This novel follows Tender Branson, the last survivor of an Amish/Hutterite-styled cult that committed suicide en masse, as he describes his lauch to fame with the help of a corrupt agent and the prophesies of a reluctant seer--from the cockpit of the plane he's hijacked, intending a dramatic public suicide.

This was not my favorite of Palahniuk's books. I don't expect his characters to be likable, but I usually end up identifying with them on some level anyway--not so with Survivor. I found every character repulsive and generally obnoxious, and reading with the kind of detachment I developed was unpleasant. I can't say I'd recommend this book to anyone but a Palahniuk superfan. ( )

I felt that this book was amazing, it actually was nothing like what i was expecting, considering all of the other books that i have read by chuck, which i also love. bravo.

By far Palahniuk's best work, in my opinion. ( )

Dark, weird, cynical, absurd, full of dark humour. My type of book! ( )

I didn't enjoy reading this novel at all.

I'm such a voracious fan of the dark humour/ satire/ social criticism combination which Vonnegut produces that I've hunted down nearly every novel he's written.

Still, I was put onto Palahniuk by a comparison to Vonnegut, and I have to say that don't see the similarity at all except for their use of lists and repetition as comedic schtick, and then, the schtick isn't what interests me in the first place.

As an author, Palahniuk strikes me as lacking the very depth that he criticizes society for lacking, and while this could be spun around as being a "satiric" or "ironic" element of his story, it rubbed me the wrong way as I found myself bored and completely uninspired by the story and the way the personalities of the characters were explored.

I mean really, Survivor was about some pretty heavy themes: suicide, death, faith (and brainwashing), fame, and mainstream pop-culture society. Yet, the only theme that was really explored was the fame aspect which is what all of the rave reviews on the back of my copy praise him for exposing. All of the characters felt flat and two-dimensional, and even the humor felt very derivative - most of it involved making pop culture references to our prescription drug culture, pornography, or consumerism at various circumstances.

For anyone who has thought about the nature of society and culture, and the mainstream on their own time this novel will just bore you to death. ( )