Complete: Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk

First off, I fucking ENVY Chuck’s fucking amazing style of writing and the rawness it breeds. He’s unapologetic in the way he writes about the nitty-gritty of society. This man takes a single concept and twists it into something surreal yet believable, giving it multiple faces and dimensions. None of his stories have just one aspect; they branch into a million other fractions. His style of writing mimics the way someone tells a story to a faithful listener. It’s like a stream of consciousness but filtered through the darkest part of society.

I have yet to read Fight Club (I know, I know. I’ll do it this summer!), but I consider Invisible Monsters to be my favorite book ever. Last summer, I read Lullaby, which shares the urban legend quality Rant holds.

Rant is more than what it is described as from the short summery on the inside cover. It’s more than the alleged story of a currently dead guy who lead an urban demolition derby and spread a super rabies virus. Those aspects actually take a back seat to the real story.

If you think Homestuck was screwy with all the time travel weird shit, just wait until you read Rant.

It’s sci-fi without coming off as sci-fi. It’s genre breaking. Not until the middle of the book do you even realize that Rant doesn’t take place in modern society. No, Rant takes place in a dystopian future, akin to Fahrenheit 451, where people get their kicks from plugging the back of their necks into preloaded virtual reality experiences and are split up into two classes of people: the Daytimers and the Nighttimers.

I don’t plan to spoil anything in these reviews, but what we’re dealing with in Rant is the story of an urban legend in more aspect than one thanks to time travel, a modern day God, a super rabies virus, and “Party Crashing.”

Rant, which in a way is like the sci-fi version of Fight Club without being the same story, is infectious from page to page (pun not intended because of the who “rabies” thing).

Expect more Chuck Palahniuk in these posts. I plan to pick up Fight Club, Diary, and Damned.

Currently Reading: Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote