Novel Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey

I had high expectations for Rant. I read Choke a couple years previous, and Palahniuk's vibrant writing, dry wit, and existential musings left me floored. When I saw that the local library had his book in the "recent arrivals" shelf, I immediately picked it up. I had been reading more for school than I normally do that year, so I relished a chance to kick back with a recreational read. Unfortunately for me, Rant was too light on all the things that made me fall in love with Palahniuk's pen in the first place, and too heavy on the gimmickry.

I have to give Chuck some credit for going with the oral biography format. It is an interesting statement on perception, and how what we think about other people often says more about ourselves than it does about the person we're discussing. At least, that is what it could have been. But if you are going to use characters to get the reader acquainted with another character, it would help if at least a couple of them were not as two dimensional as the face of a digital clock.

And that is why Rant does not succeed. It is a story that is almost entirely character driven. I could hardly imagine that the people I were reading about were real human beings, much less care about anything that happened to them. With so little plot, so little mystery or adventure, and so little waxing philosophical, Chuck put all his eggs in one basket. And then he dropped it.

I might recommend Rant to those who are unfamiliar with Palahniuk, and to younger readers. The angst ridden mind of an adolescent (as opposed to the cynical mind of a post-adolescent such as yours truly) may be more open to the stubborn refusal of anyone in this book to search for a silver lining. For whatever reason, Palahniuk's magic is gone. I don't know if he shat this volume out to pay the bills, or if he's really run out of ideas. Since Snuff was an improvement (but still not as good as Choke. I don't think he'll ever reach those heights again), I am willing to give Chuck the benefit of the doubt. He went out on a limb with Rant, as is often necessary if one sincerely wishes to create a masterpiece. Unfortunately for Chuck, his experiment failed to bring the goods.

Reputation Comments on this post:

great book review....thanks for sharing this!