My thoughts: If you're looking for weird Palahniuk, this is definitely the right place. While I would have loved to hear Palahniuk himself read it (as I did with Choke), this is still a good read. Being an unabridged version of a sizeable book, it is very long -- 14 hours of listening on 11 CDs. There are several different voices reading, however, which is nice.

The story itself involves a group of want-to-be authors, playwrites, poets, etc. who all sign up for a "writer's retreat" that requires them to abandon their lives for three months. The idea is that they will leave behind everything that is distracting them and preventing them from completing their masterpiece. They will be provided with food and shelter and, therefore, can only bring one piece of luggage each. They cannot tell anyone where they are going and must leave in the wee hours of the morning to avoid being noticed. These restrictions limit the participants to a strange group of people, all of which have some horrible secret they are hiding from. They are all picked up on a bus and taken together to their "retreat".

Their home for the next three months is an old, dark, dusty theatre -- nothing at all like what they had expected -- and the organizer locks them all inside. They do have food, but it is all prepackaged, freeze-dried type food. They do have privacy - in the tiny dressing rooms that serve as their bedrooms. The writers are upset, but their captor will not, under any circumstances, allow them to leave until they have completed their masterpieces or the three months are up.

Over the three months, numerous things go wrong, of course, changing the retreat into a macabre survival story. Periodically, a character will step up onto the stage and tell their own story, turning the book into a kind of Canturbury Tales gone horribly awry, Palahniuk style.

The first story told in this fashion ("Guts") has been much talked about. It is undeniably very graphic and gory. Supposedly, it has caused readers to faint. (I find this extremely dramatic, but openly admit that the story is pretty horrific.) None of the rest are as bad, but this is definitely not suitable for children, the faint of heart, or the easily disgusted.

Did I enjoy it? Hell yeah, I did!!

International Bookring
Suebo -- Philly, PA
editorgrrl -- Connecticut
nightraine56 -- St. Louis, MO
mellion108 -- Michigan
TeenieBeanie -- Ontario, Canada
Breeze144 -- Ontario, Canada
--COMPLETED--

Book arrived safe and sound in Philly, PA. Thanks!

Reserved for editorgrr

I really enjoyed listening to this one. I already read it, so I got it mostly for my husband, but I found I enjoyed the audio version of it very much!

Unabridged. Read by a cast (Scott Brick, Marc Cashman, Erik Daries, Kimberly Farr, Arthur Morey, Renee Randman, and Lorna Raver) on 11 CDs. Approximately 14 hours(!). ISBN 0739302868.

From Publishers Weekly
One of Palahniuk's more sweeping and macabre offerings, this is a collection of 23 short stories and poems generated at a fictional writer's retreat turned grotesque survival camp. The pieces range from the stomach-turning to the satirical or the absurd. The seven readers tackling the decidedly offbeat Palahniuk are, for the most part, refreshingly successful. Cashman is a standout, narrating the action at the retreat. His voice shuttles nimbly between the male and female writers, while maintaining the integrity of his own unnamed character. Morey's narration is disappointing on "Guts," the novel's most notorious and gruesome tale, which has reportedly caused some listeners to faint. Morey sounds too mature and polished for this series of wicked adolescent masturbatory nightmares. In general, the multivoiced narration is practiced and professional, with the trio of actresses turning in particularly strong performances. The other side of all that spit and polish is that Palahniuk's humor is occasionally stifled. Some listeners may wonder whether the author's prose is so singular that only he might be capable of delivering it. But overall, an engaging, albeit lengthy, listen.

From AudioFile
A writers' retreat that provides an opportunity for aspiring writers to get ahead provides the construct for this collection of stories, which are increasingly bizarre and filled with sexual preoccupations. If this retreat is supposed to free its participants of their demons as they explore their muses, its success is in question. However, the full-cast performance cannot be faulted. The actors create the realities of the stories vividly, draw out the drama, and bring out the personalities of the characters, generally making the stories as haunting as promised.

I had no idea this audiobook was so long, so I've copied it into my iTunes and sent it on to nightraine56 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. I'll update this journal entry as I go along.

*********
While the book is read by a cast, each story or poem has only one reader. Funny, creepy, sometimes graphic -- this is my first Palahniuk, and I can't wait to read (or even better, hear) more. Lots of skipping on this one, though.

I received this today from editorgirl. It looks very different and I can't wait to start it.

I really tried to get into to this, but I found myself not listening like I should, so I have decided to send it on. Thanks, Firegirl for making this available for me to try. I will be sending it to mellion108 this week.

Arrived safe and sound in Michigan! I've had the book sitting here for a few months, so I'm really anxious to start this. I'll listen and then pass along. Thanks for sharing! And thanks to nightraine56 for sending it my way.

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11 compact discs, approximately 14 hours

Wow.

That was some really messed up stuff. ;-) I've heard that people have been vomiting and fainting at book readings done by the author across the country. I didn't find the stories here to be quite that extreme, but there are some very graphic depictions of violence and mutilations (to echo another reader's earlier warning: THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN!). "Guts" got to me a bit, but I honestly found myself chuckling because of its over-the-top qualities. The author is right though: I will NEVER look at calamari the same way again now.

I listened to a good deal of this while driving to Tennessee and back over the holidays. This was an especially effective book while driving in the dark. All in all, I really liked this book. Great dark humor. Great horror. Great suspense. And I liked how all the stories had something--even a small something--in common.

Just a note: I had trouble with the last 2 tracks on CD 5 and with part of CD 6. I tried playing them in a couple of different players and still had the same problem (they seem to be scratched, and a good deal of some of the tracks skip a lot). However, I have the book in print here and was able to keep up with the story by reading a few chapters rather than listening to them.

I apologize for keeping this book for so long. December seemed to zoom by, and the holidays really took much more of my reading time than I anticipated. The book is here, boxed up and ready to go to TeenieBeanie. We're getting a bit of ice here now, so as soon as the roads are cleared a bit, I plan on scooting over the post office and setting this free.

Thanks again for sharing! This was a great audiobook to start off the New Year!

UPDATE: Mailed to TeenieBeanie 7 Jan. 2006

I received this audiobook about a week or so ago. I wasn't able to register it till now due to computer/internet problems.

I will listen to this shortly. I got this one for my husband but we are going to try and listen to it together, hopefully, it depends on how gross it gets for me.

I will update once we have listened to it.

OK, I tried to listen to this, but it's not my kinda book. The first story is definitely not for the faint of heart. I didn't make it all the way through that one before I shut it off. So I will have to send on without hearing all the stories.

I will send to Breeze144 shortly, just awaiting the address.

Well this audiobook has had some interesting travels...

I must have sent TeenieBeanie my address at least 3 times when I noticed that her journal entry noted she was waiting to hear from me. I never did hear back from her, but then last week my former roomates told me that UPS had been trying to deliver something to my old house (the address that I have not used since March).

So I called UPS and had the package forwarded to my new place and found out they required a signature for it! So that's why they didn't just drop it off at the old address.

Anyway, the book is here, but I am curious to know where it has been....

Also, to add to the irony, I gave up on waiting for it and went out and bought my self the paper copy of this! I think I'm going to listen to a little and then send it along very soon!

Thanks Firegirl!

Okay so here's the update after I read my hard copy: 'Guts' made me sick. I had to stop. I tried to read the next chapters, but I was so sick to my stomach that I put it down. I know how those people who vommited at reading feel...I felt my stomach turn to say the least.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent this back to Firegirl today from Buffalo, New York!

This has returned safely. Thanks all!

Since I don't find myself stuck in a vehicle alone at work anymore (yay for new jobs!) I doubt I'll listen to this again so I'm sending out for postage -- enjoy!

Thanks firegirl for the CDs. As I am still stuck w long commutes, this should make for very entertaining time-killer.

This book is entertaining indeed. Thankfully I didn't faint on my commute, and there are some macabre moments that I find funny. It's really interesting how they have the "real life" story going on, woven with several stories from the "writers" which continues from one narration to the next. It's really different from what I am used to reading and I enjoy it very much.

RELEASE NOTES:

Putting this into booklady's audio CD bookbox.

Taking out of the CD-only bookbox. I'm a writer and I'm not always fond of the "horrific" but I loved Fight Club (and had no problems reading that) so I'm keen to give this a try. I'll be sure not to eat before/while listening.

I decided to listen to this at the end of October. Given the proximity to Halloween, a book called Haunted seemed quite appropriate.

I've only ever read Fight Club of his, though I have Choke on my TBR bookshelf. After reading this, though, the best I can say is this guy has a seriously warped and creative mind. How in the world did he think up such things? Gah! LOL

As a writer, I was especially creeped out at the idea of a writing retreat used to lure people in and have them self destruct. If I'd ever wanted to watch the movie "Saw" I imagine it has some similarities as far as the psychological. However, what made this interesting was how each writer had a story to tell- some of them "fiction" but all of them revealing something significant about the character. It was a fascinating collection of people with strange "pseudonyms" and even stranger mentalities. To me, the stories were all like hideous car accidents you want desperately not to remember afterward but you just can't help but staring at when you pass. If I'd been reading this book physically, I know there would have been parts I'd skim over, but the nice thing about audio is I was forced to listen to it all-- the good and the bad-- and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure I'd call this enjoyable, but it is quite an experience and I feel like a survivor myself now for making it through along with... well... possibly a few of the characters ;-)

I'll definitely think twice the next time I get a mailing about a writing retreat!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed this out today as part of a book relay. Enjoy the earread!

This will be my first Chuck Palahniuk book - hope it's a good one! Thanks Kate!

On it's way to Clark in NC who requested it on PaperBackSwap