The bulk of the Snuff takes place in a waiting room, but like its occupants, readers are somewhat diverted by the oh-so-witty titles playing in the background: The Gropes of Wrath, Sperms of Endearment, Snow Falling on Peters.
When a character attempts to commit suicide by impalement on a comatose man’s electrically charged phallus, it’s instinctive to respond with disdain for all that is wrong with America. But there’s also humor in the absurdities of cultural apocalypse.
Palahniuk is over-the-top and full of bull, sloppily satirical and thoughtlessly vulgar — but entertaining. Of course readers are bound to be disappointed if they are looking for something along the lines of Woolf or Melville (yes, there is a feeble pun about the white whale), but even without reading the book flaps, what’s to be expected from a novel by Chuck Palahniuk titled Snuff?
Snuff is a little more sophisticated than elevated literary porn. With that in mind, it’s a spectacle that’s interesting, erotic and, at times, enlightening. Some might even call it funny.
RSS