Rating: 
Summary: Cool
Review: This is a very cool, different book. The author plays with words, ideas, character, and convention. Its a buddy, travel across country story with a twist. A wacked out morality tale. The characters are so flawed that they seem real, too real at times. And on top of this, he throws in a boatload of biting, sacastic, dark humor. Palahniuk is one of the few new writers who is noticed, trying, and suceeding at his craft.
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Summary: Silence is Golden...
Review: Silence is golden... and so is this excellent new novel by one of the most original voices of the last decade. Chuck uses a tale of witchcraft, spells and haunted houses as a vehicle to once again tear apart the culture we live in. And Chuck touches on everything from the noise obsessed to those who get a little carried away with veganism. This is satire at it's best and in addition to telling a great story, Chuck forces us to open our eyes and really question who controls us. Do we make our own decisions or does the media (Big Brother) do it for us? If there's one thing I love about Palahniuk its that he makes me think. Read this in silence. And if your neighbors have the volume up on their television... let them beware.
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Summary: Boy howdy, I wish I could write like Chuck Palahniuk
Review: There's a reason why Chuck Palahniuk is my favorite author: He's quite possibly the most offensive modern writer on the planet. I'm not talking offensive for the sake of being offensive. Every line is scathing, but with a direction. A clear target. He's always got something to throw the spotlight on and make us see things from a different angle.
And maybe this is just my sick sense of humor, but the offensive material makes it just that much more intense. Everything hits with that much more impact. They say that a good book is written based on real-world events and personal experiences. If this is true, Palahniuk's adventures expose the dark underbelly of human existance. He boldly goes where every other writer is too afraid to go. I'm talking about this because Palahniuk's newest novel, Lullaby, touches on some of the most offensive and controversial material he's ever touched on: Dead babies, necrophelia, religion, and paganism just to name a few.
Getting to the synopsis, Lullaby is (to put a 300-some-odd-page story short) about a journalist on a sudden infant death syndrome assignment, who stumbles on a "culling song" in a poems book that, when read or even thought towards someone, instantly kills them. Of course, this sets off a caper-style chain of events where our hero meets several other dysfunctional characters who take off on a road trip to destroy all copies of the culling song.
Going into too much detail would ruin some of the surprise, and dull those cringing feelings you might experience when you read some of the most offensive lines of the book. Simply put, this book is sort of a mixture of that mushy after-sex feeling and the painful muscle spasms of a dry-heave session. A bittersweet sort of feeling that leaves the reader with a head full of profound thought, a stomach full of nausea, and a smirk in the corner of your mouth that you might not even know is there.
Rating: 
Summary: LESS IS MORE
Review: Cold; you can't empathise with the characters
Heavy handed: Too much repetition. Many themes, theories are explained rather than left to be figure out.
Plot confusion: The interludes of phenomenal occurences, Carl doesn't kill Oyster--Why?
Pitch black: Pessimistic, unfunny, too downerish.Summary: BIg and MOre doesn't always work: Too much happening, clumsily huge.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: If you are a true Palahniuk fan you cannot miss this book. Maybe not as great as Survivor or Invisible Monsters, but better than Choke.
Rating:
Summary: Chuck Palahniuk has yet to let me down
Review: If you liked Fight Club (the movie or the book) then I absolutely recommend Lullaby. It has the same feel as all of Chuck's books. He's a wonderfully talented writer, ablte to nauseate and amuse you, often in the same sentence. This book made me laugh out loud, even while it was disturbing me with the imagery it portrays. The story is pretty bizarre to start with, a newspaper writer finds a poem that kills people when you read it to them and goes on a crusade to destroy every copy of it in America with a witch, a bizarre anti-eco-terrorist, and a real estate agent who sells haunted houses. Seriously. It's really that interesting. If you think that sounds entertaining I'd give this book a shot.
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Summary: A starkly intellegent view into the world of cynicism
Review: Mr. Palahniuk's writing always tends to attack mainstream Earth culture (ie Western Civilization) in very subtle manners, but in his newest work he takes it head on by encasing it in a very fast paced and confusing storyline. I dont think there is anything about the plot that I could say that other reviewers havent said so I will instead comment on Mr Palahniuk's moral stance that is evident from page 1-260. His characters tend always to be introverts whom dwell on all of society's more droll tendencies and this novel's protagonist, Carl, is no different. His nemesis comes in the form of annoyance of the constant need of distraction that the "common" man has in this era. Distraction in the forms of visual, audial, and non tangible medium which he feels could potentially train human drives instead of instinct. Words with the suffix "phobic" are thrown around constantly and Carl's irritation becomes the target of his stigma. In the end, nothing is really solved and more problems are presented but Carl comes to terms with his humanity and perhaps that of others.
Rating: 
Summary: My first and last read by him
Review: The premise was interesting, but I had to struggle to keep reading it. I didn't enjoy the parts about necrophilia and felt that it had nothing to do with the story and added nothing to it. On a positive note, I did like the way Carl had to try to divert his thinking so that he wouldn't accidentally kill someone who was bugging him. Somehow the last quarter of the book just flat fell apart. I thought it was stupid and made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I just don't understand the fascination with the author and wish I hadn't read this.
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Summary: Why a Born-Again Christian Liked This Book
Review: "It would be nice to see words come back into power...a world where each word was worth a thousand pictures." (pg. 60) Since I first discovered the brilliance of "Fight Club" and the lashing satire of "Survivor," Palahniuk's books have been my guilty pleasure. Yes, as a Christian, I find many offensive things within, but I also find honesty. This guy's a genius. He's insane. A heathen. A real thinker. A neo-moralist of my generation. Palahniuk's words do have power. "Lullaby" starts in a more linear fashion than his previous novels. We soon discover, along with his protagonist, Mr. Streator, that a children's poem is actually an old Zulu culling song, a means of killing people in a genteel manner (?!). Welcome to Palahniuk's wild and wacky world. I love it. As Streator strikes out on a mission to end the curse, we meet his disenfranchised "family." We see the insanity of the quiet-ophobics. We question whether there are worse things than killing someone--such as the slow death of our culture. Or the dancing hypnotism of Big Brother (identified with the media throughout the book). The typical Palahniuk anarchist insanity doesn't ensue until about halfway through--about the time the witches and vegans join the crowd. That's not to say they are responsible. Not solely. No, in Palahniuk's writing, the usual suspects include the entire planet. He harpoons just about everyone. If this book doesn't offend you at some point, I'm certain Palahniuk would feel palpable disappointment. But offending us isn't his sole goal. (Although some of my fellow believers might think so...we Christians have a tendency, paradoxically, to believe in blind faith while living with anemic imaginations.) His novels force us to think outside the box, to challenge our assumptions, to assume the challenges. Life is a mess. Chuck deals with that. He calls politics, religion, even God to the witness stand. He raises valid questions. He offers ideas in place of answers. He deserves a hand. "Lullaby" is a five star book, but it does use redundant themes and occasionally unnecessary raunchiness. If you can handle digging through stomach-turning moments for gems of brilliance, then you're well on your way to becoming a fan like me.
Rating:
Summary: Oh Chuck, Chuck. You make me laugh.
Review: I've read ALL of Palahniuk's books (except for Fight Club, but i feel i don't have to because the film was such an awesome adaptation)... and this one definately ranks with the others. The story is about a male reporter and a female real estate agent that accidently (and at a sad cost) find out about an ancient culling song, that when sung to someone, will take their life.
One of the two uses the song for power and money. And the other is just trying to fight himself and his desire to use it.
The two, along with a younger couple) decide to go on a road trip to find every existing copy of the book and destroy it as well as to find the master copy - which must have other spells in it. One of them intends to destroy it to save the world... and one plans to use it to take over the world.... if only it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. This book, like all of his others, is a biting satire on human kind... and even more specifically, on Americans. You definately need to be able to laugh at yourself to enjoy his books. I would definately recommend this book... and Choke and Survivor as well... Invisible Monsters is his weakest work (in my opinion) and should be read last by the die-hard fan!
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