Audiobook - Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk is not exactly one of my favorite writers. In some ways, he is new and exciting in that he has some pretty out there ideas for a plot, characters and dialogue. His books also have the weird humor in them that I find funny, but not in a rolling-on-the-floor way, but in appreciative way. In other ways, he can be predictable in that many of the characters in his books have weird fetishes of some sort, spout endless tidbits of information on various subjects and seem to sound the same. Also, almost all of his books have a really interesting start and then die a slow death as it meanders to an unexpected conclusion. While the conclusions are usually never in the direction that I anticipated, they are disappointing in that they don't draw you in like the beginning does.

Chuck Palahniuk is best known for his book called 'Fight Club' in which the main character of the book, whose name you never hear, has insomnia and finds a way to sleep by going to various support groups for people dying of various diseases. Along the way, he meets Tyler Durden, a man almost his opposite. Whereas the narrator is unsure of himself, Tyler seems to know it all about everything. Together, they start Fight Club, an underground club where guys fight bare knuckled. As the Fight Club culture grows, so do Tyler's ambitions and the narrator is drawn into an even more underground club where corporate mayhem is the game.

I saw the movie first and it's one of my favorite movies of all time. It's very dark and slyly funny, but it's a definite guy's movie for the younger set. The book is not as good. I liked it, but liked the movie's interpretation of it a lot more.

Rant is the oral history of Rant Casey as told by friends, neighbors, co-workers, bosses and enemies. It's a series of recorded statements. I think as a text, it would be a little frustrating to read, but in audio form, it's great. Each character is voiced by a different voice actor, so it's easy to tell who the character is before they finish their name.

Rant is not easy to explain. It's the story of a boy, knicknamed 'Rant', who grows up to be the carrier of a deadly rabies plague. As a boy, he became fascinated by the rush he would get by getting bit by venomous spiders and animals. Some of these animals were rabid. Rant became immune to rabies and started a small outbreak in his small town. Then in the city, a much larger outbreak was started that almost ground society to a halt. In between this, Rant gets involved in a group of people called 'Party Crashers' whose main goal every night is to drive around in the night's costume (like a wedding party or student drivers) and crash into other 'Party Crashers' to earn points. The world also deals with virtual reality brain porting and time travel.

All in all, it's a very different audio book that worked for me. Not sure who I'd recommend it to, but if you liked Fight Club and appreciate movies like Pulp Fiction and the Big Lebowski, then this may be for you.