Craig Clevenger

The Contortionist's Handbook is an engrossing adventure story. The drugs, the sex, the criminal underworld portions could have been cut out and it still would be great. The conflict is between the individual and the system. Where the novel shines is in the first-person narration and the description made by that individual of what the State has been to him.

Bureaucrats, psychiatrists in white robes, the police, judges are the individuals on the other side of the line. In his side of the line, he mostly stands alone. The narrator has a very unique voice and the author writes so well that we get into the narrator's head very easily. The use of flashbacks is also great.

The prose has been described as reminiscent of Palahniuk's. There is truth to this, but then again Palahniuk's prose isn't really that unique if you think about it. Palahniuk's style is noir-ish, and reading the CH, I am reminded of the stylish visuals of the neo-noir film 'The Salton Sea' starring Val Kilmer.… (more)