Invisible Monsters Reviews

• Nobody really gets noticed...not anymore

  
  By A2PN7Z2VTHICL8 on 2004-09-23
  Despite the tragedy of the storyline and the callousness of the lead characters, I promise you are going to get several belly laughs from this twisted piece of literature.
  
  In a zany prose reminiscent of Candace Bushnell's 'Sex In The City' and the surrealism of Bret Easton Ellis's works, Palahniuk has written a twisted and sick tale of disfigurement, love, hate, and fashion here in Invisible Monsters.
  
  Shannon McFarland's career as a picture perfect model was ruined the day her lower jaw was shot off while she was driving down the freeway. Her best friend Evie Cottrell steals all her clothing while she is in the hospital, and her fiancé Manus Kelley leaves her; but during her speech therapy classes she meets the enigma that is Brandy Alexander.
  
  Brandy befriends Shannon, and together with friend Seth Thomas they set off on a wild cross country tour, viewing high end estates up for sale and stealing all of the prescription drugs from them. But believe me when I say, nothing is as it seems in this crazy story. You are in for several very big surprises.
  
  Invisible Monsters is a book that is not about the plot, it is about the characters, and yet there are twists upon twists upon twists every turn of the page. Who is Brandy Alexander? Who is Shannon McFarland? Who is Seth Thomas? And who is Evie Cottrell? You'll just have to keep reading. Like me, you will probably wind out not caring about any of them, but they are going to make you laugh out loud with their outrageous plans and antics.
  
  You'll have tears running down your face when Shannon's parents (in a flashback scene before her disfigurement) give her nothing but condoms for Christmas because her brother died of AIDS. And the conversation around the Thanksgiving table turns to graphic depictions of hinder romping while they cower in unnecessary fear because they support AIDS families. Be thankful these are not your parents.
  
  Told oddly in a profusion of scene jumping, using the written word like flash photography, Palahniuk has written a psychotically offbeat tale that nonetheless will have you turning pages as rapidly as Brandy pops vicodin and estrogen. I found it strangely enjoyable and morbidly compelling, and if you like screwy and disgusting stories, you will most likely love Invisible Monsters. Enjoy!
  
  
  

• JUST PLAIN GREAT

  
  By on 2000-06-14
  I am a big fan of Chuck Paluhniak, and all of his novels always blow me away, but none so much as "Invisible Monsters." I guessed the surprise ending of "Fight Club" about half-way through the book. Actually, I thought to myself, "no way, that's too wierd." That was when I was a Paluhniak novice and had no idea just how wierd it could get. Not to say that I was disappointed with "Fight Club" - because the book stays with you even after the movie has come and gone before your eyes. I dug "Survivor" for it's blatant disregard for social awareness but, man, "Invisible Monsters" knocked me over. I was so enthralled with Chuck's writing style - it was almost irratic. The words, the sentence structure, the page layout - it was all anarchy. This novel was anything but unconventional. I can see a lot of "Fight Club" still kicking around Chuck's head, and that's because this was the first book he wrote and it was turned down by the publisher. The Brandy Alexander drag-queen character is Tyler Durden on estrogen, and in this one our narrator has a name but she doesn't speak. I liked that, our protagonist who is mute, so really, she was just an observer. Chuck layed it all on really thick and, while I called one of the twists thinking, "oh, here we go, another lame shock", he throws a few more out of left field that just knock you upside the head. Chuck Paluhniak is the new Hemingway, the new Kerouac, the new Bret Easton Ellis - and while "Invisible Monsters" is inferior to "Fight Club" and "Survivor" - it's one of those books you wish you wrote and you have to live with that for the rest of your life.
  
  

• How did this get published?

  
  By on 2002-07-24
  Without question one of the worst novels I've ever read. From the ham-handed opening paragraph (a ripoff of McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City) to the graceless, gimmicky narrative ("Jump to Brandy and me...";"Jump to the other day when..."; "Jump to Seattle where...") to the endless stretches of terrible prose ("Then you'd sweat if there wasn't a breeze, and the cotton crepe stuck to you like eleven herbs and spices..."; "The basketball king until he was sixteen and his test for strep throat came back as gonorrhea, I only knew I hated him."), the most remarkable thing about this novel is that it was published at all.

  Palauniuk defenders are quick to suggest that those who dislike this inspid book are likely put off by its "shocking" subject matter or content. The truth is that C.P.'s narration is so choppy, so platitudinous and dull, his characters so flat, that it's impossible to feel anything resembling emotion/interest toward any of them. Any kind of sophisticated reader simply isn't likely to be shocked by something he cares nothing about, by something that hasn't engaged his attention on an emotional or intellectual level.

  In the hands or a competent writer, this sophomoric tale might have been tolerable. Palahniuk, though, instead of providing any kind of significant character development or intriguing interaction, relies on the kind of ridiculous identity-swapping "surprises" often found in comic books and overheard among groups of children playing with Barbie dolls and G.I. Joes. "This isn't really Brandy Alexander, it's actually..." Give me a break.

  C.P. seems to want to be any number of other writers, from Bret Easton Ellis (who in American Psycho and Glamorama is everything Palauhniuk isn't in Invisible Monsters: shocking, witty, morbid, clever) to Tom Robbins (with his studied frivolity) to (for whatever reason) Douglas Coupland circa Generation X. Unfortunately, C.P. manages to combine the worst tendencies of each of these writers while somehow failing to tap into any of the qualities that have made each of them successful. (And in Coupland's case I use that term loosely.)

  For those Palahniuk fans who actually think this ridiculously bad novel is worth defending or recommending, I would urge/beg you to expand your reading sphere. There really are authors out there who don't write like the average fifteen year old. And while you could likely throw a dart toward the fiction section of your local bookstore and hit a novel of far more worth than Invisible Monsters, I'll offer a few suggestions to get you started: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Americana by Don DeLillo, The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq, Glamorama by Bret Ellis, The Verificationist by Donald Antrim, The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. Years from now, when you look back in astonishment at your pubescent fascination with the drivel of Invisible Monsters, you might even thank me.
  
  

• My Favorite Kind of Monster

  
  By A139ZF7CJVVTJU on 2004-08-17
  Palahniuk's books are like dangerously wild individuals from the same family. They all have their own quirks and twitches, but you can see the resemblance.
  
  Many reviewers of Palahniuk (especially those here) try to judge his writing in comparative terms. ("not as good as Fight Club" or "better than Choke") Palahniuk is, unfortunately, a victim of his own skill, because although his texts are certainly their own stories, they do have remarkably similar tones (e.g. he sprinkles his text with odd/unusual facts as a backdrop for the odd/unusual action). As a result, they polarize the audience quite well. Like one book, and you're likely to enjoy them all.
  
  That having been said, let me add my own opinion to the mix: this book is Chuck's best to date (note: I haven't read Diary).
  
  All of his books are, to some extent, about identity crises. In this case, it is the identity crisis of ex-model Shannon, whose jaw is blown off in an unusual auto accident. She goes on a soul-quest of sorts with transgendered queen Brandy, and a few other people with similarly odd problems. What follows is a tangled, twisted, and tantalizing tale of drugs, sex, love, loss, and hope.
  
  This time, the style of the book is tailored after movie-esqe terms (like "flash forward" and "jump cut"), giving the text a cinematic quality that works well with the subject matter (it also, for you literature fans, makes for a far more subtle metaphor than you'd expect). The flashbacks and the dialogue and the incidents with Shannon's parents and modeling peers are all as well-crafted as an insightful and hilariously filmed movie scene.
  
  Some of the reviewers here complain about the "soap opera" quality of the book, to which I say, "go read the funny pages." There are, true, melodramatic moments, but they are well-honed, well-placed, and, by God, necessary. The story's many threads tie together neatly and superbly by the film's violent and firey conclusion, and true to Chuck's form (with the exception of Choke), not a word of the book is extraneous or unnecessary.
  
  Other people complain that the novel doesn't answer the question it poses, nor does it rise above the subject matter it scorns. Although I will concede that these statements are half-true, they are simply part of Palahniuk's form, and for his audience, part of his charm. If you want someone to deliver polite and pat answers, then read, I don't know, Danielle Steel.
  
  Besides, Palahniuk does offer solutions--he just makes you search for them, makes you assemble them on your own. Neither does he treat his subject matter with wishy-washy ambivalence, but with unflinching honesty and realism (although reading this book, you may find it hard to compare it to any kind of reality with which you're familiar). His spare, brutal, and beautiful writing clarifies the brutal and beautiful nature of his story.
  
  So, if you want bite-sized literature with a sweet moral center, go somewhere else. This book is candy, sure, but it's the kind that gets all over you.
  
  
  
  

• More of the same from Chuck--Not a bad thing if you like it.

  
  By A2BCIAH2TIYVQ9 on 2005-03-27
  Trying to describe a Chuck Palahniuk novel is like trying to describe a freak show-you just kind of have to be there to appreciate it. The power of Palahniuk's novels isn't in the satire-he attacks fairly easy targets, and most of what he has to say about them has been said before. What make his novels enjoyable are the off-the-wall characters. Invisible Monsters is no exception.
  
  This book is about people who want to be someone else-anyone other than themselves. The narrator says upfront that this is not going to be a linear story. It will jump from here to there. And it does. It's a hodgepodge of fragments that you have to piece together. When you do so, what you see is twisted. A former beauty queen who had half of her face shot off, along with a transvestite who wants to be a beauty queen, and a not-so-by-the-book cop are on a road trip, visiting upscale homes during open houses, stealing drugs from the medicine cabinets, and selling them to kids on the street. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
  
  If there's one thing for which Palahniuk will never be criticized, it's being predictable. Still, there's predictability to his chaos. He has a formula: pick a target (in this case the fashion world), scrounge together some psychopaths, come up with a twisted plot with a handful of shocking surprises, chop is up so it's out of chronological order, and invent a couple of writing devices to help tell the story. The only problem is, once you've seen one freak show, the next one isn't quite as freaky. Once you've met a few Palahniuk characters, the psychotic becomes commonplace. Once you've experienced one or two Palahniuk endings, the next one isn't as surprising. Once you get used to the style and devices, they start to wear on you. (Remember in Fight Club, his "This is Jack's..."? He uses similar devices in this book. Repeatedly. Over and over again.) And although his voice is strong, it never varies from character to character. I always hear Tyler Durden, regardless of who the narrator is supposed to be. Finally, he explores the same themes over and over in his books (Identity, our conflicted selves, our struggle to break out of our modern homogenized lives). There's nothing wrong with this if he does it in a different way, but it adds to the feeling that you've been down this road and heard this story before.
  
  So it comes back to the characters. You never really care about a Palahniuk character. They're not sympathetic. So you hope for insanity. Just so they're interesting. The more messed up, the more shocking and disturbing their actions, the better. And don't get me wrong: Invisible Monsters definitely has its moments. But it doesn't live up to Fight Club or Choke. I'd start there. If you've already read those and liked them, and would like more of the same, then maybe Invisible Monsters is a good book for you.
  
  
• File under Metatrash/Cheap Thrills
  By AWNEA6L7H6N2F on 2002-06-17
  Chuck Palahniuk wants you to know a few things. About TV. And drugs. And fashion. And violence. And (**gasp**) conformity. It's a pretty safe bet that as a reasonably intelligent and even slightly "unconventional" person over the age of 12, you know these things already.

  Want to hear them again? Well, I wish I could say that you could do worse than read "Invisible Monsters," but it's probably the most easily disposable piece of ... fiction I've read thus far. You know, that type of narrative that attempts, on the basis of an open-ended and nearly arbitrary premise, to present a distended panoramic of hypermodern decadence, but ends up being predictable formal fallacies and total lack of grace.

  I guess it would be a little too ironic to say that I've seen it before, seeing as the beast in question lives off jadedness, but Palahkiuk's been beaten to the punch dozens of times since the 1980s. Subsequently, everything that's supposed to "shock" you in Invisible Monsters seems far too calculated, and might as well have a big flashing neon sign up announcing itself five miles in advance. This pulp-novel approach keeps the sleaze exactly where you expect it to be, and renders the entire thing as safe as can be. Palahniuk's "monsters" are of the caged variety, and there's no mystery or danger about them.

  Palahniuk doesn't pull off mystery or danger, but he does manage some cleverness and raw wit once in a while. This produces the occasional neat insight into trash culture, and it's a shame such insights tend to come across as footnotes and window-dressing adding nothing to the book's themes. The jokes, as they are, become so repetetive, belabored, and head-slappingly hackneyed (in their po-mo/pop-art way) that you know the author himself is laughing harder than anyone. However, despite these distractions, Palahniuk isn't really unfocused. He's more than willing to pull out all the stops in the service of his main ideas; it's just that he does so in the most obvious, belabored, parodic way imaginable, taking his main idea (mistaken identities and identity crisis) so literally that his characters, instead of becoming the contradictory cubist jumbles he intends, simply fall apart on him, taking with them his incoherent points about dehumanization and will.

  This might be passable (i.e. readable without cringing all that often), if Palahniuk had any taste as a writer. He doesn't, so he loads up the work with as many gimmicks as possible to obscure a lack of substance and make the unravelling of any semblance of plot seem intentional. Said gimmicks include: the use of a literally "faceless" narrator to make a point about anonimity; a framing device wherein the narrator's companion asks to be told her life story while dying; an *additional* framing device involving a dull, aimless road trip; the presentation of the entire story in the form of fragmented flashbacks; a repeated phrase ("flash" or "jump to") self-consciously presenting almost every shift in perspective or
  circumstance . . . After a while it's just nauseating.

  I guess it all comes back to whether or not you're in love with this particular genre, and what you've already read. I can't recommend Palahniuk as "more of the same," because his low-level gimmickry, formulaic approach, and lack of any geniune shock value put him miles below even the likes of Brent Easton Ellis. However, if you've *never* read Ellis, Don DeLillo, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, or Bruce Sterling, maybe you should slog
  your way through Palahniuk first, to make others seem amazing in comparison. Alternatively, if you've been dissappointed with other chroniclers of the cultural wasteland, maybe you should check out Palahniuk and contrast his gimmicks with the legitimate talent of the aforementioned novelists.
  
  

• Bizarre Hilarity..The Jackass Crew has nothing on these guys
  By A29JQNA3WOC9ZD on 2002-11-21
  If I had to recommend a single Palahniuk book, other than the justifiably overhyped Fight Club, it would be this one. Not as meandering as Choke, self-righteous as Survivor, and as brief as Lullaby. Invisible Monsters is another one of his books that plays itself as a film within your head...you try not to gasp in horror and laugh at the same time. It has a solid story and a concrete ending! Palahniuk needs to follow this model using his style as a assault on your imagination. I'm suprised that this is not as popular as Fight Club...seeing as how this is every bit as stylistic as it was. For those of you that can't get Brad Pitt out of your head when you read about Tyler Durden, this is a good one to pick up before a film version steals that purity from you. It's cheaply priced and a fun read...the pages blaze by.
  
  
• Hilarious, disturbing, and insightful all at once
  By A3F1IGAS4XLD81 on 2004-03-08
  Chuck Palahniuk writes quite the interesting novel in "Invisible Monsters". Fair warning - it is not for the faint of heart, or those who cannot tolerate graphic sexual references and lifestyle choices. That said - "Invisible Monsters" was (in different parts of the book) one of the funniest, most disturbing, yet insightful books I have read recently.

  So how can a book be all of those things? Well the humor comes primarily from the main character's interaction with her parents. Some of these meetings (particularly the Christmas morning scene) are literally laugh out loud funny.

  The disturbing and insightful portions of the story come from the primary part of the plot. The main character and first-person narrator of the story is a model who has been shot in the face, completely severing her jaw and mutilating her beyond people's ability to look her in (what's left of) her face - making her the invisible monster. She joins with other people who similarly have had major changes in their lives and come to the realization that "the past is just a story, and the sooner we learn that, the sooner we can start becoming who we really want to be." This statement alone is basically the overall theme of the book, and it's a powerful statement that could really apply to all of us. Not that we'd want to go through what the characters in the story did, but just that we don't have to let our pasts control out futures.

  Add in quite a few surprising revelations about more than a few of the main characters and you have a novel that will, by the end, leave you wondering how so much was packed into such a short novel. In order to get the full gist of it, you may even want to read it again.
  
  

• Twisted and delightful...
  By A2HNBX4HOD1YC7 on 2002-02-28
  Every now and then, the avid reader will encounter an author with an imagination so incredible, they are awe-inspired. That is how I feel about Chuck Palahniuk, whose stories are ALWAYS extraordinary. (Color me happy that his new book will be released in fall 2002!)

  In Invisible Monsters, the protagonist takes the reader on a journey through her life as a horribly disfigured former model. While rehabilitating herself, she crosses paths with a gorgeous trans-sexual. Together, they journey through both geography and psyche. This is an incredible story, with dramatic twists. Highly recommended.

  Incidentally, don't judge this author by the commonly known "Fight Club". It certainly isn't his best.
  
  

• Give me overdone. Flash. Give me my money back. Flash.
  By on 2003-03-06
  invisible monsters tries to be the female counterpart to fight club and even follows the exact same form (which is really sad and uninspired). the book is full of terrible dialogue and completely unrealistic characters, and palahniuk proves he knows very little about women. I have no idea how this book got a four star average.
  
  
• Great Ideas, a little sick and twisted
  By A3BXPW5YIR4A52 on 2000-01-31
  While Fight Club was revolutionary, Invisible Monsters is just odd. Hard to follow up the succes and brilliance of Fight Club, Chucky P. gives us the twisted supermodel tale here. The most impressive thing about this story is not the semi-engagin characters of the rehashed revenge plot, but the quick and off-balance writing. Mr. P-DiddlySpank has written a terrific sophomore novel here with a great over story. The idea of using a disfigured supermodel at the heart of a revenge story is great. However, Brandy Alexander is a little confusing and the guy in the story just seems to be there to drive the car around. Brandy seems to be another version of Tyler Durden, with her ways of persuading people to do her way and her ideas of recreating oneself, even though the aforementioned Mr. Durden only wanted you to remake yourself as he saw fit. Despite the lack of true characterization or the overtones of an original concept, Invisible Monsters is a very good book with a very hard truth to it. You don't have to pretend to be anyone you're not to just be yourself.
  
  
• Excellent
  By A1F8K5OVVW3KOT on 2001-07-01
  First I saw the movie Fight Club. Loved it. The I read the novel. Loved it even more. Just had to buy the rest of his books, definitely one of the smartest moves I've ever done.

  Invisible Monsters is the third novel by Chuck Palahniuk and, I'm sorry to say, his weakest. Or so I thought till I came closer and closer to the end. It takes these mindbending twists and turns which leave you begging for more.

  Palahniuk writes with this indescribable, stream of consciousness-like flow which is just a joy to experience. I started reading it out loud to myself and I was filled with awe and jealousy. Why can't I write like this?! I've actually typed down a few of the many wonderful quotes onto the back of one of my business cards, to keep in my wallet when I need a good laugh.

  This novel is a hilarious, excrutiatingly tragic, sick and twisted soap opera rollercoaster ride!
  
  

• Plenty of room for improvement
  By AZL77W0J84XPH on 2002-05-21
  While the storyline in this book is interesting, the plot twists intriguing (yet somewhat predictable if you've read the author before or seen Fight Club), and the characters hysterically dysfunctional... this book could have used another run by the editor. Like his editor's comment quoted in the front "This isn't good enough." Though that comment was supposed to refer to previous versions of the novel, it applies equally well to this "final product."

  Palahniuk has got something here with the drug-addled, body mutilating, self-distorting characters, but the reader is constantly distracted by editorial mistakes and gross grammatical errors. FINISH A SENTANCE ALREADY. PUT THOSE COMMAS WHERE THEY BELONG. Yes, yes, some authors DO effectively use bad grammar to make a point, especially when creating dialogue between characters, but this is just distracting and lazy. Not to mention the editorial errors where a similar word is put in place of the one that I hope he meant to use. When I buy a book, I want someone to have proofread it for me... just a personal issue I guess.

  As distracting as all that was, I did read this book while attending a mandatory "communications" seminar (let me tell you about that sometime) and found that it filled the void nicely. A little predictable and definitely not his best work, but I did keep thinking about it after I closed the cover and that's always a good sign.
  
  

• Shocking?
  By A36LEHVCS5A3QU on 2000-02-25
  I've just finished "Invisible Monsters". It took me a week, while Fight Club took me just a night; so I can say it is not as good. I can say it's shocking, and so --these Palahniuk paradoxes!-- very enjoyable, but it doesn't deserve a five stars rank. A little too exagerated. The christmas chapter was pathetic, too unrealistc; the narrator parents sounded like taken from a teenagers movie from the eighties, like taken from a cheap science fiction tale froma cheap science fiction magazine. Yet, there's Brandy Alexander and her mythological Pantheon, shinnning thru all the rest of the book. I read this was actually his first novel, before Fight Club, and that it was rejcted but after Fight Club was published, totally rewritten. Palahniuk is a very good writer, but in his beginnings, so buy this book but expect more from the next ones.
  
  
• Good . . . but not the best from Palahniuk
  By A1Y7WGAKUKMJKF on 2001-01-09
  My initial impressions of Palahniuk were a post-modern, self-destructive Vonnegut. His pill-sized divisions of chapters and repetition of key phrases show the influence. With Fight Club, I enjoyed this immensely. With Invisible Monsters, its too much. Jump to Chuck repeating himself. Much like the "I am Jack's emotion" of Fight Club, Palahniuk uses the words from a fashion shoot to display our narrator's emotion: "Give me emotion. Flash. Give me feeling. Flash." It all wears a bit thin. Nearly every new section begins with "Jump to . . ." It's meant to parallel a magazine, and it ends up equally as tiring. Further, Brandy Alexander is simply an extremist Tyler Durden (believe it), and our narrator is less believable than the narrator of Fight Club. Give me something new. Flash. Give me something different. Flash. (See, it's too easy.) So it goes. That said, the book isn't all that bad. It just irritates at times in its erratic nature. Perhaps that's the purpose. Read it, but only if you've already read Fight Club and Survivor.
  
  
• Flash to me destroying myself
  By AY484BT52IS63 on 2001-01-20
  Of his 3 books, I would say I liked survivor the best now having read all of them. Having read this one last, I was just waiting for the suprise ending much like the other two books. What I liked best about Survivor was that it kept me wondering after the fact. Fight club sort of did, but invisible monsters did not. There is closure to this book.But that does not mean its necessarily inferior. The last 50 pages or so every 5th page you read reveals something you had no idea about. Looking back, I think to myself, duh, why didn't I catch that - but I doubt many do, if any at all. The flash, or jump to stuff almost seems like Chuck was lazy writing this not wanting to seque, but its effect is one of like a modeling shoot, or a vogue type magazine. Done very well. Trying to explain any of his 3 books is very difficult as situations become very weird very quickly. But its all great stuff.If you liked his other books, you will like this. Another reviewer said it best, a sort of postmodern hemmingway crossed with vonnegut. A very apt description methinks. Check it out
  
  
• A darkly humorous and cynical look at beauty and monstrosity
  By A361JIPRX9EX9M on 2001-07-17
  Although I haven't read Fight Club, I have seen the movie (a million times) and this book reads a lot like the movie. In fact, I think Palahniuk has a certain plot formula that he uses and tweaks, as the little I've read of his most recent work, Choke, seems to follow the same plot formula. But, regardless of whether or not Palahniuk has a certain roadmap he follows, the destination is not as important as the trip to get there. Palaniuk's writing style is shocking and original, and, to coin a phrase, it cuts through all the B.S. His descriptions of people are sparse yet vivid, and he plumbs remarkable depths in few words and images. This book is at times hilarious, at times horrifying, but always illuminating. In this book, he follows some very ugly people who try to be very beautiful, and some very beautiful people who try to be ugly. To say any more would give away the plot. The characters are trapped within an idea of what is beautiful and what is not, what they should do and what they shouldn't, and what they are and what they want to be. It is truly a story about monsters, and just what their real nature is. After you read this, ask yourself, "What is the biggest mistake I can make?"
  
  
• Jump way back to my regretting the purchase of this book
  By AQCH8SYTDL23W on 2006-04-23
  I bought this book before i realized how much i despise Palahniuk, so forgive me.
  
  The premise seemed decent, but of course, being Captain Submediocrity, the potential was never met.
  
  The whole non-linear story telling is great, sometimes amazing, but not when he does it. It's choppy, forced, and overall monotonous.
  
  This book is basically for the ugly kids who want to see a beautiful woman torn to shreds, because that's, like, so ironic and stuff.
  
  
• There's something reassuring about a novel this satisfying...
  By ANCOMAI0I7LVG on 2007-02-16
  Initially believing that Chuck Palahniuk could do no better than his inspired debut `Fight Club' I must say that I was blown away when, after closing this book, I realized this novel is even better. This, of course, is my own humble opinion, but `Invisible Monsters' just grabbed a hold of me and refused to let me go, page after page, chapter after chapter, plot twist after plot twist! I will say that upon reading some of the other reviews I'm a little perturbed that so many have spoiled some of the key plot twists in this novel, ruining the whole experience for any who have as of yet to read this wonderful satire. I personally had not read a single review for this novel when I read it so I was in shock and awe every step of the way.
  
  There are a few things I feel I can mention about this novel and its prose without spoiling any surprises or detracting from the overall satisfaction upon finishing this novel. The plot does revolve around former model Shannon McFarland whose career came to an end when her jaw was blown off in a strange drive by shooting. Her life as it seemed had changed for the worse. She was no longer longed for by millions; no longer recognizable as the star she was before but instead became feared as nothing more than a monster. She soon becomes enraged at those who were closest to her, those whom she thought were her friends but in the end appear to be nothing more than superficial acquaintances. The first of these is former best friend Evie who seems all too eager to replace Shannon in the world of modeling. Second is Shannon's fiancée Manus Kelly who seems more interested in Evie now that Shannon is no longer quote-unquote beautiful.
  
  After meeting Brandy Alexander while attending speech therapy things begin to change. Brandy is a transgender patient who has modeled her entire look, everything from her face to her breasts to her figure on Shannon (she has the entire look, all except the hands). Brandy then accompanies Shannon on a cross country trip for revenge with Manus trapped in the trunk of the car so-to-speak (literally and then not so literally). The novel braches off from extreme to sentimental to overly chaotic and yet every page, every moment of every sequence of events seems to fit so perfectly together. Attacking real human emotion ranging from loyalty, love, trust and self-pity, `Invisible Monsters' is more than just a novel about the dire desperation and shallow loathing of the fashion industry (although that subject is breached to an extent).
  
  Palahniuk's writing style is enthralling, imaginative and executing with such reassuring aggression that the reader is forced to be nothing less than absorbed in every sentence. I found myself held victim to this mans diabolical plot and I loved every minute of it. To me, the best way to read Palahniuk is blindly. The less you know about what you're about to experience the better the end result will be, that way when key elements are revealed your left in utter anticipation for the next revelation. Chuck does wonders with his plot here, revealing just enough at the end of each chapter to make the reader compelled to read on. I personally read the last 100 pages in the same sitting for as each page turned I was engaged in something new and just needed to continue. I have no doubt you too will feel the same!
  
  
• It's the Voice that Got Me
  By AL9HZLZT4X1KL on 2007-04-26
  The whole book, Invisible Monsters, is an experiment in the voice of the fashion magazine you find while waiting for a haircut or the overheard conversations of shallow drag queens ready ready to go out to the clubs. It's the voice of speed and distraction, of a drug-induced haze of a Paris runway crossed with a late-night phone sex commercial.
  
  The plot spills forth in front of the reader through an unreliable narrator, a former model, a fashion horribly disfigured in an accident, wasted on painkillers and looking for meaning in her life and revenge on everyone and everything in her path. It's the plot of disgust where nothing is sacred - gender, sex, orientation, or plastic surgery.
  
  It runs so fast, the monologue, through a highway of pop culture that it throws out television and cultural references like trash tossed from a speeding convertible. Daisy St. Patience is the narrator, taking us through her accident, remembering her life as a beautiful person, a shallow beautiful person using sex and good looks like weapons and suffering the other side of the coin as a disgusting monster. Brandy Alexander, the beautiful woman who was all that Daisy had been with a penchant for excitement unrivaled. Evie Cottrell, the b**** that took Daisy's man and stole her life. Manus, the former fiance and vice cop with model's good looks.
  
  It's a book that hooks you, plays with you, and then tears your preconceptions apart in witty repartee delivered on the end of a knife.
  
  Loved it.
  
  Snap.
  
  Like a photographers flash, it was gone and I wanted more.
  
  - CV Rick
  
  
• very original, very funny, and very descriptive...
  By A20LRPJWT4LTDW on 2000-05-17
  Dude the best way to start this review is to say that ChuckP. is the man! he can write like no other human can. he has thoselittle sayings that just make you think about your whole self being. Ex. "It's a hundred generations removed from anything original, but the truth is aren't we all?" it makes you want to go..."YEAH!" Jump to the story. it starts out at the end. a dyeing woman asks another, "how did we get here?" then the story starts. like Palahniuk describs don't expect this to a story like "then this happens then that" it jumps around randomly. a beauty queens gay dead brother dies of aids, she gets mangled in a car wreak, she finds another beauty queen to hang out with and you find out what happens inbetween... i'm not going to be like the other reviewers,"fight club" this and "Survivor" that and not like the other two he's written. everything Chuck has written has been some what different then the other. I've read all three. i'm very impressed by his work. i can wait to see what this man writes next.
  
  
• Tyler Durden Feminized
  By A1WYT71YBUL2HF on 2000-01-14
  Invisible Monsters is engaging and fast moving from the very first page. Palahniuk writes with schizophrenic brilliance, pulling the reader in several directions with a blink of an eye. The style is fresh and unorthodox. What Bret Easton Ellis has attempted, Palahniuk has achieved. However, we aren't seeing anything new from chuck here. Brandy Alexander, who stresses that the only way to reinvent oneself is to make questionable decisions, seems a little too much like Tyler Durden of fight club. ('self improvement is masturbation') Basically, palahniuk has delivered the same message as his previous novel with less engaging characters. If its vintage palahniuk you're looking for, read fight club instead.
  
  
• violence + transgender confusion -> great read
  By A29NUB3P6YIWZG on 2000-11-23
  For those who have read Fight Club and thought Chuck Palahniuk couldn't possibly come up with anything as good or original, think again. Invisible Monsters is a funny yet gruesome story of a young fashion model who suffers severe disfigurement when half her face is blown off (by a gunshot). Rather than being depressing or morose, Palahniuk turns the story into a bizarre "Thelma & Louise"-type of road movie where this fashion model hooks up with folks who are seriously confused about their gender identificaiton and gender preference. Chuck Palahniuk's caustic wit and free-flowing narrative makes Invisible Monsters to be an odd, enjoyable and unforgettable novel.

  Invisible Monsters contains rather graphic and crude language; it is certainly not for the squeamish. However my only complaint with it concerns the leading character. She seems too much like Tyler Durden, the main character from Fight Club. Her thoughts and actions seemed were anything but feminine. Women readers might find this very off-putting.
  
  

• Mmm Mmm Good
  By A3EFI78OHG92U5 on 2001-08-03
  Having not READ Fight Club or any other Palahniuk material, I suppose I am not in a position to argue the other reviewers who seem to think Invisible Monsters is his worst work so far. What I DO know is that this book is one of the only ones I've read in my life that I absolutely could not put down. I will admit it can become a bit muddled at times, but when it's all through I didn't much care. The writing is captivating, grotesque without giving you a chance to vomit because you're laughing too quickly, and the usual Palahniuk plot twists come just when you think you might get a headache. The narrating character is intriguing; moving and hysterical all at once. Despite this book's obvious parallels to Fight Club, I found it to be an outstanding work that I think, flaws and all, is certainly worth reading.
  
  
• typical palahniuk
  By A37SGB3BKTRB3I on 2002-08-26
  Having read this after Fight Club, Survivor, and Choke, I have to say it was the least engaging of all of Chuck's novels, at least up until the final 50 pages or so. However the least of his work it way beyond pretty much anything else out there, so this book is still highly recommended.

  This book is filled with the sick humor characteristic of Palahniuk, which I personally find delightful (sample quote: "no matter how much you think you love somebody, you'll step back when the pool of their blood edges too close."). The plot takes many twists and turns as it constantly flashes back and jumps forward, in a style not unlike Vonnegut's in Slaughterhouse Five. The reader is forced to constantly reevaluate each character and question his or her true identity, and like most other Palahniuk books there are a few major twists at the end.

  However, while this book contains the brilliance of all Chuck's work, it also contains many redundancies that are apparent to one who is familiar with his work. For example, Chuck Palahniuk always seems to feel the need to come up with some sort of clever little literary device to express the emotions of a character or simply to provide an adjective. In Fight Club there was the whole "I am Joe's _____," in Choke there was "_____ isn't the right word but it's the first word that comes to mind," and in Invisible Monsters there's "Show me _____. Flash." Now, Chuck, you may find these little devices cute and convenient, but after seeing them in multiple books they are simply TIRESOME! Also, Chuck seems to be obsessed with the concept of destruction as a means of finding a new beginning, finding salvation, etc. Now this is a very interesting theme, but it's really been done to death in all the books.

  Keep in mind that these are truly minor qualms when compared to the greatness of my favorite writer. Any hardcore Palahniuk fan should read this book and probably will love it, but someone just getting into his work would be much better served by "Fight Club" or (my personal favorite) "Choke."
  
  

• Give me detached existentialist ennui. Flash.
  By A8KWKXQDA9IN7 on 2003-11-22
  "Another thing is no matter how much you think you love someone, you'll step back when the pool of their blood edges up too close."

  Chuck Palahniuk's third published novel and maybe his most powerful shows us yet again the purity of imperfection. If every lost male of our generation needs to read "fight club," then every lost female in our generation should read "invisible monsters." While "fight club" is still Palahniuk's finest novel, "invisible monsters" comes very close to match the intense nature and clever satire of "fight club." One characteristic of all Palahniuk's novels is the undeniably unique characters that fill his books. This definately has some of the most interesting in even a Palahniuk novel. The plot is very thick, it almost makes it impossible to put the book down. With twist that never seem to stop and heavy satire that cries to be heard. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of reading any of Palahniuk's works, this is a good one to start with.
  
  

• Invisible Appeal
  By AL8TCESKCW5RU on 2006-03-15
  My first response to someone asking about Chuck Palahniuk is "Check his stuff out. He's great."
  
  My second response -- given before the other person can speak -- is "Avoid 'Invisible Monsters'."
  
  If you enjoy watching a movie you've never seen before by fast-forwarding and rewinding to scenes entirely out of sequence for no apparent reason, then you'll love this book.
  
  Palaniuk made excellent use of flashbacks and scene transitions in "Fight Club" and "Choke." Here, in "Invisible Monsters", he murders his own story with them. If you can't read the book in one sitting, don't bother with it. You'll just have to start all over again because you'll have no idea where you left off the last time you picked it up.
  
  The endless description of clothing and references to fashion-related miscellany is an instant turn-off to most guys, which -- if I'm not mistaken -- is a hefty portion of Palahniuk's fan base, thanks to "Fight Club."
  
  The characters are uninteresting and tend to be particularly irritating at times. Books are typically a decent haven from dealing with stupid people with no personality; this book isn't typical that way.
  
  Palahniuk's "choruses", while enriching to his other stories, completely fail in this one. Reading the different descriptions of illnesses in "Choke" and the different functions of "Jack" in "Fight Club" made those stories more flavorful and vibrant. Invisible Monsters's "Flash"es and "Give me"s only gave the impression that Palahniuk had a page count to live up to.
  
  The premise of the story is decent, but Palahniuk seems to focus more on delivering the same questionable, slightly-grammatically-incorrect "in-your-face" style than actually fleshing out decent characters living in a readable sequence. If anything, this book proves the old adage that attitude is no substitute for competence.
  
  Palahniuk is a very talented writer with a knack for creative themes and interesting stories, but this book is not one of his better works. There were a handful of lines that were more deserving of a "two star" rating, but these lines are buried among the book's myriad irritants.
  
  If you're just getting into Palahniuk, check out "Choke" or even "Fight Club". Whatever you do, don't get sucked in to the sad, sad cult of Palahniuk fans that slavishly praise everything with his name on it; even good writers put out a crappy book once in a while. Like this one.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Overrated.
  By A2WZRBFLJESCSH on 2006-06-08
  Chuck has a unique style, yes. What else does he have?
  
  1) His popularity blossomed from the success of the film "Fight Club"
  2) His subject matter is so cliche and taboo... (topics such as drug use, sex, violence, etc.) so it appeals to a lot of the mainstream.
  3) His books are incredibly easy to read, so it caters to those with lower reading levels.
  
  With "Invisible Monsters" the subject is a fashion model who gets into an accident and will be left horribly disfigured. It's written from a 1st person point of view, so we are brought into her world. We learn how to cope with new life as she does. Flashbacks. We learn of her past. The book is a definite page turner, but is it really leading anywhere? As i read through this book, with about a third of the book left to read, I started to lose interest. I had little sympathy for the protagonist. I feel as though it fell apart at the end, leading up to the old Chuck 'twist' which was kindof... meh.
  
  If you're looking for something in the vein of an existential/transcendental type of novel, there are much better books out there... I'd recommend Albert Camus' "The Stranger" over this book.
  
  
• If I can't be beautiful, I want to be invisible ...
  By A275BDURUQHUKC on 2006-10-24
  Having read several Chuck Palahniuk books I am now convinced I will definitely be reading his entire catalog. The characters in this novel are complex and twisted; the plot is fast-paced and unpredictable; and the dialog is profound, yet hilarious. This book is just as witty as Choke, and Survivor. The satirical slant of this book is definitely towards the feminine side of things, and the novel accomplishes the difficult task of entertaining while at the same time commenting on our society's unhealthy obsession with beauty. The book was exceptional, and I will definitely re-read in the future.
  
  
• MTV does books
  By A3NS5UK65NKNTM on 1999-09-20
  This book was handed to me by a friend who I can only descibe as hopelessly urban-cool. Palahniuk's novel is catered to short attention spans, and its no surprise to me that his other novel was made into a movie. I think the author's hope is that if he throws enough edgy disjointed bursts into a book, the juxtaposition will make it clever. Is this where fiction is now? There was so little honesty in the writing, not one element I could identify with. At least with Douglas Coupland there is a sence of tapping into history (even if the nostalgia is dripping with sarcasm). Skip this one. Or just stay tuned for the music video.
  
  

• Choke
• Survivor: A Novel
• Lullaby
• Fight Club: A Novel
• Diary: A Novel