Pygmy

Chuck Palahniuk

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Summary

Pygmy

By: Chuck Palahniuk

Narrarated by: Paul Michael Garcia

“Begins here first account of operative me, agent number 67 on arrival Midwestern airport ____ . Flight ____. Date ____. Priority mission top success to complete. Code name: Operation Havoc.”

Thus speaks Pygmy, one of a handful of young adults from a totalitarian state sent to the U.S., disguised as exchange students to live with typical American families and blend in, all the while planning an unspecified attack of massive terrorism. Palahniuk depicts Midwestern life through the eyes of this thoroughly indoctrinated little killer, who hates us with a passion, in this cunning double-edged satire of an American xenophobia that might, in fact, be completely justified.

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Audiobook Information
EDITOR'S PICK // New York Times Best Seller
  • Edition: Unabridged
  • Author: Chuck Palahniuk (See All Books)
  • Date Released: May 6, 2009
  • Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature

Total File Size: 214 MB (7 files) Total Length: 7 Hours, 48 Minutes

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Molly Young

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05.06.09
Chuck Palahniuk, Pygmy
2009 | Label: Blackstone Audiobooks

Palahniuk’s characteristic black humor pushed to extremes
You know an author means business when he opens his book with an epigraph by Adolf Hitler. "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future," is Chuck Palahniuk's Hitler quote of choice, and it hints darkly at the cultural satire to come.

Pygmy is a 13 year-old kid from an unnamed totalitarian state sent to live with a suburban Midwestern family for six months, posing as an exchange student. His hidden aim? Terrorism, of course. Along with a group of incognito peers (also posing as foreign exchange students) Pygmy plans to unleash "Operation Havoc," an act of shocking mass destruction.

Written in "dispatches" narrated by the title character, Palahniuk opts for the risky maneuver of writing in his character's imaginary broken English. Paul Michael Garcia's inventive delivery smoothes the translation by bringing Pygmy's voice to life, and the charging plotline guarantees that the book's momentum isn't slowed by the narrator's shaky grasp of grammar. If Fight Club was Palahniuk's black humor at its finest, Pygmy contains that same sensibility, pushed to its logical extreme. Pygmy is a fascinating take on a xenophobic nation.

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Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk

fatanky

I am..ahem..'reading' this on audiobook, and am on the final chapter, but just wanted to put on record that this is a fantastic book, searing in its dissection of both capitalism and totalitarianism, but also laugh-out-loud funny..I'm glad I'm in my car listening, because on a bus or train I would appear insane with giigling and guffawing! I have also gasped at some of the revolting (and hugely entertaining) details involving body issues. So I'm off tomorrow on a car journey and will finish the book..then I'm going to get the paperback, as this must be a hoot to read..having just..ahem..'read' Clockwork Orange for the umpteenth time, the use of a special language was not a problem, in fact it's a continuous delight. I know nothing about Chuck Palahniuk, but as a new fan, I intend to get medieval on his oeuvre!