My view of this book is probably most influenced by the facts that 1) I took it out of the library- did not pay any $ for it and 2) it took about 2 hours to read


To me this book is worth reading, though it is my least favorite Palahniuk I have read. summation: Not worth buying but worth reading.

Read Invisible Monsters, Choke and Diary before picking this one up.

Hello, I have always been a Chuck Palahniuk lover and I'm probably one of the great few who read "Fight Club" before I saw the movie. If your a prude don't read this book. I'm not even done with it yet; I got it in the mail yesterday and I'm already half through. I love all his books and this is just one more. If you ever get the chance to meet him do it and DEFINITLEY stay for his reading-you never know what will come out of his mouth next.

Palahniuk is such an excellent writer, and there's so much to his work that's genius, but why is he trapped in doing the exact same thing everytime? And I'm the sucker who keeps buying the books, expecting that he'll finally break out of his self-created box.

But I keep being wrong. And so I get stuck reading "Diary," and then "Haunted," "Rant," and now "Snuff." To its credit, "Haunted was slightly better than the other three, and "Lullaby" was OK as well. But "Snuff," in my opinion, is his worst one. It's predictable, it's redundant, it's just trying to shock for the sake of shock.

What happened to his story-telling? What happened to the magic of books like "Fight Club" and "Invisible Monsters" and "Choke"? I don't care about any of the characters, or about anything that happens in the book. I read ahead to pick up the next obscene morsel of a mind feigning how demented it is because being demented sells books. For some reason people are drawn to things that shock, that no one else wants to talk about or mention or describe. But at some point, it all just becomes the mundane.

Ironically, Palahniuk is crossing the line into the mundane with every attempt to be sacreligious. That is, unless he hasn't already been there for the last few years.

I love Palahniuk books. But I can say, Haunted had some good short stories to it, as did Stranger than fiction. Both had perfect stories in them, complete, start to finish, work that would bring a smile to Amy Hampel's face. But this book, (Rant, not a big fan) was fantastic. Personally I don't like this multiview point stuff that books and movies are taking, but this book is nothing short of fantastic. The people are so clearly done, the story is hilarious. It's nothing life changing, but I don't think it's suppose to be. It's a great book to have, and you'll find yourself reading parts of it to friends who don't care to hear it.

... it might not be in the top 10 of his works. Better than "Haunted" but not near as good as "Rant." I have read every Chuck novel and will read everyone he puts out. Fight Club, Choke, and Survivor and my favorites. If you haven't read those novels yet, then read them first. If you still need more Chuck after those, then give this one a try.

If like myself YOU raced through 'Rant', hated 'Haunted' didn't like 'Diary' and were lulled to sleep by 'Lullaby' then you'll be glad to know that Chuck Palahniuk's best work didn't stop after 'Choke' in 2001. Here in his 9th novelistic effort he turns the porn industry on it's head and satirically skewers it in the way that only he can. With a story about a 600-man strong gangbang of a washed up porn star you'd probably be thinking "low grade porn", but you'd be wrong. What you get here is anything but titillating. In fact like most of his work you see only the seamiest, nastiest and most extreme sides of a very dirty industry. This is a quick and breezy read that has a lot in common with a bad accident at the side of the road. You know you shouldn't and don't really want to look, but you just can't help yourself.... As always with Palahniuk though the laughs come at you out of nowhere like a left hook.

Sparing you the summary the product description and myriad reviews offer, Snuff comes across as a desperate attempt to sell mind-numbing filth to a target audience of teenagers whose parents are fooled by the idea that Palahniuk's written literature is at all comparable to the censored version of Fight Club that airs on USA.

When I read Snuff, I imagined I was sixteen and discovering my own perversion of existentialism for the first time. This book is a gift you give to your child when he graduates from watching professional wrestling into the pseudo-intellectualism which punctuates the society of young people who won't read geeky fantasy novels.

This book will appeal to you if you don't read enough to know a cliché when you see one.

I had told myself I wouldn't read another Chuck Palahniuk book after I half-finished Invisible Monsters, which I thought was annoying, not because of the writing style, but because of the transitions from scenes. However, I couldn't resist the plot idea of his latest, Snuff: a novel surrounding the life of Cassie Wright, a porn star, as she tries to beat the world record for the biggest gang bang caught on tape. Through the 197 pages, we come across other characters as well, including Mr. 72, Mr. 137, Mr. 600, and a stage assistant known as Sheila, and it is through these characters that we learn about not only Cassie Wright, a wonderfully depicted and drawn character, but also the other narrating protagonists as well as they speak and observe not only their histories and shortcomings, but their surroundings as well. And it is through this method that Mr. Palahniuk thoroughly succeeds in making sympathetic, three dimensional characters who are not archetypes and stereotypes, but human. Plot-wise, Palahniuk engages the reader with cliff hanger ending chapters, as they stumble through his minimalist prose. I say stumble because it is something you'd have to work through; a stylistic feature before its time the likes of Hemingway or Burroughs; an acquired taste, yet something whole-heartedly revolutionary. However, the story falls short as it climaxes to what turns out to be a twist turned awry that can leave any reader asking the author: "You led me all this way for this?" The characters we meet, though, is worth the price of admission and perhaps giving this author a second chance as his fans wait for his next venture and formerly disgusted readers take another look at his previous works.

The idea sounded intriguing and daring... but it falls flat. I read 3 chapters and got the gist. Returned it promptly. How I miss the days of "Fight Club" and "Invisible Monsters."

I read the plot and thought, wow, I should just not read it. It was a horrible idea for a book. But the more I got into it, the more Chuck amazed me, like he has in all his other books. What I liked was not the story, but the way he delivered it. He gives you facts that you would never have known without him. His wording is incredible and he shocked me more than once with his immagry.

Perhaps because I am such a huge fan of Palahniuk, I was more disappointed with this book than I would have been from any other author. I grew enthusiastically used to the sharp cultural satire present in the rest of his works that I expected the same in this one. While it is a nice jab at the porn industry, it has the same shortcomings - substance. The plot and characters have interesting, potentially humorous twists, but never quite fully pan out. While reading it, I was fully entertained, but after finishing I realized that it was entirely forgettable - definitely not up to Chuck's earlier performances. I distinctly remember reactions and emotions I felt from his books from 3 years ago, but not from "Snuff" 2 weeks ago.

It's a great concept and parts of it are really well done, but at the end, it sort of is like saying to yourself "wow, it could have been better if....."

Had scanned amazon before buying this book, and saw the 3 star average and stupidly thought, yeah Chuck's work is not loved by everyone but I have loved a lot of his books, will give this one a go.

In high school had to study Charles Dickens "Great Expectations", at the time thought it was a long and labourious read. Amazingly at only 197 pages Snuff felt the same.

It really did not have enough substance to maintain 197 pages, a tight well written short story at 50 pages at most would have been fine to tell this story.

The movie titles at first made me laugh as they brought my mind back to when I was 16, but after a while I found them not so interesting.

The huge amounts of facts and tidbits about actors was interesting, but essentially padding to fill the story out so idoits like me would pay full price for this story that as mentioned above belonged in a short story collection.

If you are a Chuck fan, hopefully you are smarter than me, save yourself some money and do not read this, in this case its best to disillusion yourself and pretend that Chuck has written a book since Diary.

I love some Chuck... but this was a total let down. I feel like I just spent a couple hours waiting for my eyeballs to scan the words that spelled out the "twists" I had already figured out a hundred pages or so back. The writing just seemed a little lazy, and the characters super flat. Chuck's writing typically makes me want to just wallow in the disgustingness of the characters and revel in the absurde reality of every situation.... I couldn't imagine how this plotline couldn't deliver, but it definitely fell short.

I'll still keep reading his stuff though - especially if the same person keeps writing the pickup on the inside flap... it was fantastic!

but i got it fast, and knowing chuck palahniuk i'm sure it's a very interesting story with a crazy twist at the end.

First off, I have to say I love Chuck. He is cool, he is irreverant, he is way outside the box, and I love all that. I have seen him do a book reading, which was awesome and totally in your face. Fight Club, Rant, Survivor, Choke, all great books. But Snuff? No way. Facile, stupid idea, superficial, lazy writing. Chuck does not have his edge here, and the characters are loathesome and mere cut-out figures without backbone, without shape. And there is no plot, and basically no theme, except maybe that the porn industry is completely disgusting. No way Chuck. This book misses the mark by a long shot. Can't wait for you to get back on track with a real book, not this little sketch. That said, the book is still not forgettable, because it is so weird and unique. Who else can write about the sleaze of porn with such terse style?

I've never read any of Chuck's books before, but a friend of mine is always talking about his novels, so I took her advice and bought Snuff. I thought the idea of an ageing porn star going out with a bang, or six hundred of them, quite intriguing. A bit of a surprise book in many ways and I was particularly impressed with how Chuck really gets inside his characters and we really see their hidden depths. Having read it and thinking back on it, I really like it. Its a bit of a change for me, because I'm really into the erotic short story genre, such as Best Women's Erotica 2008 and the unbelievably sexy 100 Percent Erotica. Still, its given me food for thought and I shall seek out more of Chuck's books.

This is everything you've come to expect from Palahniuk. Being one of my favorite writers, I wanted to love this. Great idea for his sort of twisted humor. But frankly, it wasn't nearly as well executed as his other novels. It was short, seemed rushed at the end, and wasn't nearly as shocking as one would expect. That said, still solid and funny and worth the purchase for a fan. Pick it up.

Yes, I know Chuck Palahniuk is not to be taken seriously. Yes, I know all his books have plots that do not dive too far into the deep end. Yes, I know his books all have those small little twists that are supposed to bring a smile to our faces. Even knowing all that, SNUFF is one of the worst books I have ever read. And read it I did, until the predictable, unfunny and bitter end.

The story of the world's most famous pornstar giving everything for her last movie, SNUFF actually shifts focus between four different characters, none of them being the famous pornstar herself. The characters are not merely shallow (this is Palahniuk, after all), they are, even worse, boring. None are developed enough to capture our attention, none are witty enough to make us chuckle. And the one with the autograph dog! Really, just how dumb can we get?

We see most of the 'twists' a mile off, and the ones we don't, well, they're really not all that anyway. Added to this is Palahniuk's use of 'factoids' that are clearly filler material for anything better. By the end of SNUFF, I felt like I was the main attraction in such a film and death was to be produced by...reading SNUFF

Do you enjoy reading "clever" porn titles based on hit movies? Do you enjoy reading facts (true or not) about famous Hollywood actors that do nothing to advance the plot whatsoever, but take up about a quarter of the writing? Do you enjoy one dimensional characters, who by the end of the novel you still don't care about? If you answered yes, this book is for you.

I was so bored by this book that it took me two months to read and it is only 197 pages long! I had to force myself to finish only because I have read everything else Chuck Palahniuk has ever written. There really is no story here. Just a bunch of, shall I say "dudes" standing around for about 200 pages. Also, (Spoiler Alert) how can a book be title Snuff and no one dies.

This is a huge disappointment.

I've never read a book by Palahniuk before, but my friend spoke highly of his writing and I caved and bought it. I was leery of reading it at first. I wasn't sure if this would be just a story, or just a story about sex. But it was neither.

There is a mystery (granted I'd figured it out in 10 pages), but as long as you want a book that takes you on a journey it won't let you down. Most of the emotional reasons behind the story are revealed in the end, and how the story played out was a surprise. I think that was the most creative ending to a book...ever. Definitely a keeper, and worthy of an actual effort from the reader.

After hating the author's last book, to the point of not being able to finish it, and after thinking that his so-called non-fiction compilation was a huge waste of time, I decided to give Palahniuk one last chance. And I can now report that I will never again read another book by this author.

It's not that Snuff is bad. No, there is and ounce of good material in there somewhere. I think this novel would have made an amazing short story or novella. But as a novel, it doesn't achieve much. It is just under 200 pages long but feels much longer than that.

A porn queen is making a movie, wanting to break the world record by sleeping with 600 different men. The novel is told from the point of view of the waiting men; you have the ex television star who's looking for a different kind of comeback, the old porn king who's doing this as a favor to the queen, and a young man who's positive that Cassie, the Porn Queen, is his mother. You also meet Sheila, the young assistant who tries to make sure that everything goes as scheduled.

And that's that. The story is repetitive (the same things being mentioned time and time again - how many times do we need to hear that this or that guy is eating chips at the food table???) and the characters are paper-thin. From the very first few pages, you know exactly where this story is going. It holds no surprises, nothing to make us want to turn the next page to see what happens. In one word, the whole thing is just blah.

No, I wasn't turned off my the context. As a matter of fact, some of it was interesting. You can see that the author did his research and found some great factoids about the industry. But fun facts aren't enough to save a story. Honestly, I was bored while reading Snuff. With a title and premise like this one, it should have been at least remotely entertaining. But in the end, all I could think was, been there, done that.

Chuck is one of my favorite writers and yet this is not one of my favorite books. This book is not as bad as Rant(utterly horrible), but it does have Chuck's signature style of writing and studious research. Written from the point of view of 3 characters waiting for their turn in a 600 man gangbang with an aging pornstar it is typical Chuck. Funny, thouroughly researched, and well crafted the story is the return of Chuck who wrote Choke and Fight Club. Unfortunately I think he had a hard time coming up with an ending to his book because their are like 3, and each one is more ridicoulous than the previous. The book could have also been longer and more fleshed out, once you really start to get involved it ends, then ends, and with one last gasp ends again. If you are a huge fan of Chuck's it is a good, fast read and I recommend the book. If you are new to Mr. Palahniuk then go for his better books: Survivor, Choke, Lullabye, Fight Club and Invisible Monsters. Avoid Rant, Diary and Haunted.

This book is largely taken, at times word for word from a Kevin Bisch story on the adult film star Houston's record breaking gang bang called 'The Gang's All Here.' Look that up as it's a much better read.

First off, let me say that this book is not bad because of its offensive content. In fact, it was less shocking in content and detail than I expected it would be. However, it was bad. Just plain bad. The characters are flat, unlikeable, and boring (not to mention that the four different narrators all sound the same). The plotline goes nowhere. The ending is infuriatingly illogical, unrealistic, and a twist ending for the sake of a twist ending. I like Palahniuk, but this one was awful.

It is 2:35 PM. Orange industrial power cord. Turn right at the next light I think. Mustard seed. They come back tomorrow. Carbon is in all life forms I am aware of. Dave Stewart was a great pitcher.

Well, Chuck P is my fave author but I found this one to be a bit of a let down. It seemed like he was gone from putting stuff out for so long I was really expecting big things. Snuff is worth reading but out of all of his books it wouldn't be in my top choices.

When I first read the book description about Cassie Wright taking 600 men in one day, certain questions came to mind. Firstly the pleasure principle, would it build and build to an explosive crescendo by the time she reached Mr. 600. Secondly, its going to be an incredibly long day and an equally long film. would sexual ecstasy come early and if so would she become bored? Perhaps she would have to resort to watching T.V. or perhaps an erotic book. One of the earlier reviewers mentioned Suzie Van Aartman's 100 Percent Erotica, now I've actually read that and it would certainly keep her sexual interest up.

It certainly is a unique book, with an interesting idea and Chuck pulls no punches, but at the same time introduces humanity and humor, I love the idea of Sheila with the stop-watch.I found it intriguing. Although not universally liked I think it has its own uniqueness and will go down as a modern day classic. I think it also has potential as a movie about a movie and it certainly deserves five stars.

I am a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk's work, let me be clear. I think you know where this is going...Snuff is not just a simple disappointment in a catalog of amazing work, but a complete disaster that spurred me to file only my second review on Amazon (which will soon be remedied as titles including Invisible Monsters and Survivor are pure magic).

I thought I might have unrealistic expectations when I flipped to the back to see this clock in at 208 pages, but the brevity of the work actually turned out to be a relief. While it angered me to pay more than $0.12 a page, I would have considered it a deal at twice the price if I could erase this mess from the innards of my cranium. Snuff's plot 'twists' are lazy and telegraphed well in advance, and each page is crammed with tired porno-puns that would have been less groan-inducing by just adding 'in bed' to a random film title.

And honestly, that's about it...not a whole lot else going on with Snuff. Shame if this is your first entry point to Palahniuk's magical back catalog, and for long-time readers it hopefully won't be your last. I will keep reading, but take a pass on Snuff.

Wow, yet another wonderful Chuck book that I couldnt put down. I am strangly addicted to his writing, and 'SNUFF' is another awesome addition to my bookshelf!! I loved it!

I have to confess to my initial trepidation when approaching this book. Despite being a fan of the author, I was convinced there would be moments which would not sit well with me. Moments I'd be embarrassed by, irked by. Reading about a 600 person gang bang wouldn't normally be the type of thing I'd go for. And yet, this is a fantastic book. In spite of my wariness, it was engaging, highly relevant and ultimately very satisfying. Every chapter, every scene and virtually every sentence was vital and propelled me towards its "climax". This momentum did make the book seem short but the quality of the experience far outweighed any criticism over quantity.

My only negative is that, due to its subject matter, recommending this to friends and family ain't going to be easy. That said, it's my favourite novel of 2008.

I am a huge Palahniuk fan, but this book completely disappointed me. I kept thinking he must have written this book years ago and his agent made him release it to get some cash flow, or to meet some contract deadline. This felt juvenile to me, as in college creative writing class juvenile. Won't stop me from picking up his next book, but I won't recommend it to anyone.

I can easily say this book was an utter disappointment/disaster. Perhaps it was high expectations or the genius viral marketing, but I was left unfullfiled. Obviously tackling the subject matter at hand is difficult to say the least but I genuinely expected more. The one thing from his other books is that no matter how dispicable the characters are they are all redeemable and likable in the end. I cannot say the same for the charaters in "Snuff". If anything, they all seemed one dimensional, and the woe is me got very annoying. This is to say nothing about the ending. Most of Chuck's books have some element of outrageousness to them but this is just ridiculous. I felt it was absolutely stupid and pointless. I got you, no you got me, but we got them, no I got you, now I am ok with everything. Just RIDICULOUS. I would pass on this and re-read "Fight Club" and/or "Choke". If you feel compelled dust off the old library card and save the $20.

This novel is Chuck at his finest: powerful, tough, a terse prose packed into a tight yet complex novel. Nihilism once again runs though every well researched plot line (I learned more about the porn industry than I have ever wanted to know). Though I believe this is Chuck's finest novel since Choke, I don't believe it is the first Chuck novel someone should start with. If you are coming new to Chuck, start with Fight Club, Choke, or Survivor then work your way up to Rant, Haunted, and Snuff.
All-in-all, this novel is a can't miss for all Chuck fans, especially those of us who appreciate his wonderful prose and nihilist message.

Excellent, well written novel by one of the greatest modern authors of today. Not for the squeamish, but if you're a fan of Chuck Palahniuk's previous novels, you should love this one.

Im what you might call a rabid Chuck Palahniuk fan: Ive read everything he has written and reccommended his work to all of my friends. So on the day that "Snuff" came out, naturally I had to buy it and read it all in one sitting.

And as a rabid fan, I found it to be just okay. The concept of the story in and of itself is great, and the little side notes and tips that the characters drop along the way are neat too. The biggest problem was that none of the characters were... gripping. In all of his other books, no matter how messed up and sick the characters were, you felt like you KNEW them, you loved them. In this one the characters just didn't seem to pop as much. They weren't hateable, but certainly not as memorable as, say, Rant.

The other problem that I had with this book was that the ending was a little bit too predictable. Now, in all of his other books, Palahniuk leads you to the end in such a way that you put it all together a page before its revealed. It dawns on you just in time to end with a big "AH! AH HAH!" In "Snuff", you kinda saw it coming from a mile away. It could be that Palahniuk wanted you to know right away, but it felt sorta predictable.

All in all, it was a decent book. If you're a hardcore fan you will probably hate it, but if this is one of the first of his that you're reading, you will probably enjoy it. For a really great read, go for "Rant" instead.

Right up front ... I didn't know where this book was going to take me. The concepts and subjects of Chuck's book are usually off the chart, exploring the human condition at its threshold. If you are new to Chuck's books, it can be off putting. And without reading Choke or Survivor, you may not appreciate his style, his rhythm.

To be honest you have to be a pretty warped individual, to be a fan. Whatever warped means in the general sense... But it is a smart, educated "out of the box" group that can take these stories, like Snuff, to heart. This book is truly a story within a story. The timing is contagious and intoxicating. He takes the time to amass facts and builds the case for these scarred souls. That's what I like about Chuck....

In other words, I think this is his best work in a while. He is going somewhere. I really enjoyed this book's pace and humor. It is a wild ride. and I am sure that I will reread this book again.

If you are reading reviews on books, you are ultimately looking for a decision. Don't let these bad reviews discourage your decision. Critics are usually trying to justify their existance by bitching and moaning that their hero has let them down. I tell them ... write your own book... let's see how far you get.

More like carrier pigeon. I love his other books, except for Haunted - but Snuff makes Haunted look poetic in comparison. I think I'll go re-read Lullaby to remind me why Chuck is a favorite author...

A massive disappointment.

When I first read the story outline about an ageing porn star who wanted to go out with a bang, or in this case 600 of them, the first thing that came to my mind was the hygiene issue. After 599 servings, if you'll pardon the expression, I wondered what Mr. 600 would be faced with. I must admit I haven't read any of Chuck Palahnuick's books before, and reading all the reviews that have gone before, I wasn't sure if this was going to be a book for me. I'm still not sure, so I think I'll leave it for a couple of weeks and have another look at it. In the meantime I have been reading Suzie Van Aartman's very wonderful 100 Percent Erotica now that is sex with a capital F and well worth looking at. Snuff isn't a bad book on the whole, but as I said it might benefit from another read when my mind set is more tuned in.

I was really not impressed with this one, unfortunately. Each turn was oh so predictable and far too much effort was spent trying to be crass and outrageous. If you ask me, Palahniuk's heart is just not in it anymore. I think he needs to get back to basics and put a little more time and effort into his books instead of just churning out book after book of production line shock value.

If the book had substance/superior writing/superior character development like some of his earlier books (e.g., Invisible Monsters, Choke, Fight Club), he wouldn't need to fill it with such tritely contrived shock. But than, with a name like "Snuff", I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything more...

Cassie Wright, an over-the-hill porn star, whose career is on the wane because of age and high definition-- "stage makeup didn't look like skin, not anymore"-- stages her swan song (though she isn't Leda) by having sex with 600 men in Chuck Palahniuk's latest novel SNUFF. She sets out to break the records of (real porn stars) Annabel Chong (251 sex acts), Jasmine St. Claire (300), Spantaneeus Xtasy (551 partners), and Sabrina Johnson who supposedly took on 2,000 but was exposed as cheating.

Cassie is for the most part seen through the eyes of other characters and literally through her old videos that are playing constantly--"The Handmaid's Tail," "Miracle Sex Worker," "From Her To Eternity" are some of the titles that can be mentioned here-- in the room where the male performers, barefoot and wearing only their underwear, wait their turn. The principal characters are her manager/handler Sheila, Mr. 72, 137 and 600. Each of the male performers receives a number that indicates when he will be called to strut his stuff. Number 72 is a youngster who has brought flowers for Cassie; Number 137 is a former television star, hoping for a comeback, heavy into bronzer, lip-gloss and nail polish; and Number 600 is Branch Bacardi, a veteran porn star who has his own line of sex toys modeled after his organ. Theses four characters are harboring secrets that come out as this small novel (197 pages) unfolds in a plot that moves as quickly as the sex. (Sheila has a stopwatch and tells the performers when enough is enough.)

SNUFF, full of tongue-in-cheek humor, is a raw--oops-- look at the lucrative porn industry in these United States and a novel that I suspect both Charles Bukowski and Harry Crews would like. The author gives an unflinching account of these rather sad characters in language so vivid that you can smell the Stetson cologne and feel the sticky baby oil on the floor.

Mr. Plahniuk says in an interview that he wants to write novels that must compete with video games and music videos (and porn videos perhaps?), that he writes for people who otherwise would not read and that humor is crucial to his plot-driven stories. "Without humor, my books would be like those tragic Oprah books." The author succeeds admirably in SNUFF, which certainly will not make Ms. Winfrey's list.

I'm a huge fan of Chuck P, but this was probably his weakest book to date. "Snuff" lacked any of the usual levels and complexity that made me want to re-read "Choke," "Rant," and "Survivor." The characters lacked any real charm, and the running 'porn movie title' gags got old quickly. Even the inevitable twist was predictable. I'll continue to read everything Palahniuk writes, but I hope he gives us more substance in future books.

I don't know where to begin. I've read all of Chuck's book and have found each of them to be very clever and rewarding. This book falls so short of any expectations I have of him. I am honestly not offendable, but this book was completely unnecissary as though he did it only for shock value. It was unoriginal and unimaginative. The story is far to simple from something you'd expect from Chuck.

I have had my eye on this book for a while, reading the basic plot online and reading other reviews on other books by chuck, i decided to go ahead and pre-order this item. Not my brightest moment!! It took me a while to get into the groove of this book about 10 chapters or so. Then finally...a break through!! The middle section of the book wasn't all that bad. The Characters were developing more and becoming more "intertwined" with one another. I was speeding through the last few chapters and then all the sudden the book just ended in the most strange and abrupt way!! I don't want to ruin the ending but lets just say it involes a final sex romp and some high voltage electricity (sorry if i am a spoiler but i had to tell someone!!) This was my first experience with Mr. Palahniuk's writing......not sure if I want to continue with him. I suppose that everyone has there own perogative when it comes to certain authors but he didn't strike my fancy. And it was pretty difficult to explain to my co-workers and friends what I was reading...I found it rather embarassing to disclose that I was reading a Triple X rated novel.

Isn't this EXACTLY how you would feel/think if you had just watched the porn movie in this book? Or, let's face it, ANY porn movie?

"All the characters sound the same", "only 197 pages/too short", "content not thought out", "blah blah blah", ...

I love you guys for sharing, this was the best part of the whole experience. (Thank you, Chuck!)

I feel like Palahniuk held back in this one, and this is from the man who never holds back. Maybe I was spoiled by how over-the-top some of his previous books were (I still can't read parts of Haunted). I felt like I had learned the formula and could guess what twist he was going to throw in. The problem? Only one of the twists materialized, and it was the tamest one. I'm not saying I need books that make me ill, but Palahniuk usually gets so dark, and with something like porn there was a lot of promise there that I think he shied away from.

Still, being a huge fan, I don't regret getting it and reading it, though I may not re-read it as much as the others. Just don't expect to be blown away by this one.

I remember once seeing a review for one of Palahniuk's earlier novels which said something like "He makes nihilsm fun!"

And so he did, once, but now we're beginning to understand just what happens to this "wise" nihilist in the end; this know-it-all who always had a "smart," "shocking," or "in-your-face" comment for the rest of us poor delusional slaves. One day the trivia runs out, the in-your-face commentary isn't shocking or new anymore, and the "surprise endings" don't surprise anyone. Most of us have started to wonder why we ever thought the cheap, gratuitous gore and filth was all that entertaining to begin with. We start to think that whatever "shock value" his earlier work had was just a cheap trick that we're ashamed we fell for. And Palahniuk, the Great Nihilist, is finally revealed for the fraud he always was. He's performed his little trick too many times, and his audience sees that it - and he - have become utterly irrelevant.

All that to say, don't buy this worthless piece of garbage. We could attempt to explain the non-existent plot, or talk about the contrived and transparent attempts at characters, and even give away the "surprise" ending (which, I assure you, will not surprise you), but frankly, it would be a waste of time. There's nothing here to analyze; even tearing it to pieces would be tossing pearls to swine. Suffice to say, if you're one of the simpletons who is impressed by shallow shock-value that everyone else finds transparent or just juvenile and repulsive, like 8th-grade attempts at sex jokes, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, you'll be wasting money on something that is guaranteed to disappoint you, and the realization that this author isn't (and never really was) all that talented after all may cheapen your enjoyment or pleasant memories of some of his other work.

Oh man, Snuff, what a wicked obscene idea and stuff, bro, I bet there's all kinds of sick stuff going on in this book. I don't really read a lot, but I love Palahniuk, he's dark and blah blah blah fart blah.

No wonder the world thinks America is a joke, look at the literature they're turning out nowadays; they've gone from Twain & Hawthorne, Hemingway & Faulkner, Pynchon and Burroughs to gimmick trash designated for pseduo-cynics who think Fight Club is a deep, profound experience.

There's nothing to critique or analyze here; it's just another cash in from the world's most useless writer; he gets one idea and milks it for 200 pages, then his legion of double digit IQ fans eat it up like being shocking and obscene is some sort of revelation; never heard of De Sade, apparently.

He's been called a latter day Vonnegut and a modern day Swift, all I know is both men are rolling over in their graves.

Reading this book reminded me a lot of reading John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas," in that I wanted both to be so much more than they actually were.

Both are fine examples of very capable authors writing very below their means. Both are formulaic, their predictability simultaneously satisfying and disappointing, reminding the reader of what could have been...if only the author had tried just that much harder. Okay, if they had tried A LOT harder.

Don't get me wrong, "Snuff" was an enjoyable read, with it's attitude, trivia and plot twists, but it wasn't the challenge most Palahniuk books are. By that I mean, I didn't have to take the time to process what I just read, to think on a deeper level or, really, to think at all. And maybe that was the point, maybe it was just meant to be a quick summer read and maybe, just maybe, the joke's on us this time around.

Alright, so there are obviously more than a few people who didn't like this book. Fair enough. But for me, this was probably the best thing he's put out since Lullaby.

I've read every one of Chuck's books. And around the time he put out his travel book, Fugitives and Refugees, his novels began to morph. He put out a book of non fiction (Stranger than Fiction) and followed up with two novels that, for me, where his weakest. I speak of Haunted, and Rant.

These two books, he began to fiddle with novel structure. Writing one in the tradition of the Canterbury Tales, by fusing together a host of short stories. And writing the other in an oral biography form.

Anyway, back to Snuff. With Snuff, I felt like I was reading the long lost Chuck. It was his old style again, without the gilts and glamor of specialized structures. And sure, i can see how some people might find fault in this. Rather than growing as a writer, falling back on something he has done. But boy, does he do it well.

Snuff doesn't have the depth or resonance of his earlier works. But it's still a fun read. With Rant and Haunted, I found myself struggling to get involved in the story. With Snuff, I was immediately engaged.

So, to sum up, no, this is not his best novel, but I believe it to be his best is a long while. Where it lacks in social commentary and depth (though it is certainly present), it makes up for in grit, humor, shocks, and pure enjoyment.

A must read for any Chuck fan. And for anyone who hasn't read Chuck yet, you might want to start with Fight Club.