Pygmy Summary and Reviews

Pygmy
by Chuck Palahniuk

Pygmy
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $11.50
You Save: $13.45 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)

Book Summary Information

Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-05
ISBN: 0385526342
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Doubleday

Book Reviews of Pygmy

Book Review: Not up to Snuff
Summary: 3 Stars

A few years back I would have told you Palahniuk was one of my favorite authors. His work is cutting edge, unique, and always shocking. Each of his works is unique, from other authors and from his own works. Palahniuk has an incredibly imaginative and creative mind. The closest authors to him are: in Canada Douglas Coupland and in the UK Irvine Welsh. But the problem with always shocking and being so unique is each new work must outdo the previous. As such I think I have lost my taste for Palahniuk's writings.

The book is unique, different and well-written. It is the story of Pygmy, one of a group of youths from a totalitarian state that has been sent to the United States, to live with Christian families and experience a better life. At least that is what the Host Families and church believe. Yet in reality these youths have been raised from a young age as agents of the state, part of a planned terrorist attack on the States.

Palahniuk does a great job of dissecting Midwestern life through foreign eyes. It is a satire both of America's fears and of America itself. However the story is just too much - male rape, high school massacre, planned seductions, pregnancies and impregnations. And the whole book is written as a series of dispatches from Pygmy to his home government, written in a halting, misunderstood English. Palahniuk captures a feel about the language, yet still conveys his message.

Palahniuk's books are usually a pleasure to read and so addictive that I cannot put them down. Some I have read more than once, even back to back - finished it and started reading it again. That was not the case this time. Twice I put it down for a few days, and was uncertain I would pick it up again to finish it. This was the first Palahniuk book I have read that I easily predicted the ending; that, in and of itself, was a disappointment. As a book it is okay, but as a Palahniuk book it is disappointing on many levels. For the hardcore Palahniuk fans out there - they will love it. I think I have just lost my taste for his extremism.

(First Published in Imprint 2009-05-29.)

Literature & Fiction Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Books I'm looking forward to in 2009
Juliet, Naked: a novel ImageJuliet, Naked: a novel
by Nick Hornby
Riverhead Hardcover; Published: 2009-09-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.13
Price in other shops: $25.95
Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) ImageCatching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press; Published: 2009-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.23
Price in other shops: $17.99
Revenge of the Spellmans: A Novel ImageRevenge of the Spellmans: A Novel
by Lisa Lutz
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2009-03-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.45
Price in other shops: $25.00
Dexter by Design: A Novel ImageDexter by Design: A Novel
by Jeff Lindsay
Doubleday; Published: 2009-09-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.50
Price in other shops: $25.00
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet: A Novel ImageThe Independence of Miss Mary Bennet: A Novel
by Colleen McCullough
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-12-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $26.00
Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) ImageDead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace Hardcover; Published: 2009-05-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.82
Price in other shops: $25.95
Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase ImagePretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase
by Jen Lancaster
NAL Hardcover; Published: 2009-05-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.44
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel ImageThe Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel
by Yoko Ogawa
Picador; Published: 2009-02-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.15
Price in other shops: $14.00
Abarat (Abarat, 1) ImageAbarat (Abarat, 1)
by Clive Barker
HarperCollins; Published: 2004-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Girl Who Played with Fire ImageThe Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson
Knopf; Published: 2009-07-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.13
Price in other shops: $25.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Lullaby ImageLullaby
by Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2002-07-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.09
Price in other shops: $13.95
Invisible Monsters: A Novel ImageInvisible Monsters: A Novel
by Chuck Palahniuk
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 1999-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $13.95
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories ImageStranger Than Fiction: True Stories
by Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2005-05-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (Crown Journeys) ImageFugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (Crown Journeys)
by Chuck Palahniuk
Crown; Published: 2003-07-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.42
Price in other shops: $16.95
Clown Girl: A Novel ImageClown Girl: A Novel
by Monica Drake
Hawthorne Books; Published: 2007-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.73
Price in other shops: $15.95
Watchmen ImageWatchmen
by Alan Moore
DC Comics; Published: 1995-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $19.99
Survivor: A Novel ImageSurvivor: A Novel
by Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2000-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: $13.95
Fight Club: A Novel ImageFight Club: A Novel
by Chuck Palahniuk
W. W. Norton; Published: 2005-10-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.52
Price in other shops: $13.95
Choke ImageChoke
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $12.93
Price in other shops: $27.98
Snuff ImageSnuff
by Chuck Palahniuk
Doubleday; Published: 2008-05-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops: $24.95