"MAKE SOMETHING UP: Stories You Can't Unread," by Chuck Palahniuk, Doubleday, $26.95, 336 pages (f)
The author of "Fight Club" is back with a collection of short stories called "Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread."
And just like the title suggests, these stories are often hard to unread.
In true Chuck Palahniuk fashion, "Make Something Up" is a mix of the odd, the weird, the off-color and the extreme. Though the writing is witty, charming and intriguing, many of the stories are dark.
One of the running themes in "Make Something Up" is Palaniuk's use of animals instead of human names when telling certain stories. Rather than a story about Mike, Brian and Carol, Palahniuk tells tales of Monkey, Bear and Coyote. It's an unusual move, but it does provide an added sense of imagery to the stories, since readers will picture a monkey walking down the streets of Seattle, rather than a human.
Fans of the film and book "Fight Club" will also be interested in this book, given that one of the stories, "Expedition," reconnects readers with Tyler Durden, one of the main character's of the cult story.
Utah readers will find the fourth-to-last story, "Mister Elegant," particularly interesting because parts of it take place in Salt Lake City and in the Beehive state. The story, though, is a bit odd with characters who have deformities and is in a way surreal. So though it takes place in Utah, it's not all that familiar.
Several of the stories include heavily described violence, including murders and fights, both on- and off-stage, sexual situations and mature language. Palahniuk is a writer who often relies on cusses, grotesque characters and situations, and pushing the boundaries in his stories. Any readers who dislike those aspects of a story will not find "Make Something Up" appealing.
Herb Scribner is a writer for Deseret News National. Send him an email at hscribner@deseretdigital.com or follow him on Twitter @herbscribner.