophmore jinx"? There's obvious effort here and Survivor is a "good" book, but I would have to honestly say it's a few stars short of a "great book". With Choke I truly cared about the main character's exploits. I waited in anticipation for what loomed next and ultimately turned pages quickly. I could not put it down. Survivor just didn't do it for me. I found it a forced read. There are select moments in which this story shines. Some of the "bazillion" metaphors present are dead on hilarious and inciteful. Others are not. It is impossibile to hit a home run with every trip to the plate. This one's a nice effort, but falls short of the fence. I hope to crack Invisible Monsters next.
Rating:
Summary: Made for TV
Review: Absolutely amazing that there could be an adaptation for that horrid reality show, but apparently Palahniuk has stooped so low. By the way, if this isn't the first Palahniuk novel for you to read, you should rewind your life a bit and read it before you read Fight Club or Choke. It has his trademark, stream of conscious stylings with a good psychological offering into the thought processes of the main character Tender, but his writing is not as polished as it is for FC or Choke. As it is, the stylings and plot are still rough around the edges (and not "good" rough around the edges like, say, Nirvana being rough around the edges). It's obvious that he was still developing himself into the master craftsmen that he has since become. His writing results in a few instances where plot progression seems forced. Overall, it's an easy one-nighter that provides good entertainment, and it is a great lead-in to his later novels.
Rating:
Summary: You should be jealous that I read this book and you haven't.
Review: What are you waiting for? There isn't a copy at your library? Buy...the...book. Neal Pollack, eat your heart out.
Rating:
Summary: It's just funny
Review: Yes, you can critique this book for many reasons. Its message isn't always as deep as it seems to think. It moves very quickly as an excuse not to look at anything too deeply. The view of society it presents is, to say the least, one-sided. But where will you find a contemporary novel that's this funny? The main character gets off some of the best one-liners I've ever encountered ("It's easy to feel superior to the dead; like, if Michelangelo was so smart, why'd he die?"), and even sentences which aren't explcitly funny just have a certain charm that still makes you laugh ("The best place to find flowers is in the dumpster behind the mausoleum.") I also found the romance in this book to be the sweetest, most sympathetic one in any of Palahniuk's works. Don't take this book too seriously, but read it.
Rating: 
Summary: as alluring as it is trite and obvious
Review: If you are looking for a quick and superficially engaging book that makes you think you're thinking more than it actually makes you think, Survivor is the book for you. I read all 304 pages in just a few hours and its pseudo-profundity briefly made me feel like an intellectual giant. Yet, the more I reflected, the more the book struck me as choppily written, obtusely minimalist, and with a message that's trite and ironically reeks of the consumer culture it attempts to lampoon. The first half is relatively strong because, in describing the day-to-day tedium of its likeable central character, Palahniuk's prose is fully in sync with the rhythmic, compulsive thrills that lonely people create to make life momentarily bearable. Titular survivor and narrator, Tender Branson is the quintessential Palahniuk misanthrope, jittered as much by psychological hangups as the debasing consumer culture. When he's drawn out of his obsessions and embarks on a real romance wrapped in morbid sexuality and psychic foreboding, his struggle for connection feels organic and palpable. The second half however doubles over on such promise, and instead taps into the trite satire that threatens the emotional balance of the first half. Every dangerously stupid Gen X aphorism, so sparsely sprinkled throughout the first half, nascently comes into full offensive bloom, accompanying equally cliche narrative plot devices: the climactic [emotional] encounter; the murderous brother; the twisty realization of fate. Palahniuk loses his humanity and turns a story underscored with human despair into a high-octane exercise in fame-sucks banality as our hero inexplicably degenerates into a grotesque tele-evangelist. None of the satiric gags are funny because they are just that: gags- neither stemming from an emotional or intellectual place. I enjoyed reading Survivor on the basis that it's rarely boring and easy-to-swallow. I guess one could say the problem occurs in the digestion.
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