Pygmy [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD)

~ (Author), Paul Michael Garcia (Reader)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Palahniuk's 10th novel (after Snuff) is a potent if cartoonish cultural satire that succeeds despite its stridently confounding prose. A gang of adolescent terrorists trained by an unspecified totalitarian state (the boys and girls are guided by quotations attributed to Marx, Hitler, Augusto Pinochet, Idi Amin, etc.) infiltrate America as foreign exchange students. Their mission: to bring the nation to its knees through Operation Havoc, an act of mass destruction disguised as a science project. Narrated by skinny 13-year-old Pgymy, the propulsive plot deconstructs American fixtures, among them church (religion propaganda distribution outlet), spelling bees (forced battle to list English alphabet letters) and TV news reporters (Horde scavenger feast at overflowing anus of world history), before moving on to a Columbine-like shooting spree by a closeted kid who has fallen in love with the teenage terrorist who raped him in a shopping mall bathroom. Decoding Palahniuk's characteristically scathing observations is a challenge, as Pygmy's narrative voice is unbound by rules of grammar or structure (a typical sentence: Host father mount altar so stance beside bin empty of water), but perseverance is its own perverse reward in this singular, comic accomplishment. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Jeff VanderMeer Sloppy yet smart, Chuck Palahniuk's "Pygmy" veers from sublimely ridiculous to just plain ridiculous, sometimes within a single paragraph. An infiltrating agent from a nameless authoritarian country, Pygmy poses as a high school exchange student and joins the Midwestern family of Donald Cedar. "Host father," as Pygmy calls him, works for the Radiological Institute of Medicine and has access to biotoxins. Pygmy and his fellow undersize operatives hope to unleash a biochemical Operation Havoc on an unsuspecting United States. Much of the novel's demented comedy derives from Pygmy's clipped syntax, as when he asks an aging Wal-Mart greeter: "Revered soon dying mother, distribute you ammunitions correct for Croatia-made forty-five-caliber, long-piston-stroke APS assault rifle?" It's a very funny line, but I can't figure out what it has to do with running a covert biochemical operation. Brutal flashbacks to Pygmy's rigid indoctrination also sit uneasily next to sections of broad farce that, one could argue, consist mainly of extended vibrator-based monologues. Even worse, just about every adult in the novel acts like an idiot to advance the plot, from the boob of a host father to the priest who (quelle surprise!) sleeps with underage girls. Throughout, Palahniuk displays such a lust for profane jokes that he's willing to sacrifice logic for them. That's a shame, because Palahniuk is brilliant at juxtaposing Pygmy's insane background with the madness of contemporary Western society. From school dances to gym dodge ball, the novel mercilessly, sometimes with rote, joyless precision, takes the reader through the gamut of high school life while Pygmy works on activating Operation Havoc. Pleasures along the way include a model U.N. summit staged by the students that features some of the author's finest satire, with observations like this: "Operative Chernok as delegate Italy sucking the earlobe of lady delegate Venezuela" and an unforgettable pledge by Pygmy to "make available own cherished American children, ship overseas as lifelong chattel slaves, gesture shown of goodwill." Still, it's another great scene sacrificed to the novelist's lack of discipline. A climax at the national science fair seems right out of a made-for-TV movie and rushes to a sentimental ending Pygmy doesn't truly deserve; this is, after all, an agent who brutally raped a boy who bullied him. Maybe Palahniuk isn't capable of doing more with Pygmy's great voice than using it to strike a series of grotesquely comic poses, or maybe I'm just partially immune to the pleasures of a novel that features a thousand slang terms for "breasts." Either way, "Pygmy" could've done with fewer vibrator jokes and more ripping out of jugulars.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1433277255
• ISBN-13: 978-1433277252
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (136 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #415,573 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

135 of 159 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I hardly know what to say ..., May 5, 2009

By	Nicole Del Sesto (Northern Cal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Pygmy (Hardcover)

First, if you've never read a Palahniuk, I don't recommend starting here.

Second, I am Palahniuk fan. Not a die-hard, but I've read all the books except Snuff, and many are favorites. I love Chuckie P. I love the mood his books create; his unique point of view; sense of humor; and particularly his typical writing style.

I rushed out to get this book because I was so excited about it. The concept, the premise, sounded amazing. I've gotten to page 100, and unfortunately, I can't make myself go on.

I get that he wanted to do something different with this book, but the writing is so convoluted, that I am just not enjoying it.

Here's an example: "Location former chew gum, chocolate snack, salted chips of potato, current now occupy with cylinder white paraffin encase burning string, many tiny single fire."

I thought it might be like A Clockwork Orange, where it takes you a bit to get into the flow of the writing, and once you do it's great. And I'm sure a lot of people will ultimately feel this way about the book. For me, it was too much work and not enough payoff. If there was humor, I completely missed it.

If you are interested in this book, I definitely suggest reading the first chapter which is posted on Amazon before purchasing it. It's written in the same style throughout, so if that style works for you, it may turn out to be a highly entertaining read. It just didn't work for me.

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Weird, convoluted, and tough to read. That said, fun!, May 5, 2009

By	Bill Oakes "bill_o" (NorCal USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is NOT an easy book to read. That's a definite. The writing style is, to say the least, VERY interesting. Convoluted. Weird. Just downright strange.

But the story is intriguing. And while I was hoping after each chapter that the writing would be a bit more normalized in the next chapter, nonetheless, I kept reading. I had NO idea, at the end of each chapter, where in the hell this story was going. It's not often (with the exception of DeMille) that I'll sit down and read a book in one sitting. And yet, it happened with Pygmy.

So what we have is a VERY strange read, with a VERY well crafted story, told in a VERY different way. I liked it.

Oh...and some of the lines in it had me absolutely rolling. It's easy to see where a recent immigrant from an un-named country in the Pacific (read...China) could see porn as video instruction manuals that consistently fail in its premise of impregnating women. Or that jr HS dances were American pre-mating rituals. Hysterical stuff.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars property of jesus, May 20, 2009

By	Plopper (up here) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pygmy (Hardcover)

Begins here first review citizen me, web host Amazon review maker 36. Review fiction propaganda pamphlet "Pygmy." First voice confusion direct previous many review. Former many review say, "grammar bad," say, "too much work." This reviewer find opposite truth. Same now pamphlets Irvine Welsh, Anthony Burgess, need full glossary comprehend. Not so fiction pamphlet "Pygmy." Most glorious spreader fiction propaganda Chuck Palahniuk make for simple comprehend absurd dialect.

Familiar theme fiction propagandist Chuck Palahniuk repeat here. Ask reader Project Mayhem "Fight Club" picture imagine foreign terrorist organized, same now Operation Havoc. Many describe interpret outside point view Tender Branson "Survivor," same now hilarious observation agent number 67. Tender Branson values conflicted upbringing modern capitalist America, same now agent number 67. Familiar similar but progress definite. For official record, agent number 67 most funny individual but know only serve state.

"Pygmy" make joke capitalist America gimme gimme, same now make joke ideology serve only state. Most hilarious jab capitalist American shortcoming. Most disturbing portrait ideology serve only state. For official record, grand final end "Pygmy" most disappoint. Chuck Palahniuk compromise gushy nonsense finish. Fortunate not detract from story. Glorious fiction propagandist redeem from mediocre "Snuff." This reviewer find "Pygmy" rank top most remembered pamphlets "Lullaby," "Survivor," "Choke."