Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk

Let me get this out of the way before I start reviewing this book: Snuff is far from being Chuck Palahniuk's best written novel but then again it is not bad, especially when removed from the context of his mostly brilliant body of work. Then again it's hard to think of this book in any other context since it feels almost like a parody of past works such as Invisible Monsters and Choke. In other words the sexual deviancy, the random trivia, the exotic medical knowledge and the self loathing are present and amplified to hilarious degrees. I mean what can be more intentionally ridiculous than the tale of a fading Porn Queen performing sex acts with 600 men as one last hurrah before retiring? Adding to the hilarity is the fact that this tale of sex and death is narrated by three of the men waiting in line to perform with her, namely Mr. 72, Mr. 137 and Mr. 600.

Mr. 72 is a young adult who believes himself to be the lovechild of Cassie Wright, the aforementioned Porn Queen. After obsessing about her for years (first innocently, then sexually) he is finally caught in a compromising situation by his adopted mother who reveals to him exactly who he is beating off to. Now full with oedipal guilt he has decided to rescue her from the porn industry and hopefully start a new life with his mom.

Mr. 137 is a TV star trying to reboot his career by proving that he is straight despite the specter of a gay gangbang movie hanging over him. Whenever Mr. 137 is not popping a Viagra pill in his mouth he is providing most of the books comedic relief with bitchy comments and pop culture observations.

Lastly you've got the fated Mr. 600, a porn veteran who exists mostly to share the ins and outs of the sex industry with the reader. Also there is something tragically funny about this man who is intensely vain yet completely incapable of seeing his wrinkles and sagging pecks.

And I hate to minimize the role of Shelia but I feel that the author did that for me. She is Cassie Wright's personal assistant and organizer of this epic sex shoot. But in all honesty this self loathing feminist working for a porn star never seems to ring true and feels like an afterthought, even though she is central to the plot. Also the voice that Chuck Palahniuk scripts her in is pretty annoying, which is a shame since most of the exposition pertaining to Cassie Wright's story is told by Shelia.

And she's not the only weakness the book has. While things start out strong with some facts about how people's porn consumption shapes the entertainment industry this subject is quickly abandoned for more familiar subjects. This includes the sacrifices people are willing to make to be beautiful (Invisible Monsters) or famous (Haunted) and of course tons of trivia about home remedies (Survivor) and medicine (Choke) are paraded around too. Then there's the fact that for such a short novel it feels drawn out in parts, as though it was conceived as a short story but ended up having to bulk up and earn Chuck some cash without the help of additional short stories. In that sense I feel that Snuff is a bit of an underdog, a runt that is doomed to be reviewed as the least of this authors works. And I guess that makes me like it a little more, because like I said it is really not a bad book, just far from his best.