Random Esquire

Got your attention?

I was hanging out with Benefactor the other night, and he’s reading the new Chuck Palahniuk book: Snuff. I haven’t read any of Palahniuk’s books, despite good intentions (I used to read 3 or 4 books at a time but have been oddly slacking lately…), but I’ve heard stories about his last book causing actual spontaneous vomiting during live readings. I read that particular story, and it was admittedly horrifyingly gross, but I can’t imagine actually throwing up in public just because someone read it out loud. *shrug*

Anyway, this one is supposedly the story of an attempt to break the world record for a gang bang. 600 men, one woman, and a film crew. It’s told from the point of view of 3 of the men (numbers 72, 137, and 600) in graphic detail – supposedly Palahniuk did a lot of field research before writing the book.

The thing about it for me is that I’m kind of jealous. Not of the characters (can you imagine how pulverized you’d be down there after 600…never mind, just UGH), but of the writer. How great must it be to just put it all out there, something so taboo and yet so train-wreck-intriguing, and to be able to do it in such a way that it actually comes off as an intellectual work of art. I’ve written a lot of crazy stuff (I actually used to post regularly on Literotica…) but can’t imagine any of it as a best-seller…