Diary: A Novel

Chuck Palahniuk's latest offering takes the form of a diary kept by Misty Marie Kleinman. The text of this diary, while personal, is directed at her husband, Peter Wilmot. Peter is in a coma for having, apparently, tried to commit suicide. Misty is, and has been for some time, miserable. She lashes out at Peter in her diary and in the process tells her story of why she is writing this diary and brings her life up to date while telling a very interesting story.
Diary examines the life of Misty Kleinman and traces how she got to Waytansea (wait and see, get it?) Island. Misty was an artist when she first started dating Peter Wilmot. In a time and a place where every other artist was trying to do art that made some sort of a statement about society (a teddy bear stuffed with feces), Misty was painting landscapes and pictures of buildings. She was gifted, true, but did not think much of her gift because of what everyone else was doing. She married Peter, a man that nobody else even wanted to talk to.
That is a rough sketch of Misty's origins, but the present day material is much different. It involves Peter in the coma, strange messages inside people's homes, a centuries old tradition/legend of the Wilmot family and how Misty ties into all of this. The novel showcases Palahniuk's wit and style but somehow managed to have more substance and heart that his last couple of novels (Choke, Lullaby). I got the sense that Palahniuk was maturing some as a writer, there is more emotional depth to this work. Diary is probably Palahniuk's best novel since Survivor. Diary touches on the theme of the tortured artist (taken to an extreme, as only Palahniuk can do) and the place of the artist in society. There is also hints of the supernatural in this book, which seems to be a direction Palahniuk is going more and more (Lullaby, for instance), but it is done so well that it doesn't feel intrusive. It is a very good book and I would recommend it as a good starting point to read Palahniuk.

I just finished "Diary" today, and I must say that I really enjoyed it. This is perhaps his best work since Invisible Monsters. I was a bit skeptical at first, after being dissapointed with Lullaby. This book is a bit different, but in many ways it is still trademark Chuck.
The story starts off being a dark comedy, with tragic reflections on inspiration, art and hope dried up. Art is the focus of the main character, and clearly, Chuck has done his homework. As an artist, I found Chuck's statements about art to be laugh out loud funny, insightful, cynical, and well...downright realistic. There are few likeable characters in this book, aside from the main character (who is only likeable in that readers will feel sorry for her and be rooting for her to overcome circumstances), who is the "author" of the diary. As you dig deeper into Diary, you will find that these unlikeable characters are downright evil, as the story cascades into a bizarre, twisted, and frightening close.

To put it simply, I really enjoyed reading this book. Chuck Palahniuk has a style of writing that I find captivating and intriguing; once you pick up one of his books it will be a struggle putting it down. This book, in particular, was one of the best I have read in a while. Palahniuk leaves no loose ends, and upon finishing the book, leaves you satisfied. The way this book was written (in the form of a slightly skewed personal diary) makes you feel as though you are actually a part of the characters' lives. In that way, it is a rarity of literature today. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK to any reader who is interested in the "cool and weird" side of lierature. It is certainly something that will not disappoint you and is a fulfillng read. Check out Survivor, also by Chuck Palahniuk, it is pretty amazing.

Palahnuik is one of the few who can write subversive and satirical material that still qualifies as literary art. In a style all his own, he has tweaked the lines of fiction to create stories that resonate with our generation. "Survivor," "Fight Club," and "Lullaby" are some of my all-time favorite novels.
That said, I got "Diary" with high expectations. As some have noted, Palahnuik's unique voice has started to become an echo in each novel, and I hoped he would break his own mold.
He does. For good and for bad. Although "Diary" has themes that seem tamer and more polished in delivery, they are aimed more precisely than in some of his other works. The style is more subtle, more subdued. I read entire chapters waiting for one Palahnuikism to jot down in my memory banks, but few showed up.
In "Diary," Chuck steers away from clever sentences and goes for a clever overall picture. Just as his characters discover that art is birthed through pain and suffering, we the readers discover the beauty here by overcoming more obstacles than in his other novels.
Overall, I loved the theme of art inspired by pain, but never felt deep connection with any particular character or setting. I respect an artist/author willing to shift gears mid-career--U2 did so in the early 90s and fumbled back to greatness--and I believe Palahnuik will do the same. Here, he reinvents himself. "Diary" is his turning point. Though he might not connect with everyone, I believe he's taken a step toward bigger and better things.

Every time I delve into a Chuck Palahniuk novel I am left in complete awe. His prose is so truly unique and yet so terribly common. Diary, like all of his novels, has an outlandish twist that somehow remains very familiar and relatable. He is quite good at making the very mundane seem remarkably complex and perverse. Chuck has something to say, and he is clearly not afraid to say it. Fortunately, his message never comes across as preachy. Instead, he uses sarcasm and humor (along with completely absurd plots that become second nature to the avid Chuck reader) to convey his message.
To say the least, Diary is a very good (and quick) read.
I would like to comment, however, on how this novel truly isn't his best work.
It is undoubtedly representative of his style-a nihilistic plot exacerbated by a group of demented characters. Nevertheless, it is not his best work.
Therefore, if you are unfamiliar with Chuck's work, I highly recommend you start elsewhere (perhaps with Fight Club).
On another somewhat random note: there has been talk about turning this novel into a film. Something to look forward to...

it had to happen sometime...this book took me sometime to get through and when i got to the end i felt as though i had been violated..this book had major promises and then it had the potential to be dissapointing. i actually want to give this book 3 and a half stars for good merit, but i cant and have to stick with the 4. how would you like it if, from the very get go of meeting a boy, him and his family had the propheltic plan for you to save their island from tourist hell. a conspiracy in fact, that has been going on for quite sometime, and "if you are here reading this right now, then you have failed and all is lost" .. how would you like it if you were used as a recepticle for a baby and then only to find that your husband was......hah, cant tell you that... the book, overall, is worth the read for any fan of chuck..

Palahniuk is gifted with a vision for relating stories that other people most likely couldn't even come up with a premise for. In that regard, he is wonderful.

Diary lacked depth. The character of Misty...i felt like i knew her a little, but I'd hope so since it was she narrating the story.

What's bad: you will want to know more about Tabbi, Peter, Grace and Harrow...and you will wish to god that more time was spent on the relationship between Peter and Delaporte.

This could be made into a movie, but unless the plot is modified, it will be a baseless film.

I expect too much from Palahniuk, and that is my own miserable mistake.

I am absolutely not saying that this book is crap..it just could have been so very much better.

In his early works, Palahnuik consistently presented a mouth-watering existentialist view of reality (e.g., the strive for superman status in fight club, rejection of occultist views in survivor, the hero of choke's disillusionment when he realizes he was duped into believing he was in the bloodline of the messiah)...but lately our Chuck has slipped and fallen into the realm of the supernatural. The closing chapter of lullaby causes one to suspect that someone laced his scrambled eggs with pcp. Stranger than fiction, although unveiling the absurdity of groupthink, at the same time drags you through his doltish ballad of how he became a believer of the psychic phenomenon. And diary, while filled with the stormy eloquent twists and prose which draws one to his work in the first place, closes by kicking down the pedestal he builds earlier in the book for the human creative process by weaving in scenarios which will have you smirking for all of the wrong reasons.

my suggestion, don't let your high opinion of palahniuk wither away by reading this book.

Here is a book so poorly written and cynically marketed that the description on the original (hardcover) dust jacket can't even get the name of the main character right: she's identified as "Misty Tracy Wilmot" when in fact her name is "Misty Marie Kleinman Wilmot." When the publisher can't be bothered to get straight a little item like that, you know there's a problem! By now Palahniuk, like Steven King, is a brand name, and nobody, least of all Mr. P himself, seems likely to spend much time on quality control when there are so many book-units to be shifted to a willing audience. Which is a shame, because there are traces of worthwhile themes in Diary: the power of art, the subjugation of women within even "artistic" communities, and the old stand-by of class warfare in contemporary America. Too bad Palahniuk can't seem to develop these into anything like genuine observations, or even a passably interesting story. This is one dull book! Oh, and the usual variations on some gimmicky sentence ("Today's weather is partly depressed with scattered outbursts of rage," or whatever) that P does in every book is a dead, dead horse by now, covered with flies. I never thought Fight Club was a masterpiece but at least it held my attention.

I love everything Chuck writes and this book is no exception. I've been reading from other people's reviews that they think this novel is dull or boring. I couldn't disagree with them more.

I felt that Chuck did a fine job of creating a reasonable eerieness and suspicion early on in the novel that he continued throughout. This book seemed to be his frirst real 'mystery' novel. It was a GREAT story. So great a story in fact that I was considering trying my hand at a screenplay for the novel.

Anyone who says this wasn't one of his better novels needs to read other authors to realize that he is indeed one of the best novelists of our time. So even his 'bad' is better than MAAANY others' 'good'.

My first Palahniuk book

This book is okay.

I felt that it was going somewhere,

& the things discussed in it were very interesting.

particularily parts in which Misty was imprisoned at the hospital, forced to draw blindfolded. I think Mr. Palahniuk really knows how it feels to be an artist, cause it truly is like bearing your soul. But as the book went on, i felt as if it was very rushed & it expected me to believe what was going on way too quickly. Maybe iam just too much of a realist or im bad suspending my disbelief, but it was hard for me to believe in what was going on. Other than that, once again, i felt that Palahniuk has alot to say, & isnt afraid to think "outside the box". Which is always refrshing.

After this book, i went on to Invisible Monsters, which in my opinion, is much better.

I can't recommend Diary to anyone. I literally felt mad reading it. I'll avoid spoilers, but the island in the book is called Waytansea. Trust me, you will not want to "Wait and See" if it gets any better. It won't.

The main character is like someone in a some sort of slow motion horror movie in which they could escape danger at any moment, but choose not to...for some reason.

This book is typical Palahniuk. He loves to horrify, and his fluctuation between a repetitive, visceral description of the wrinkles in the human face and constant pity and seeming degradation of his characters creates often shallow individuals who are stuck to the fate that has been given to them. His books tend to leave me simpering in the misery of the plight of humanity, and yet I am drawn to them as addictive, intense reads that play out very cinimatically.

I did enjoy this book, if "enjoy" is even applicable here. His pacing is outstanding, even if I did, as another reviewer mentioned, get sick of the weather forecasts and almost-dippings into an anatomy textbook. These are tools to achieve a certain unity and cohesiveness, and the book is very tight and well written. His story develops around his convention of flat, pitiable characters, people who were created to fail, to shed light on the shocking traditions of Waytansea Island.

Palahniuk writes Misty, his main character, as a convnetional woman with conventional dreams, and although she has aspirations of high art, ultimately she is only to be used by people of an island which is used by rich, stereotypical tourists. He takes on Misty's character and sort of kicks her half-alive, bloated corpse around in a way that is meant to be disturbing, but is only mundane.

Palahniuk jumped to the forefront as a writer in the vein of John Waters. Like Waters, his new works hinge on mediocrity as his audience is bludgeoned by a society that is increasingly unable to be shocked.

Diary lacks depth, but is entertaining and skillfully constructed. If you already like Palahniuk, don't be deterred from buying this book, but read Choke if it's your first by him.

Grace says, "We all die." She says, "The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."
From my personal favorate writer and my own personal savior, Chuck Palahniuk, comes his sixth novel. Although I wouldn't consider this his finest by a mile, it's still a very well-crafted and intriguing book. The plot follows a middle-aged woman who after the failed suicide attempt and coma of her husband, must work tables to support her daughter and mother-in-law. Strangely enough she keeps getting calls from people whose vacation homes have been altered by her husband. These home are missing rooms, blocked off, hidden. When she goes to investigate, these rooms are filled with startling messages from her husband. The island she so peacefully lives on also starts to change and her mother-in-law and daughter both seem to be acting very suspicious.
The novel is written in a very unique way also. It's written in the form of a coma diary. A diary from the main character to her husband for him to read if he ever comes out of his coma. Like all Palahniuk novels, Diary is written in a very dark mood. I did feel that the novel was a little "lighter" than most his work. Though still very dark. The one thing that attracts me to Palahniuk's work is that he is very insightful on our society. Many times while reading one of his novels including Diary, I find myself reading a phrase again, awed at the substance that I'm taking in.
If your a Palahniuk fan, it's safe to say you won't be disappointed with Diary. It's definately a different approach by him, but still very much his style. I felt it seemed somewhat slow in the beginning of the book through the first several chapters, this is just to build-up the plot though. Once the build-up is past, the rest of the novel speeds by. Once I pick up a Palahniuk novel I find myself unable to let it down. Which is why I read them so fast. To anyone new to Palahniuk I would probably recommend reading one of his earlier novels first like "Choke" or "Invisible Monsters," and of course Palahniuk's immortal "Fight Club." And if you enjoy any of those, it's just a matter of time before you read all of his work.

I really like the cover, with all those red roses but I felt horrible reading it! I don't think I will ever read anything similar. What a horrible story! I am not sure if this is the style of such stories, but it is so unbelieveable to the degree that you think the characters are either not mature or devils.

It is like a science fiction plus horror movie, you can certainly predict the outcome though it is dull and pretentious. Some messages appear commenting on one kind of rich people's lives, but I don't think they belong to our century. You think with all the civilization and the development in science and computers, people are skeptical and challenging, but this story shows that human are so naive to look for answers and defend what they own, even to be responsible for their own children!

I would have enjoyed it more if it was the story of a poor girl married to a rich guy who suddenly goes into a coma and then the wife finds herself alone raising her daughter and protecting her from her evil grandparents. This is just the simple version of the story without the additional features where she unveils the truth about her marriage and that island!

This is the first (and only) Chuck Palahniuk book I have read. Maybe it was the buildup I made from all the hype but I wasn't too impressed. I hope that this was just a one-off because I plan to read more of his books anyway.

Diary started out well but about halfway through I got the sense that the story's direction wasn't planned out from the beginning, and when the writer finally figured it out things had to be forced into the plot later for it to make sense. Toward the last quarter it almost felt like he became bored and quickly tried to spice it up and finish it.

The development of the main character "Misty" is erratic and ultimately flattening. Just when you start to get a feel for her, she does something or thinks something that really doesn't fit and you start from square one trying to figure her out again. I have heard that this is part of the writer's style and can generally appreciate that kind of unpredictability in a character. However, Misty, like the story, didn't naturally build upon itself, so I just started to give up and became dissinterested with her.

While the story was cute, and mildly interesting, I ultimately didn't enjoy this book. But, I refuse to use it as a litmus test for the talent of the writer and hope to pick a better one next time.

Overall, Diary was very good. However, it was somewhat disappointing considering the masterpieces Palahniuk has written in the past. Obviously, it was infinitely better than Laura Miller said it was in her scathing salon.com review (look at me, I write for salon.com and can say whatever I want even if it's not true at all). While I would recommend the book to a fan of Palahniuk, it surely wouldn't be the first I'd recommend to someone who hadn't read him (that would be Survivor or Fight Club, of course).
For the first 38 pages or so, I was completely lost. I had no idea what was going on. Then in a few pages all the basic things are explained. I then reread the first 38 pages again and everything made perfect sense. I don't know why it was written like this, perhaps so you pay attention to the atmosphere and details, instead of merely absorbing plot details (like that's ever a problem with one of Palahniuk's books), and while these opening pages were well written and filled with great stuff, it was still annoying, even if in the end it led to a greater appreciation. I didn't care for the supernatural stuff, and the repetition stuff seemed especially repetitive, without being as insightful as in previous books. The ideas on where we get our inspiration were very interesting, but that's about it.
I found the use of the 2nd person to be refreshing, although I don't know how women readers would like this, since "you" are a comatose male (this is revealed shortly after page 38, so it's not a spoiler, and knowing that makes the first 38 pages much more intelligible on the first read). It's not until the very last page that all the pieces of Palahniuk's idea are revealed, and I think while his execution is less than perfect (but still very good), you have to appreciate the completeness to which the idea was used and executed.
Diary is a very good book that I recommend. I rate it near Invisible Monsters, Lullaby, somewhere below Survivor and Fight Club, but above Choke.

Like many people, I was introduced to Chuck Palahniuk's work through the movie adaptation of "Fight Club," one of his earlier novels. I eagerly read that book and the other two available at the time, "Survivor" and "Invisible Monsters," and I loved them all. I've read every book he's released since then, and they've all been intense page-turners.
It seems, though, that Palahniuk has been getting a bit more mystical and fatalistic with time, and nowhere is this more apparent than in "Diary." This is the main complaint I have with the book, as it seems to have lost a lot of the relevant social commentary that made his earlier novels so gratifying. It's still an entertaining read and certainly worth the price of admission, but if you've never read his work before, read "Survivor" or "Choke" instead. Those are the better of his novels so far.
I still consider Palahniuk one of the most important and relevant authors of our time, and all his books are excellent, but unfortunately this is the weakest of them.

I am bordering on 3 stars here. Palhniuk stresses a few messages in Diary and has fun with descriptions. The story is dull at times, and I found a few chapter breaks somewhat comical. At points I was sick of hearing of the story and the chapter would end, only to begin in the same scene of the previous chapter. I am not sure how attatched to Diary Palahniuk was, but writing is his craft. Diary did not torment Palahniuk, nor did it beg to be written. Diary is nowhere near the top of my list of reads, and 3.5 stars sums this book up perfectly.

Diary is ultimately the story of how an aging group of old money island dwellers go about revitalizing their fortunes through sacrifice and manipulation. Its central character is an artist who has been painting scenes from the island--the mansions, the seascapes--since childhood, thinking they were of an imaginary place. When Misty Marie first sees the source of her visions, the unlikely bride of an oddly obsessed son of the island, she thinks it will be a place of comfort and safety. It isn't long before Waytansea Island becomes a place of imprisonment and tiny tortures.

The diary of the title is not one Misty is writing, exactly. It is a script for her life that already exists. This novel of predestination is sprinkled with so much foreshadowing that it ultimately holds little surprise in the end. Except, perhaps, how pedestrian the islander's solution to the dwindling of their fortunes is. They needed myth,deception and an unwilling participant for this? They needed art and a tortured artist?

The book is quirky and--as the diary so frequently states--"for the record" classic Palahniuk. It is just not one of his best.

Another Palahniuk great. It's not as good as some of his other books in my opinion, but the mysterious and somewhat fantasy-like nature of the story is quite entertaining nevertheless. It's more on line with Lullaby than Choke or Fight Club, for those who are wondering -- that is, there is a fantastical element to the tale that Choke and Fight Club lack, as both of those books are based in the real world, with real world situations. Albeit horrible situations. Chuck does a good job at writing "Holy crap, this story is really a very good read... but it's about a horrible, horrible thing."

The biggest "twist" at the end isn't as surprising, I think, as a smaller twist in the tale, one that is not quite as pertinent to the whole story as opposed to only the main character.

Also, if you're anything like me, at some point you'll start wanting to bash in the head of a couple of characters. Repeatedly.

Diary is about an ex-art school student and island that isn't what it seems. Sound interesting? Probably not as much as you might have wanted it to be.

Chuck Pahlaniuk has a very ecclectic and unique writing style which attracted me to him in the first place and had me compelled to read more of his books. Diary, now being the third book I've read by Chuck, I'm starting to feel that once engaging style to wear thin on me. The verbatims ("Just for the record...", "Your...", "The weather is...") felt stretched and overused at times and kind of slowed the plot down and are pretty hit or miss. I guess the problem is that his books are too similar because he uses the seemingly same formula and that takes on toll on readers who've read more than one Pahlaniuk book. It kind of Pahlaniuk's-you-out.

There are some pretty good things about the book, however. I liked the art history he brought to the book, which made it a little more interesting. He alsol raises interesting themes about humanities obsession with immortality. We all have done it, write our names on a wall and wonder if it'll still be there ten, twenty, a hundred years from now. So, it's somewhat relatable.

Overall, probably not his best work, but you might want to make that decision for yourself.

Needless to say, if you have not read any Palanhiuk before, don't start with this book. If you have - you won't get what you expect. As a Palahniuk fan, I highly anticipated the release of this book, bought it the day it came out, and read it in a few hours - and was extremely disappointed (the greater the expectations, the harder the fall). I expected the same satirical style, fantastic story, and obsessive attention to detail. Instead, I plodded through pages of absolutely uninteresting writing.
The storyline? Lacking. That's the only word that I could use to describe it. I consider myself more artistic than most people, but even I couldn't see the point of PAINTING to ensure the existence of a town. Not to mention that the ending is highly unsatisfying - you don't even know what has happened.
The writing style? Not typical Palahniuk. There is very little biting satire, which would be fine - if there were an interesting story behind the writing. Of course, there are a few scenes that are wonderfully descriptive, and occasionally horrifying, which is why I give the book two stars at all.
The one thing that might redeem the book is this thought - maybe Palahniuk is messing around with us and changing what he writes, just because he can. In which case I would say he is a genius.
However, the story was still TERRIBLE, and I would never recommend this to a reader unless he/she was a fan of Palahniuk.

And Chuck Palahniuk continues churning out stuff that is just not up to par. Fight Club, Survivor, and Invisible Monsters were all good, interesting, informative. But, like Lullaby, this book is a waste of time. It may have one or two moments that are interesting, but mostly it is slow and boring. It doesn't even have the fun little bits of ephemera that livened up his other novels. He tries to include things, such as the anatomical names for liver spots and wrinkles, but that's not as much fun as how to make napalm in your bath tub, or what solvent best removes blood stains.

Do not understand the bad critics this book has unless one does not like this writer. He is weird, extravagant and would say is always looking for this kind of things. But once this stated and not having yet read Survivor, have to say that after reading and liking Asphixia and Club of Fight, read this one and liked it even more. You won't forget the Island and Mistie, the main character. Odd things keeps happening almost during the whole book. The plot caughts You up from the mere start and when finishing You would not like it to end. That makes a good book. The well shaped characters and the ambience they are surrounded by, the never knowing what is going to happen after, it all makes it quite a good book to read and have. Nor would You forget it. Of course it is dark and weird, but this has become a Palahniuk trademark. You like it or not, it's all. After reading the reviews, will have to read Survivor. Do not know if Palahniuk and his oddities will survive time, but for the moment being, here he is and we, the ones who like his stories are glad of. Always a surprising author.

If this had been my first Palahniuk book, I would have missed the awesome Invisible Monsters, Fight Club, Lullaby, and Choke.

Actually had I not just finished Invisible Monsters, I don't know if I could have trudged through this book.

This had many of the same themes as the other Palahniuk books but lacked the punch. Palahniuk books, historically, have felt like getting slapped upside the head with a brick made of my own mores. WHAM! Self-mutalation (Invisible Monsters) WHAM! Self-destruction (Fight Club) WHAM! Wholesale murder (Lullaby). Diary was a love tap.

What Inspires You?

When you haven't journaled in a month and your head is pounding and you read a couple of chapters of a book and your headache goes away, read another chapter.

When you're eighty pages in and realize you are nearly a third of the way through, read another chapter. When you hit the halfway mark and realize you were supposed to be somewhere else and that it must not have been that important to you, read two more chapters.

When you appreciate the word play of the author in naming the doctor character, read another chapter. When you suddenly realize the town name where the book takes place is another play on words, read another chapter.

When you're typing on the computer with your eyes taped closed and your daughter says "What's a typewriter?" `cause you just ask her to put in a clean piece of paper, recommend the book to your friends.

As I read the cute little blurb to entice readers on the inside of the cover, I thought to myself in contrast, where did Palahniuk get his inspiration for this novel? Was it really inspiration? Unfortunately, I am going to have to rate this novel as one of Palahnuik's worse, which still makes it kind of decent anyways since the author just has an incredible writing style.

What I did enjoy in this book is the build-up to Misty Wilmont's destiny. How the entire island she lives on, including her own daughter, conspiraring to bring out the artist in her. I do, however, think that there could have been a little more references to painting tactics, since Misty just seems to make paintings magically when she is induced with pain.

Closer to the end I was getting a little confused how the daughter let herself die, how Misty let her die, and how she miraculously returned.

Then Misty is sent to prison to read the notes of a guiding spirit she knows very well. I think it would have been perfect if Misty would stay imprisoned, doomed, like her predecessors. But no, she is miraculously released. Miraculously uninspiring.

I'm getting more and more disenchanted with Palahniuk's books. I loved Lullaby. Choke was good as well, and whereas I didn't care for the story of Invisible Monsters, at least it had a great Palahniuk twist at the end. But the last Palahniuk book that I read--Survivor--and this one, Diary, just haven't lived up to the hype. This one especially had a very slow beginning. At one point, about halfway through, I started getting into it--couldn't put it down--but then came the very anti-climactic ending. Needless to say...I'm struggling to give this an even 3 out of 5 stars. I'll give Palahniuk one more chance, but if things continue down this path I'll have to count him as another author who should have quit while he was ahead.

I'm getting more and more disenchanted with Palahniuk's books. I loved Lullaby. Choke was good as well, and whereas I didn't care for the story of Invisible Monsters, at least it had a great Palahniuk twist at the end. But the last Palahniuk book that I read--Survivor--and this one, Diary, just haven't lived up to the hype. This one especially had a very slow beginning. At one point, about halfway through, I started getting into it--couldn't put it down--but then came the very anti-climactic ending. Needless to say...I'm struggling to give this an even 3 out of 5 stars. I'll give Palahniuk one more chance, but if things continue down this path I'll have to count him as another author who should have quit while he was ahead.

The tile of my book is Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a non-fiction book and
It is set on a vocational island in the form of a "coma diary" type story her husband is in the coma and it is written as if she is writing to him.
Misty Marie Kleinman an Ex-art student whose husband, Peter lies comatose due to an attempted suicide. After her and Peter where married they settled on the quaint Waytansea Island where Misty became a hotel waitress. When Misty soon contracts strange physical aliments, which she finds that are only cured while she is painting or drawing, convinced by her mother in law, her daughter and her doctor she continues to paint. When it is discovered that peter has scrolled vile messages in the homes he remodeled angry homeowners start suing left and right and Misty's dreams of becoming an artist are slipping out of though but when she begins to paint as if possessed by a famous 19th century painter Marie Kinkaid who lived on Waytansea island her doctor and mother in law have a plan for Misty and all those tourists as well...

One of the hallmarks of Chuck Pahlaniuk's writing style is to establish a few gimmicky writing contraptions in the first chapter and then build a plot around these repeating structures.

In Pahlaniuk's best works, like Fight Club and Lullaby, these repeating motifs add to the storyline and repetition drives home subtle points about each. But in Diary, I found these structures -- repeated faco-muscular descriptions, the constant second person reference to Peter Wilmot as You, and the emotional weather descriptions -- to be more of a distraction rather than an aide to the plot.

And the plot is rather thin. The ending left me cold. I felt like I wasted my time. This book is all mood and smoke, dreamy, disconnected ideas and gimmicks, and not much else.

This is my second Chuck Palahniuk book - and it certainly won't be my last. I first read "Survivor" and couldn't stop at just one! Chuck Palahniuk is by far one of the most original and engaging writers I have come across. He'll leave you guessing and wondering until the end; he ensures a good page turner. In addition, he seems extremely intelligent. You can tell he knows what he's talking about in his books. His details are clear and his writing style is unique, but very good. Days after I'm still reciting lines from "Diary" in my head... it gets stuck!

Do yourself a favor and read some Chuck.

Okay, here is another Chuck-full-of-disappointment. I loved Palahniuk's debut novel Fight Club intensely. Everything that followed has fit almost exactly into the same formula: protagonist deals with some bizarre elements with seeming indifference and ends with a twist that, if you've become familiar enough with his work, you can sense midway through the novel. All his works grapple with identity or not attaining some level of successes and how the corporate world vilifies humanity into logo-bearing, trash-spewing androids that taint everything with their inbred desire for things that are pretty and shiny. Chuck's equations seem to be: start off with some disturbed person, top it with a side-kick that doubles as a source of enlightenment, throw in some shady characters who aren't what they seem, wrap it all in some agenda that hints at anti-commercialism, and end it with the character figuring it all out and somehow the police show up, who, regrettably, are complete morons. Oh, and lots of drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

In Diary, the main character, Misty, has been drugged by her mother-in-Law, held hostage and forced to paint a great masterpiece that will bring back great fortune to Waytansea Island. The Island has had a cycle of opulence to direness and the people of the island, stuck in the stage of direness, are looking to ward of tourists from taking over their rustic island, looking to rid of the corporate logs and billboards that clutter their horizon with cheap promotions. Misty, while sedated, hallucinatory, locked inside rooms, blindfolded and given nothing to feed from for days except inspiration, never seems to seriously question what's happening to her despite several obvious clues, including those from her "friend" Angel Delaporte, telling her exactly to her face.

While I respect Palahniuk immensely, this book disappointed me the most. The characters, despite their turmoil, are relatively flat, especially Misty, the main character. How ironic that a book entitled "Diary" is more about her husband and the Islanders of Waytansea than the character herself.

Very possibly the darkest of all of Chuck's novels, and also perhaps the most compulsively readable and stylistically brilliant of his works. (note: I have not read "Fugitives and Refugees")
I read through this book in two sittings. It's that good. The pace moves very quick in Palahniuk's "verbs on top of verbs" style. And he doesn't waste a single word. The dark humor and philosophic message about the need for pain and suffering in art make the book worth reading in it of itself, and even if they weren't there the incredibly original plot line and story would make this worth the read.
It's also sprinkled with fascinating and bizzare factoids in true Palahniuk style. Such things as the diseases of famous composers, what lead poisoning does to your mind, how Rembrant cheated with many of his paintings, and so on. So for you pragmatists who want more then just an incredible novel, you'll also learn some stuff along the way.
I'd rate this the best of his fiction with Fight Club in second, Choke in third, Survivor fourth, Lullaby fifth, and Invisible Monsters in a disappointing last place, and the only one that I wouldn't recomend for others to read.
Honestly, this was the best book I've read all year. (and I usually read about a book a week)
Bravo Chuck!

Chuck Palahniuk has a knack for exploring the dark, dirty secrets of supposedly regular folks. This book is not as scary as its cover blurb would have you believe, but it definitely carries a pretty disturbing undercurrent of social paranoia and creeping madness. Washed-up housewife Misty Marie, once a promising artist, is doomed to live out the tortured destiny that has been decided for her by others. Her artistic talent is a tool in a strange supernatural game played out by the so-called upscale residents of a closeted community called Waytansea Island, who every hundred years or so conspire to rid their town of tourists and restore their old money status, through an evil game of mass murder and recrimination. The book is constructed as a diary supposedly written by Misty Marie, but maybe it is really the diary of her predecessor victim from a hundred years ago, while Misty tries to escape this prescribed destiny. This is a mostly fascinating and disturbing story, but Palahniuk's utilization of creeping dread and paranoia in the narrative gets coarse and monotonous as the book goes along, while he leaves the supernatural roots of the Waytansea conspiracy vague and pretty unsatisfying for the reader. Meanwhile, his motif of inbred human evil, lurking beneath a lovely small town, was done to death by Stephen King a couple of decades ago. This is still a good read, but it's not quite a landmark for horror or for Palahniuk. [~doomsdayer520~]

Today, my favourite book is Diary, by Chuck Palahniuk. I started reading it as a 19-year old boy, sitting in a hotel lobby after my first literary festival. Chapter 1 gave me goosebumps. Chapter 2 brought me to the verge of tears. I have no memory of the limousine, aeroplane and taxi that took me home; I didn't look up from the book until I'd finished it five hours later.

The power to elicit a physical reaction in the reader, be it goosebumps, tears or laughter, is the mark of a great novel. So is a story that hasn't been done before; and Diary`s plot - a failed painter writes a diary for her comatose husband, who scrawled cryptic warnings across walled-off rooms before his suicide attempt - is like nothing I've read before or since. Like many of Palahniuk's books, it begins with a nihilistic protagonist in a painfully realistic world, but then leads you down the rabbit hole so seamlessly that you may not notice you've stumbled into a dream - or a nightmare.

"The philistine provides the best definition of art," Louis Dudek once said. "Anything that makes him rage is first class." After devouring Diary twice, I discovered that many other people loathed it. "Reading this is like being cornered by a dim-witted and semi-belligerent drunk possessed by an idée fixe he keeps reciting over and over again, jabbing your shoulder each time," writes Laura Miller of Salon. But this hostility only made me love the book more; I can't shake the feeling that if everyone else hates it, then it must have been written specifically for me. (Or perhaps I'm just contrary.)

Of all the reasons that I love Diary, this is the most potent: it's a book I couldn't write. I've produced action-packed sci-fi, philosophical crime and frightening YA, but I've never produced anything even remotely like this. I can't wrap a ghost story in a conspiracy thriller in a tragidrama in a diary. But that never felt like a shortcoming until I read this book.

Actually, it's not exactly a ghost story, and I'm not even sure if "tragidrama" is a word. I don't even have the vocabulary to describe Diary, let alone write it.

If you're looking for something new from Chuck Palahniuk, you probably won't find it here. This book offers the same grim, postmodern perspective all of his earlier books tout. But if you're a fan of the grizzled, weary prose, this book is one of his finest.
It's careful, it's relevant, it's self-reflexive in a way that only Chuck and a few of the masters have been able to accomplish. Like all of his books, it begins a little hazy but about two-thirds of the way through, the fog begins to clear, painting a portrait of the frightening landscape within the author's mind. It's woven with periodic bits of dreary wisdom, but more than anything, is, (as he describes as one of the major motifs of this book) a stunning self-portrait.

Maybe I shouldnt be writing this review because I havent finished the book but thats also why Im deciding to write a review.

I love Chuck Palahniuk novels, I usually finish them in a matter of days. I was extremely excited when I heard he had a new book out and bought it as soon as it was released. However the story was uninteresting and it was hard to read and become involved. I tossed the book in the trunk of my car and 9 months later found it and said "oh, there it is". I havent started to read it yet and that was almost a month ago.

I have read all his other books and I have to say I think they are getting worse with each one. "Lullabye" had been my least favorite until "Diary". I am more interested in reading a science book than I am in rereading the 100 or so pages Ive already put into this.

Very dissapointing.

Based on my enjoyment level of the movie "Fight Club", I have now...endured isn't the right word, suffered definitely isn't the right word, but 'been thoroughly enraptured' does not apply either...read two other books by Palahniuk that fell a bit short of my expectations ("Lullaby" being the other one). "Diary" is kind of an interesting concept, but it's borderline cheesy, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if Paris Hilton played a supporting role in the film version.

So, getting to the actual story. What we have here is basically a haunted island. This Misty Marie chick is the "chosen one" to save the inhabitants, who are basically a country club version of a voodoo cannibalistic/animalist primitive society. Chuck does a good job of revealing the plot slowly and thereby building some suspense. And it's got just a pinch of believability, so that's kind of fun. BUT, he totally kills off the good vibe with his repetetive story-telling style that is intended to be fresh/different, but really just makes you wish you could punch him.

So, it's saying alot that I liked the book enough to give it three stars despite the fact that I imagined punching the author approximately 247 times throughout the course of this book. "The weather today is..." annoying (despite the promise of sunshine later).

WOW, okay, Mr.Palahniuk has done it again. This book charmed with the way it was presented...a diary, that's been done before but not executed this well. I fell in love with the lead character, the way the narrator spoke, and Misty's constant struggle. I have several "Oh My God" moments reading this book...that's never happened to me before, not even reading Chuck's previous work. So far this is my FAVORITE UpChuck book. Any die-hard Palahniuk fan MUST READ THIS, anyone wanting to give Chuckie a whirl take this book for a spin, someone looking for a dark,fun,humorous,twisted,exciting, quick read..GO AHEAD. UpChuck has delivered the goods with this book. As always this book was filled with Classic Palahniuk twists and turns...which I have grown to love. Another thing this wonderful book had was fabulous oh so Chuck one-liners. Thank you Mr.P for such a fantastic read, I salute you!

No doubt, much like many people here, I loved Fight Club (the movie) and at some point noticed it was also book (a short one at that). I checked Fight Club out of the library and, for no particular reason, Diary as well. I swear I did not read a darn thing about the book before I started reading, I didn't check out the store and I didn't read the inside covers, I just read. I was enthralled and drawn in to a very interesting style of writing and it wasn't till about page 40 or so that I actually figured out what the heck the book was about. This is a good thing. Too often with books and movies there are too many expectations and prior knowledge that doesn't allow the writer (or director) to take you on the journey the way he intended.
Anyway, it was a very good book but not great. If you're already reading a review i'll tell you, the ending was a little disappointing, so allow for it, it is the reason i'm giving 4 instead of 5 stars. I don't know this man's writing so I don't have overly-heightened expecations, but it's a quick, interesting read.
As a side note that has nothing to do with this book: I read and obviously write some of these reviews on the store, but I encourage everyone to just pick up a book they know nothing about and just dive in, more often than not you'll be excited and interested by what you did not expect. the store is not an alternative to your local library, it is extension to furthering your joy of reading.

This book was very different from the novels I am used to reading. The writing and imagery was more involved than I am accustomed to. These differences only made the book more enjoyable. I was very interested in the journey the main character was on and also confused as to what was really taking place in the novel.

As previously stated in other posts, the ending was disappointing, but not to the point where I wouldn't recommend the book.

This book was very interesting and if you begin it, I'm sure you will read it through until the end.

Love Chuck Palahniuk. Love most of his books, at least everything before Snuff besides this abomination. Here's what I think happened. He became semi-famous, wealthy and already had a "captive audience" from his previous works. People loved Fight Club, Survivor, Choke, and Invisible Monsters. He could write pretty much anything after writing those 4 books and they would sell big no matter what. He's written some good books since then (Lullaby, Rant, and Haunted), but many of his books after he wrote the very interesting Rant Casey have been atrocious. This book was written before Rant, and it is just not interesting or captivating whatsoever. I hate to say it, but Diary was his worst until he wrote Pygmy. Then he wrote Tell-All, which I didn't even read, because I read too many negative reviews on the store. Then he wrote Damned, which I tried to get through, but it was just so terrible, I had to stop 20% of the way through.

Diary was and will always be one of his worst books, because it just was not in any way a good read. It's just too bad that he got kind of lazy, or maybe he is out of ideas. At least out of good ideas. If he truly does not have any more great book ideas, he should stop writing books, or at least stop publishing them.

I agree with many reviewers, this is his (your) best work to date. It isn't as scary as Lullaby; or as action packed as Choke, Fight Club, or Survivor, yet his (your) brush strokes of the human language is unparalled. Sad yet prolific, this book is just fun to read. Strange as it may sound, Diary reminded me of something by Ayn Rand. There is no doubt, Palahniuk (you) is from another world. I'll always be anxiously awaiting his (your) next publication. If you want to read a book which will leave you wondering what you just read, read any of Chucks books. They're addicting, so be very careful.

Before "Diary," I wanted Palahniuk to branch out more, because his novels were starting to seem awfully similar. I love his work, but I felt that he was losing his impact by sticking so closely to the style, themes, and characterisations.
Well, he's done it in "Diary" -- to an extent, anyway -- but I'm still not happy. It's an interesting read, but no match for Palahniuk's other works.
Our protagonist is an older woman (something new for a Palahniuk novel), and there's not a whiff of sexual tension to be found. While it does feature Palahniuk's trademark nihilism and dark fantasy -- and, as usual, features a hapless hero trapped in a surreal world with a menagerie of grotesque characters -- it's much less violent and considerably more introspective than his other novels.
It's also more passive, and, for me at least, less interesting. Misty, the protagonist, spends a lot of time complaining and feeling depressed, but not much time actually doing anything useful. There's not much plot impetus from the other characters, either: the townsfolk drop a lot of ominous hints, but are content to wait for "the inevitable" to happen. This makes for a slow plot, which, while it unravels an interesting mystery, doesn't contain many shocks, twists or revelations.
Palaniuk is a brilliant writer and I will continue to buy everything he puts out, but "Diary" doesn't show him at his best.

Why all the bad reviews? I enjoyed Diary SOOO much more than Survivor. The book was entertaining, spooky, and very gripping. Unlike other reviewers, I never felt the pace drop, and I could have easily read it in one sitting. The only thing that Palahniuk fans, especially people who liked the quotes from Fight Club ("you are not a unique snowflake..."), is that there isn't much dark humor. Instead, there are insights on the creation of art, and self-expression. READ THIS BOOK!

Palahniuk is a great writer of fiction. If you liked any of his books you will probably like this one. Although survivor is my favorite, they are all about equally satisfying. I get one of his books when I just want a read that I don't have to think too much about and will keep me intersted. Chuck is a bit of a one trick pony- but in a good way. There is always a surprise charector or something similar. You could be a one trick pony if your trick was always writing a good book- so I don't mean that to be a jab. I just mean that once you are turned on to this writer, you are usually not let down.

A man called from Long Beach, he says his bathroom is missing. A woman from Seaview's linen closet is missing. A man called from Ocean Park to complain that his kitchen is gone. Chuck Palahniuk's novel 'Diary' is a tale of horror told through diary entries Misty Wilmot writes to her husband, Peter, so she can fill him in on what has happened in their lives if he ever wakes up from the failed suicide attempt that left him in a coma.

Misty and Peter Wilmot met at art school. Peter spent five years flunking out of every art school in eleven states. His portfolio was empty. He just flirted with young women full time. The other girls told Misty to stay away from the strange boy. Peter proposed marriage to her the first time he met her, standing next to one of her paintings. The houses and coastline scenery in Misty's painting exactly matched those of Waytansea Island where Peter grew up. Just like all the paintings she'd made since she was a child. But Misty had never been to the island. Or had she? Misty grew up poor. She never lived in a house that didn't have wheels attached to it. And when she became pregnant, they moved back to the island. Enamored by the beauty and serenity, she swore to never return to the trailer park. She put her plans of becoming a painter on hold.

The Wilmots had spent three generations spending their fortune. It was Peter's mission to restore the family's wealth. All of the fulltime Island residents, whose families had been on the island for generations, came together. They all need their wealth restored. They would need Misty's help. She would need to fulfill her destiny. Her mother-in-law relentlessly pressured her to paint again.

Misty worked as a waitress in the dining room of the touristy hotel on Waytansea Island. Peter was a handyman doing repairs and remodeling in the vacation homes of the tourists who only spent a few weeks out of the year living there. He had a peculiar habit of sealing off rooms or closets after writing messages, warning messages to outsiders, inside the rooms. People who only spend two weeks a year in their nine-bedroom house might take a few seasons to notice they're missing part of it.

Palahniuk lures the reader in with what begins seeming like sheer lunacy. The story, revealed through Misty's memories as she writes in her diary quickly turns intriguing. The suspense and mystery steadily build. Just when the reader is ready for an explosive climax, the story merely implodes and drifts off course. The antagonist of the story turns from being the mother-in-law, the comatose husband and the Island doctor's evil scheme to take advantage of Misty's talent to restore the wealth of the island, to being supernatural forces. Ghosts and reincarnation. The ending seems like a cop out. Ghosts aren't scary. The monstrosities men commit against one another are far scarier than ghosts. I would have much preferred to see Palahniuk try to scare me with a tale I could walk away from believing the same fate as that which Misty suffered through could await me. I am a huge fan of Palahniuk, but I am not afraid of ghosts.

From the beginning, You really the pain and bitter disappointment of Misty. As her Diary progresses, the fear, confusion and sense of loss tear a hole in your heart.

The characters are at once hilarious and terrifying. And the protagonist, Misty, is someone you can't help but empathize with.

When I read Fight Club, I thought Chuck Palahniuk might be the most brilliant writer of my generation. With Diary, all doubt is erased. This man knows how to tell a tale!

I buy Chuck Palahniuk books (all of them) because he won me over with "Fight Club," and even the books of his I like the least had some entertaining points. Palahniuk's imagination seems to have no limits, and digging into the old money world of pretentious affluence and their suffering lives was certainly something new to read.

Nicholas R.W. Henning - Australian Author

Nothing like his other works. I loved "Choke"...I loved "Survivor." Nine out of ten subjects blind folded and read "Diary" at bed time agree that it was written by Elizabeth Berg or Anne Tyler on crack. Two stars for the Foley bag. Although this is my least favorite to date, the man can write. I will be tackling the library clerk as she shelves his next book. My goal is to turn on more 42 year old mothers like myself on to this talent.

Diary shows Chucks minimalist social commentary at its best. Diary takes the place of a "Coma Diary" by Misty Tracy Wilmot, Her husband is found in her garage inside the car after an failed attempt at suicide. Misty used to be a painter, all her life shes been told how amazing she was at painting but she has, unfortunately, lost her inspiration. After her husband dies, she starts getting calls from people whose houses Peter Wilmot had built, they call to say that they are missing a specific room of their house. The Small fish shaped island in which all of this takes place is now infested with tourists and the natives will do anything to get them away. How does all of this tie in? In the darkest way Chuck Palahniuk can imagine with his own twist of humor this book wraps up very nicely with an amazing anti-climactic climax.
"Just for the record, Diary is as hypnotic as a poised cobra. Chuck Palahniuk demonstrates that the most chilling special effects come not from Industrial Light and Magic but from the words of a gifted writer."
- Ira Levin, author of Rosemary's Baby

My oppinion is completely different from some. I am a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk, and I thought this novel was fantastic. I loved it, from start to finish. Chuck has the incredible ability to create such mysterious worlds. He will throw in so many strange things, maybe you have no clue what's going on, but in the end, it all falls together. Of course, you must suspend some disbelief. It is fiction, no doubt about it. Anyone who reads a fiction novel, much less this one, and finds himself thinking "that could never happen" has to look at it objectively. Of course that could never happen!! I was not dissappointed at all because I have imagination. Maybe those who think this is a poor novel also think Choke, Fight Club, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, and especially Lullaby are bad because "that could never happen." Come on people! I loved this novel! All of Chuck Palahniuk's works are fabulous! Please read this! You should be glad you did. Unless you have a weak stomach, as with all of Chuck Palahniuk's work, it may be difficult to handle at times.

This book definitely has some good points, interesting facts, and funny ideas. But it's seriously flawed, not only in terms of plot and characterization, but also just in basic writing style.

WHAT made Palahniuk decide that it would be clever to CONTINUALLY repeat the stupid, cliched 'weather report' technique--"The weather today is uncontrolled rage..." etc.?! He beats that to death early on, and then keeps using it! The same thing goes for his descriptions of characters' facial expressions in terms of the technical anatomical names of the muscles involved! It was clever a few times, since the main character went to art school and had to learn the names of those muscles, but he BEATS IT TO DEATH! Same thing for the lame, muddy, pointless, pseudo-diary aspect of the novel. It feels like it's written by a 3rd-person narrator, until the needless, clunky trick of "Peter's hair. Your hair." which at least one other reviewer has pointed out! How could a professional writer not realize that these techniques become cheesy, irritating, plastic filler that seriously saps the reader's will to care about the characters or the plot?

If the author had cut out the needless, soul-less, boring repetition of these juvenile writing techniques, the book would get to the point more quickly, be more entertaining, etc. I liked Fight Club (not as much as the movie, however!) and thought Lullaby was okay to so-so. Now that I've read Diary I don't feel like rushing out and reading another Palahniuk book. I probably expected too much from him since he was the author of Fight Club, but still...

The plot itself is kind of interesting, but once again, it seriously DRAGS! Okay, okay--the people on the island have something up their sleeves! The grandma is witchy! WE GET IT! Move the plot along now that we know something dark is going on. And that very darkness lurking beneath matters is never even really explained or justified! It's not even really scary! It's like looking at something through frosted glass---vague, unclear, dull, boring. The occult/witchy aspects of the story were too reminiscent of the author's book _Lullaby_ and felt like a re-hash at times. By the novel's close, it still seemed to me a bit unclear as to why some of the supernatural elements needed to be there at all. Reincarnation?! Uh, okay....how exactly does that fit in with the main themes of the book?!

Maybe Palahniuk was in a rush to finish this book. A little more thought and effort would have easily improved it and made it a much less frustrating experience. Get it from the library, but don't waste your money.

It was free with my purchase of Slaughterhouse-Five (I have a tendency to buy an author's most famous work last.) and Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, so it's not like there was any money lost in the process.

By the time you get to around the 84th page, where I currently am stuck, you realize you've been dooped, that is IF you paid for this. You're going to basically read about the same events, and the same thoughts, over and over again with barely noticeable changes.

Some of the things written inside the closed off areas are funny, but not, in the least beat, close to being a redeemer for this failure of satire.

If you were incredibly impressed by Fight Club, Choke or Survivor, I would not reccomend reading Diary unless you want to end up disappointed.

Diary has some interesting Palahniukesque lines that remind you of Chuck's earlier works. But about half way through Diary he loses the grip that his books tend to have on his readers. The main character, whom I have even forgotten the name of, is not near as interesting as Tyler Durden, Tender Branson or Victor Mancini. And it even happens to be a woman. The book takes many girly twists through art school, wedding dresses, and maternal betrayal.

But the most disappointing part about Diary is the plot Twist. Do not expect to be amazed. When you begin a Palahniuk novel you know that you will never be able to guess where the character will be maybe even who the character will be. The twist in Diary however, is not either expected or unexpected. It seemed as if I was almost able to figure out the ending. Not a good feeling in a Palahniuk novel.

Once more, if you were enthralled by Choke, Fight Club, or Survivor, Diary will leave you wanting your high octane chase through anarch-insanity that one would normally experience in his other novels.

Read Choke.

I just finished reading this book about ten minutes ago and I really did love it, but I don't know how to rate it really.
I've only read bits of Chuck's earlier works - the beginning of Lullaby, which I intend to read more of starting tomorrow, and most of Invisible Monsters. I loved Invisible Monsters' edge, Chuck's ruthless plot twists and what not. But, while it fit the story, I wasn't a huge fan of all his sexual this and that, which was basically the main topic in Invisible Monsters. For me, reading Diary was a nice refreshing escape from that style that I both loved and didn't love. Only, I can't quite decide what I think of Diary as it's own individual novel.
Some of his repetitious statements showed up way too much, though I enjoyed the 'weather' forecasts. The plot is still kind of blurred for me, too, but what seemed VERY odd to me was just how sad it all is. I wasn't as excited to turn the page as I was depressed. I wanted to see it through, but I was so sad for Misty through the second half or so. But, I guess that shows a connection that Palahniuk was able to make. And, despite the strange surreal sadness it's brought about me, I think that Diary is one very fabulous book that should at least get a look from any Palahniuk fan.
Congratulations, Chuck. You're the coolest.

It's disheartening to say it but Diary is disappointing. It starts in a very intriguing way, like all Chuck Palahniuk novels, and soon becomes your average thriller novel involving philosophical issues. Name dropping here shows that the author made his research, but it often feels misplaced and repetitive.
In the end, i got the weird impression of having read a cross between Dolores Claiborne and Salem's lot meets Fight Club.
I fear, because i admire his talent, that M.Palahniuk may not be ill from the stendhal syndrome but from best seller syndrome : being now (justly) successful he needs to deliver a manuscript each year.
Diary is fun to read but leaves no trace maybe because it was wirtten with too much haste.

... because we all know if our expectations weren't so high from Palahnuik's previous works, there would be glowing reviews, from me anyway. As has been said in other reviews, Diary was not Palahnuik's best work, but still amazing. I might be biased because I myself am an artist, but it seems like it would be entertaining even if you weren't. I also didn't find it as confusing as other people because I knew about the perspective it was from when I started it. (someone else told me, it's Misty writing a comba diary for Peter, and when she says "you" she is refferring to Peter") While it wasn't nearly as captivating from the start as Survivor or Invisible Monsters I am glad he published it. Some of his books were becoming redundant, and this was a nice change of style.

This book is great! The storyline doesn't justify the genious within the works. This is the second book of Chuck's I have read (The first being Fight Club) and it is a masterpiece. I was a little disappointed with the end, as I was with the end of Fight Club, but I couldn't come up with a better solution. I loved the ghetto lifestyle of Misty and her family, because it's much more real than what most other books try to display as the "typical family". I also was fascinated by the character of Peter and his dirty little secret. I have to say, this is the only book where I actually despised the daughter, Tabby! Urgh! Seriously though, at least check this book out of the library and give it a try, I think it will be worth your time!