Rating: 
Summary: A strange, but memorable novel.
Review: A lullaby. A cute song sung to children. How does this innocent song kill? This question haunts reporter Carl Streator as he investigates the sudden surge of infant deaths across the country. What Carl finds is that unknowing parents are singing a culling song to their children resulting in the child's death.Desperate to stop the spread of the poem, Carl travels the country only to be faced with unimaginable choices in his race to prevent disaster. 'Lullaby' is a strange, funny, scary, and totally surprising novel, one that could only come from the twisted mind of Chuck Palahniuk, the visionary author of 'Fight Club', and 'Choke', and as usual he's as twisted as ever. This novel is not for everyone, but those looking for something unusual, and memorable should dive into it and enjoy. Nick Gonnella
Rating: 
Summary: good stuff
Review: It was an enjoyable book. This is the first of his I have read, since then I have read 3 others. I did enjoy this. As his others, it was kind of strange. But the idea was kind of creepy and neat.
Rating: 
Summary: You can't put his books down, but that's Palahniuck
Review: Again, Chuck Palahniuk delivers another off the wall story that attacks like a Gurilla at American society. Some complain that his works are too similar with their story lines and characters, but those unique anti-heros and cleaver plot twists are what makes his books great. Lullaby is a great read, and though it does focus on witch craft and the supernatural he manages to keep it believable. This would make an GREAT movie, and is a GREAT book.
Rating: 
Summary: He's got one book in him -- and he just wrote the fifth.
Review: Chuck Palaniuk freely admits that he wrote this book in three weeks. As in twenty-one days. As in 504 hours. So it took me approximately 1/504th of the time (about an hour) to choke down this sugary litle trifle that he took in the entire "process" of "crafting" it. Isn't there something wrong with that? The details (as he would say) about Mr. Palaniuk are that he's lazy, out of ideas, and coasting on the success of one really good book. That book was Fight Club, an achievement that I can't help but believe will someday be upheld as a minor fin de siecle 20th century classic. I've read 'em all faithfully since then, and have been consistently disappointed by how completely unwilling he has been to explore *any* new terrain. So if you were thinking about reading this or any other of Mr. Palaniuk's work, here's a quick guide to all of his past and future works: 1) A quirky, undersexed protaganist will be dragged through a series of satirical, increasingly ridiculous events at the behest of an all-knowing alter ego. 2) Said alter ego will be very powerful, with some almost supernatural character traits. 3) At least one (usually more) of the characters in each book will earn something approximating a living by doing something impossibly clever and startingly unethical: marketing haunted houses, making soap from human fat, garnering sympathy by pretending to choke in expensive restaraunts, becoming a mushy new age messiah, strategically blackmailing companies with threats of class action suits, cruising self-help or sex-addiction or survivors groups, etc. 3) Short, clipped sentences. Like a diary. Or something. I guess. Hemingway it's not. 4) Bite-sized chapters. Many of Mr. Palaniuk's readers aren't quite ready for existential weight of 'big kid' books--they get nervous when faced with narrative points that might take longer than ten pages to develop. 5) Flagrant showing-off of the author's "intensive" (i.e., he read a 'fun facts about _____' book at the local library the week before he started writing) research into a specific subject. While these facts make a runny mortar for the fragments of narrative, character, and emotion that he's trying to slap together, the reader will come away knowing more about, say, homemade explosives, cleaning techniques, reconstructive surgery, soapmaking, the human anatomy, witchcraft, serial killers, the history of silk flowers, sex change operations, ecological crises, etc. etc. 5) Deep Stuff will be indexed, sound-bitten, and briefly referenced from time to time. You may be shocked and forever changed to learn, for example, that we are constantly bombarded by the corrupting influence of a highly commercialized media industry. Or that Americans place a high priority on physical appearance. Or that men are being slowly feminized by a culture that is needing them less than ever. Or that we are wreaking havoc on our natural environment and torturing animals before we eat them without ever stopping to consider the consequences of our acts. If any or all of these ideas are completely new to you, you will *love* Mr. Palaniuk's fresh insights into postmodern life. The rest of us already had these insights sophomore year during a series of keggers in Mike Truflowski's backyard. 6) After about 150 pages of what the author seems to consider "momentum," each book ends with a silly, overwrought denouement: typically a larger-than-life showdown with the alter ego/villain du jour in some way. Then a quick, clean resolution. 7) There's more, but I'm getting depressed just thinking about them. And how publishable this guy's formula really seems to be. That's pretty much the Chuck Palaniuk experience. Lullaby is easily his worst yet, but it does demonstrate his template more openly than any of his previous work. (The dead bird on the cover also provides a helpful visual representation.) Its only conceivable value to anyone might be the service it provides to future lit majors in their discussions of early 20th century pop writers. It is worth nothing that this is great beach reading, however. Since most people could easily read his entire oeuvre in two days, it might fit nicely into a weekend at the shore. There are worse ways to switch your brain off. Maybe.
Rating:
Summary: interesting, and well worth reading
Review: Although lullaby is far from Palahniuk's best novel, it is a delightfully clever look at society from a character easy to relate to. It doesn't flow as well as Chuck's other novels, but is still full of twists, and the dark comedic element makes this book a fun read. I recomend this book to both new and old Palahniuk readers.
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: this is a very good book. maybe not upto the standards of Fight Club or Survivor but this book nevertheless is a very good read. I'd suggest it for people who haven't read Chuck P, yet...maybe you can read this and get used to his style and then climb up to invisible monsters, choke, survivor and ultimately Fight Club (read fight club even if you've seen the movie, i strongly it)
Rating:
Summary: Original, with a little re-hash on the side
Review: Chuck Palahniuk is a real writer, an artist with words, who manages to create entertainment at the same time. I've enjoyed all his books that I've read, Fight Club, Choke and now this, but I'd recommend the other two over this one. As always, it is fresh and original but I think he took a little from his own works and put it in here. It certainly has all the weird ways of the world he always includes. I'll never forget the shattered baby incident, that's fo' sho'. One thing to add; I listened to this as a Book on Tape. In hindsight, that is not the way to experience Palahniuk. You need to see the words and layout on the page to get the full experience. Skip the tape and buy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Although this was my first Palahniuk novel, I have to say that I was very well captured. I did see the movie "Fight Club" and didn't know that it was based on the book written by him. I do however believe that "Fight Club" as a movie is a bit overrated and yet, ironically, understated. As for the novel "Lullaby", I found it a good read. It is twisted in some sick ways, but humorous to follow along with. Hey, if you like Palahniuk and would like a quick good read, pick up this book.
Rating:
Summary: Indeed not great, yet so much fun...
Review: It is agreeable that the writting contained in the book is repetitive when it comes to the plot, somewhat vague when it deals with character development, and narration is easy and sometimes skin deep... But the way i view it, this is all related with the central thesis of the book, our dependence of mass media.
"noise-oholics... quiet-ophobics..." This is us, demanding more and more... more plot, more words, more characters; make it better, darker, harder to read; hide the meaning of the words in paraphrases, synonims, context...
The book deals with a man who has aquired the power to kill by just reciting a spell, and he uses it on his neighbor because he plays loud music... its funnier than it sounds...
Because this is us... demanding more and more... The humour is not as dark as its made out to be, in fact it can get to be "sitcom funny" (some would consider this a flaw), all you have to do is not take the reading that seriously... in my opinion that is what makes it so fun to read... Besides, the fact that this book is easy to read and not puzzling is sure to appeal to almost any audience, even to those who have not picked up a book in years... hey, it sure beats watching t.v. My recomendation, pick this up if you want to have a good time for a couple of days, reading and letting the tube cool off... if you want more deepness and insight, more plot and character development, or have read other Palahniuk titles over and over, you could be dissapointed, this is the main flaw of the book... if youve read his other books, everything may seem trite and recooked...
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: I was searching through the book racks at my local library and I came across this book. I read the flap and it sounded like it would be a good read. This book doesn't try to impress you- it tries to talk to you personally and create a horribly real picture that is meant only for the cynical and sardonic. You can connect with all of the characters, no matter how much you might get annoyed with them, no matter how much you think they should get laid, no matter Chuck tells you about them. Chuck is one of the few people that I envy for talent.
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