Search - Diary

I am a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan and picked up Diary after devouring Invisible Monsters and Choke within a few days of each other. I was REALLY disappointed in Diary! The plot just wasn't settling with me and was nonsensical in a way that only made Palahniuk's other books more amazing. I would pass on this if you were new to Palahniuk's work.

This was the first book I'd read by Palahniuk, though I'd heard of him before. Diary was a bit hard to get into, especially since it's written in the second person. But once I got through the first couple chapters, I was hooked. It's twisted, funny, and amazing. Very engaging.

I have read Fight Club, Choke, Rant, and now Diary. While I have enjoyed all four of Palahniuk's books, I enjoyed Rant the most. Diary is good, but the storyline takes a little while to develop and the "twist," found in Fight Club and Rant, isn't as jarring as in those books. The main character is female in Diary; also a difference from the other Palahniuk books I have read.
If you enjoy Palahniuk, you'll like Diary. If you haven't ever read any Palahniuk, I would recommend trying another of his books first before reading Diary.
The story involves a woman from a meager background who strives to be an artist. She marries a man she meets at art school who takes her to Waytansea island which she views as an idyllic place of which she has always fantasized (even so far as having imagined the exact houses on the isle). Things turn a little sour when her father-in-law dies, her husband attempts suicide, and people start calling her house about missing rooms in their vacation homes on which her, now incapacitated, husband had performed work.

Chuck Palahniuk definitely has his own specific writing style, so it may take a little bit to get into, but it's an interesting story with some good plot twists. A little weird, but definitely entertaining.