Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk is not a man to shy away from the controversial and grotesque (I recommend, if that's the right word, reading his short story 'guts' if you dare). So it seems fitting for him to write a book about pornography. There are themes of confused incest, betrayal, embarrassment, prejudice, and a lot of reference to realising or not realising when you have become old and tired.

The book is set in one room, a waiting ...
...a huge pornographic record, being on screen and engaging in a sex act with Cassie Wright, a porn priestess, coming to the end of her career and going out with a bang.

The story is told from 4 perspectives, Mr. 72, Mr. 137, Mr. 600 (a teenager, a washed up television actor embroiled in a gay sex scandal, a famous porn actor doing a favour for an old friend) and Sheila the female organiser or 'talent wrangler' for the event.

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Chuck Palahniuk is not a man to shy away from the controversial and grotesque (I recommend, if that's the right word, reading his short story 'guts' if you dare). So it seems fitting for him to write a book about pornography. There are themes of confused incest, betrayal, embarrassment, prejudice, and a lot of reference to realising or not realising when you have become old and tired.

The book is set in one room, a waiting room for 600 men, all waiting to be part of a huge pornographic record, being on screen and engaging in a sex act with Cassie Wright, a porn priestess, coming to the end of her career and going out with a bang.

The story is told from 4 perspectives, Mr. 72, Mr. 137, Mr. 600 (a teenager, a washed up television actor embroiled in a gay sex scandal, a famous porn actor doing a favour for an old friend) and Sheila the female organiser or 'talent wrangler' for the event.

I can't help but feel that because of the fairly narrow time span and location of this book, Palahniuk's normal story telling techniques are not implemented as well here.

For example, without trying to spoil anything, one of the book's twists although not directly obvious, is softened slightly by the way that the red herring is spelled out to us and repeated so many times it seems patronising and underestimates the intelligence of Chuck's many readers and fans.

However the narrative style keeps the book very engaging and for me meant I could not put it down until I had finished it (the book is rather short). The way the characters are explored through their reactions and opinions of each other is very interesting to read, and makes this book a very good read.  

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