Pygmy

Written by Chuck Palahniuk

Narrated by Nick Walther

The Manchurian Candidate meets South Park—Chuck Palahniuk’s finest novel since the generation-defining Fight Club.

“Begins here first account of operative me, agent number 67 on arrival Midwestern American airport greater _____ area. 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 United States, disguised as exchange students, to live with typical American families and blend in, all the while planning an unspecified act 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. For Pygmy and his fellow operatives are cooking up something big, something truly awful, that will bring this big dumb country and its fat dumb inhabitants to their knees.

It’s a comedy. And a romance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705041253

Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk’s fourteen novels include the bestselling Snuff; Rant; Haunted; Lullaby; Fight Club, which was made into a film by director David Fincher; Diary; Survivor; Invisible Monsters; and Choke, which was made into a film by director Clark Gregg. He is also the author of the nonfiction profile of Portland, Fugitives and Refugees, and the nonfiction collection Stranger Than Fiction. His story collection Make Something Up was a widely banned bestseller. His graphic novel Fight Club II hit #1 on the New York Times list. He’s also the author of Fight Club III and the coloring books Bait and Legacy, as well as the writing guide Consider This. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Reviews for Pygmy

[Samuel Saker Kunkel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another banger. Dark as dark gets, yet you have to grin (with jaw clamped and straining). Palaniuk takes a serrated blade to nationalism, indoctrination, and the dialectic of ideology and reality. Brace and enjoy.

[juva_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a religious reader of Palahniuk's books, I have to say that this one was something of a disappointment. The pidgin used throughout makes the book very difficult to read. I actually had to give up and listen to the audio book. That being said, it's not bad. I just feel that it is something of a puff piece. It's funny and interesting, but there's just not a lot going on. I also felt that nothing was particularly original. I felt I'd heard it all before. It's short and worth the time, but not his best work.

[Amy Greylak · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Husband had a different review here. I am only removing the swear words attached to my name. Spoiler: He did not like it.

[write5review · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Exchange Terrorists

Chuck Palahniuk casts a jaundiced eye on and takes a highly satirical pen to American life, and in the end American life wins out, sort of. There was a time when we called an idea like Pygmy high camp, meaning a whole conglomeration of things, exaggerated, vulgar, ostentatious, and the like. Palahniuk’s novel is all of these things, and maybe a bit more. While it will probably not be to everybody’s liking, especially those who dislike reading dialect (here a stylized Engrish with a distinct Mr. Spock attitude), those who revel in over the top humor will appreciate it.

A nameless nation that feels like North Korea and ISIS rolled into one has trained almost from birth an elite core of terrorists. When the novel begins, they have just become teenagers and have been brought to the U.S.A. by an evangelical church in a Midwestern city as exchange students. The idea, of course, is to inculcate them with American and Christian values. However, they come over on a mission, code name Operation Havoc. Chief among the group of adolescent terrorists is “agent number 67.” He relates the story of their arrival, their training, the purpose of their mission, and he in particular their take on various aspects of American life, which he approaches as a decadent society busy destroying the world. Seen through his eyes, life here gets exposed for its absurdity. Unrequited love for his host family’s daughter whom he calls Cat Sister (the father is Cow Father, the mother is Chicken Mother, and the brother Pig Dog Brother, which gives you idea of the novel’s tone), this unrequited love undoes him, or does him, if you’re of that mindset.

Palahniuk’s inventiveness in describing and skewering aspects of American life makes the novel enjoyable. After all, not only is seeing how you live from another, albeit extreme, vantage point funny, but it also can be enlightening. Let’s be honest here, not everybody views America as the pinnacle of living well, including many living the American dream. So, from Agent 67’s perspective we have “retail product distribution facilities” (Walmart), “religion propaganda distribution outlets” (church), “domestic structure Cedar” (his host family’s house), “public education institutions” (school), and the like.

In keeping with the tone of the novel, the characters are more caricatures, highlighting certain aspects of their personalities for humorous effect. Pig Dog Brother thinks only about sex, evaluates women on their physical characteristics, and lobs more euphemisms for breasts than you probably thought existed. Sex obsesses Chicken Mom, who keeps a vibrator handy and, on the Thanksgiving recounted in the story, in her. Cat Sister practices stealth thievery from her father’s business to keep herself well stocked in office supplies. And, not to be outdone, Agent 67 has sex on his mind, though purely as a means of producing more warriors.

To keep the story moving, Palahniuk packs the novel with plenty of humorous, often slapstick violent, set pieces, among them the science fair massacre, the school dance brawl, the Thanksgiving dinner drugging, Devil Tony’s (Agent 67’s name for the pastor) murder in the church, the exploding dildo experiment, and these are just samples. What will happen next, you’ll wonder, and how outrageous will it be?

So, should you give Pygmy a try? If you like your funny novels very broad, absolutely you should. And if you break a smile at the following short excerpt from the science fair, you’ll certainly want to grab a copy:

“Next, parade learned academics arrive experiment invented stealth cat sister. Rested atop table, display moderate missile comparable to light mortar round Japan artillery, caliber fifty-millimeter Type 89 ‘leg’ mortar shell. Missile encased skin pink-color plastic. Smooth polished. Painted letter across placard, written: ‘Bliss 2.0.’”

[magonistarevo-625111 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

One of my dog-walking clients has this book in his apartment. After I'm done walking his dog, I eat some of his candy and I read a couple of chapters from this book on the couch.I suppose it was time I grew up anyways: Chuck Palahniuk is a hipster. Whatever subversive themes you can dredge up out of his books are pretty well battered by cliche, and too-obvious tropes. Drugs, rape, racism, violence, sex, shock shock shlock. No underlying spirit. Fake nihilism that makes us say, "welp, glad that's not my life, let's go shopping."The ending is such a disappointment. I was looking for subversive evil tragedy. But I just got bullshit capitulation. I hope that was an editor's insistance and not from the author.The use of rape in this book is casual, which is meant to shock/tittilate the reader. I can't read books like that anymore. It's only funny/shocking/tittilating if you've remained blind and ignorant to the rape that happens to friends and family too often. If you understand it, then you don't treat it with hipster casualty.PS: If you want to read a book in Engrish, try Everything is Illuminated. It doesn't have the hipster scorn for all humanity, so it's a geniunely different book. But that's what makes it better.

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The only good thing I can say about this book: Boy, Chuck Palahniuk sure did commit to the narrator's voice.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An exchange student from totalitarian nation accidentally fits in and excels in America. Some sex and lots of violence as you would expect from Palahniuk

[martensgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I may be in the minority, but I enjoyed the language of this book. I loved the cryptic descriptions of what was going on and found it easy to understand once I had got into the mindset of Pygmy. Yes, there were some very graphic scenes, but this is what once expects from Palahniuk. I feel the book was let down by the plot: it would appear that so much went into the language that Palahniuk had nothing left for planning a good story.

[zenhead_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

chuck is probably a normal guy, but his books are very weird. i love them, but they are not for the faint of heart. pygmy is written in the twisted english vernacular of a 13 year old boy sent as an exchange student from 'a totalitarian state,' (russia?) with a plan, along with several other students, to destroy the u.s. a bit hard to read, because of the language, but engaging and unputdownable. if you're looking for offbeat and VERY different, chuck is your man, and pygmy is one of his most unsual

[benuathanasia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love the satire on Americana and our collective jingoism and xenophobia. However, the dialogue, while initially interesting, became very tedious and the gimmick wore thin early on in the novel.

[jordan7hm · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

At the time I attempted to read this I was a pretty big Palahniuk fan. This was trash. Go read Clockwork Orange if you want to experience an author playing with dialects. Stay the heck away from this.

[morgantaylor-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

As a big Palahniuk fan this was the only book of his that I couldn't even finish despite trying to push myself to do so. I don't know what to say besides it was a mess. I get the general concept and what he was trying to pull off but it was just so poorly executed.

[steadfastreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not Chuck P. at his best. Though it gives an interesting portrayal inside of the mind of a would be terrorist... maybe a third of the way through it becomes formulaic and rather redundant.

[bontley · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting prose and structure; visceral and vicious, disgusting and funny, perhaps too gratuitous. Powerful and thrilling; some scenes too overtly concocted, too playful.

[scriptopus · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pygmy is one of those books you don't enjoy but on balance, when it's all over, are glad you read. It feels like a worthy literary experience rather than an intellectually or emotionally satisfying one. The weirdly constructed first person English in which the story is told is initially difficult to decipher, but then strangely hypnotic. It emerges as literally the language of propaganda; not just that into which the eponymous narrator had been indoctrinated in his unnamed, cartoon-totalitarian homeland, but that of the crass, hypocritical middle America in which he finds himself.

The cleverest thing about Pygmy is this use of language; the way it draws you into the mindset of the thoroughly brainwashed, hormonally charged teenage terrorist and then lets you watch from within as he both subverts and is subverted by his new, equally irrational and inhumane environment. It's unfortunate that the plot isn't equal to this narrative voice. In his quest to skewer the pop-psychology cliches of modern American life, Palahniuk piles them on so thick and fast that they blur into meaninglessness. Then he tops it off with an unsatisfying ending that feels as unlikely and contrived as all the cliches that went before. Maybe he was trying to make a point about the pervasiveness of banality, but it just feels like he lost his nerve.

I do think that this is a good read for writers. The technical achievements - and failings - are instructive. Palahniuk reminds us that there are many ways to tell a story. Like it or not, there's a lot to learn from the way he's told this one.

[daniel5estes · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

An interesting experimental novel told from the point of view of an unnamed Asian exchange student (nicknamed Pygmy), visiting from an unnamed totalitarian country and living with a host family in an unnamed Midwestern American state. Pygmy's signature style, and the single most important point every review of this book will mention, is the use of broken English to experience the narrator's fish-out-of-water view of America. The entire book is written this way. I thought it very daring at first, but eventually grew tired of deciphering what was going on and gave up.

[coachsully_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Concept good but it really took concentration to understand the ongoing plot. The thoughts of the main character are written in broken and convoluted English so it cannot be read quickly.

[mjc1978 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was so disappointed in Pygmy. Because it came from Chuck, I desperately wanted to love it. I just couldn't get through the way it was written. I get why it was written that way, but oh - is it tedious.I actually had to force myself to get through it, and honestly feel like it was a total waste of time. I admire the author for trying something new but I won't be adding this to the piles of books I end up lending friends and family. I don't want anyone else to have to suffer through it.

[jeanned_14 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The anti-hero whose name we never learn, but who is referred to by his American host family and school mates as "Pygmy", arrives in the US on a mission of destruction. The novel is structured as a series of dispatches back to Pygmy's unnamed totalitarian country of origin and are written in an initially humorous yet ultimately tedious pidgin English. Pygmy's language doesn't improve after months in America, but I got more adept at reading it. A taste: "Calibrated tasks assigned to destroy all self-esteem. For official example, purpose lesson titled 'Junior Swing Choir' many potential brilliant youth compelled sing song depicting precipitate remain pummel head of operative me. Complain how both feet too large size for sleeping mattress. Idiot nonsense song. Next sing how past visited arid landscape aboard equine of no title." Satirical jabs at American culture are interlaced with disturbing scenes of violence and sex, making this book definitely off-limits for the squeamish and faint-hearted. I rate this novel, which probably served as source material for the 2010 terror-baby conspiracy, at 5 out of 10 stars.

[brianinbuffalo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Put simply, I hated it. In fact, it's probably the first book in several years that saw me trudge through two-thirds of the story, only to give up with a sigh of "who really cares?" I can't recall a book that was built on a more irritating narrative style. What began as a mildly amusing "shtick" became somewhat annoying -- then downright intolerable. Perhaps it's an unfair conclusion, because the only other Palahnuik work I've read is "Choke." But I just don't think this author is my proverbial cup of tea. I was intrigued by the advance spin and the promising story line. But in the end, "Pygmy" was an utter waste of my reading time.

[lefroo · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I have opted to stop reading Pygmy maybe 5/6ths of the way through it. What started out as a promising revival of the Palahniuk literary stylings was quickly marred by overwrought broken-English narration which drones on, at best, and, really, some disturbing-for-the-sake-of-disturbing violent pedophilic quasi-liberal-statement porn. Now, I'm not saying that it doesn't have its moments of real promise, but it just keeps dropping down within a moment of spiking. I get it. Please don't think I don't. I've been a fan of Palahniuk's for years and, until he dropped the bomb of "Haunted" on the market (which I bought upon release), I considered him one of the most interesting and certainly most entertaining and provocative contemporary writers. However, even with the up-to-the-last-minute possibility of "Rant" everything he's churned out since "Diary" has seemed relatively lack luster, redundant, and just edging past what I consider to be worthwhile. The best scene in this novel happens quite early on during the Spelling Bee and subsequent United Nations middle school dance. That's IT. I gave it a chance but, after the massive disappointment that was "Tell All" I'm really not holding out any hope for another good scene or, most importantly, a satisfying culmination to an otherwise flashy and unsubstantive work of fiction.

[simonea_533972 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Actually, this is not really a review, because I stopped reading after only a few chapters. The way the book is told definitely takes some getting used to, but just when I started to appreciate it, there was a scene which described a quite violent rape in such a graphic way that I couldn't read on. I can take a bit of violence, but somehow this completely turned me off. Maybe I can be convinced to try this book again, but I won't pick it up again until someone tells me it's really worth it.

[avhacker · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

it was pretty good but i did not understand the ending and some of it was hard to follow. wasnt my favorite of chucks but i think its very interesting and i give applause to the writing style!

[tiffanyhickox · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well, this was hard for me to do, but I am setting aside this novel. I feel like a traitor, but I just can't continue reading at the moment.Don't get me wrong, the book is mostly brilliant. Anyone who can write a novel like this is a genius and I commend him. I just don't have the time to fully commit to the book right now, and that is what reading thie novel feels like - a commitment.To give a brief overview, the book is written from the perspective of "Pygmy", a teenage terrorist who has come over from an unknown country with his fellow operatives to carry out Operation Havoc, part of which is to impregnate the youth of America with his "operative seed."A few aspects of the book really bother me. For example, a number if crimes are committed by the young terrorists (pygmy rapes a boy in a Walmart bathroom and his peer, Magda, nearly drowns and rips out a pastor's throat during her baptism) and nothing legal ever comes of these two crimes. This is just too unrealistic. There is no way that a congregation will sit and merely watch while a young foreign exchange student tries to murder their pastor. Now I realize this may be a metaphor for our society's numbness to violence etc. but as a story plot goes this is just too unbelievable.Also, it is hard to believe that Pygmy, who is portrayed as a near genius along with his fellow operatives, could have so much knowledge of the English language yet write his dialogue in such broken syntax. And I am torn between my feelings on this. In one way his style of writing properly conveys his disgust with our culture, his programming as a killing machine, and his disconnection from humanity, but on the other hand it does not seem consistant with Pygmy's ability.On the upside, Chuck Palahniuk is in this novel, as with all of his other novels, brilliant and a master of the English language. If you have never read Palahniuk, I would suggest starting with another book; however, do read, or attempt to do so, this novel. I am giving this book 3 stars for the moment. When I do finish the book, which I intend to after the new year, this may change.

[lukespapa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a strange little book, but then again what should one expect by the writer of the now [movie] classic, “Fight Club”. Written in a manner that I would describe as poor English as Second Language, it takes a while to adjust to this style. Every word has to be read with intention and then phrases “re-translated”. The narrator, Pygmy, trained for terroristic acts since a small child, has been sent, along with other comrades, as exchange students to the U.S. to live with host families. From this base, “Operation Havoc” can commence. However, once infiltrated, Pygmy becomes smitten with the host family “cat” sister and…. There are some disturbing moments in the book, such as forced sodomy along with intermittent quotes by totalitarian leaders of the past that help explain the mindset of these would-be terrorists. Palahniuk also includes some “truth hurts” descriptions about the impact of American consumerist culture. However, one is left with the sense that love, twisted or otherwise, matters still to us humans, Americans or otherwise. What a strange little book….

[bertamini34969 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a very interesting book, that will keep you entertained

[replay_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Sorry but it's just unreadible. I don't see the point... or maybe I see it too vividly...

[danajean_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Now, I've had a hard time with Chuck's books in the past, but for me, I liked this one. Apparently it's a departure from his usual fare (I've only read Rant and CHOKE), but I'm glad it was. There were the hints of the perverted writing he enjoys so much, but I'm glad it was much more than that. Operatives from a country we do not know go undercover as exchange students to start Operation Havoc against the greedy American machine. Dropped into "typical" families, we are given information through Agent #67--nicknamed Pygmy--and through very broken English, we are told the story through his eyes. It took me about half the book to really appreciate the voice of this character. The broken English was very difficult to read, and I had to slow my pace down to really absorb it. Vital information is blacked out at the beginning of each entry--time, date, location--and the focus of each chapter centers around a quote that these children operatives were brainwashed with back in their own country. Hitler, Nixon, Nietzsche, Castro--to name a few have shaped their plan of action since they were 4 years old, taken from families to fulfill their destiny to their country. Funny in places; sad in others -- this type of experimental writing, with a decent story--now this is odd ball creativity I can get behind. Chuck is definitely an interesting guy who marches to the beat of his own dark and boundary-pushing ideas.

[mcandre_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The style of writing is funny, but the story itself is simple.

[ngeunit1_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So overall, I think this is one of Palahniuk's weaker novels as a whole. But there were some things that I did like about it that made it much more than bearable to get through. First, I though the voice used in the novel, which was the "Engrish" voice of a foreign child, worked well in the context of the novel. It created funny interpretations and some funny misunderstandings throughout the novel. It was also interesting to hear the protagonist describe particular events or objects in a very objective matter, and figuring out what he was talking about created an interesting moment of reflection. This even more effective when reflected with the addition of the heavily scientific terminology that the protagonist used in the novel. The story itself was probably the major weakness of the novel. It felt a little disconnected and I never really felt it take its stride. It was by no means absent, but it never really felt full. A lot individual events in the novel were very entertaining and well written, especially towards the end. But there was decent amount of downtime between these moments, and for such a sort novel as it is, it was a bit dry. Palahniuk's description of some of the events in the novel are just downright brutal. This should not come to much of surprise, and I for one think it works well for him, but some may consider it overboard and might lose interest at this point. So, if you have found other Palahniuk novels to be a bit to gruesome, that is also present here too. Finally, the novel is really confusing to get a hold of at first, and even up until the end still kinda keeps the reader a bit off their mark. Sometimes this winds up working well for the story, but in this case it just felt like it made it a bit more convoluted then it needed to be at times. Sure, there were many moments of "aha" at the end when things started to come together, but it was a bit frustrating at times to get to those.