The Contortionist’s Handbook

Amazing read

With recommendations from both Chuck Palahniuk and Irvine Welsh, I had high hopes for this book and thankfully I wasn't disappointed. My only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner because it is class.When we meet the protagonist he has taken an overdose...and it's not the first time he's done it. The main plot mainly revolves around the protagonist being interviewed by a psychiatrist to see whether or not the overdose was attempted suicide or merely a miscalculation of prescription drug taking and with that we are thrown head-first into this man's life as the tale flashes backwards to reveal a character that learns to deceive and fool people almost before he can walk and talk. At an early age he is classed as being mentally slow, where the truth is that this man is a genius in an highly unconventional way, he's a personality chameleon, a lightning-quick thinker and talented forger. We see through his eyes as he reads someones body language and knows exactly what they are thinking whilst all the time forcing his own body language in a blatant act to deceive which makes for some witty albeit twisted wit and wicked observational humour. The story makes you an accomplice to his crimes (and there are many) and you'll be a willing one at that.The wonderfully detailed prose sucks you into the world, his world, the good times and the bad and there is something anarchic about this guy and as a reader, you want to see how far he'll go. But, there is also deep melancholy here too because for all this lying and swindling, the constant changing of personality, his chances of happiness are fleeting and few.I don't believe this book is in any way an indictment of psychiatry in it's many forms or a degradation of people suffering with mental illness. In fact, the irony I found with this book was that the people who need psychiatrists the most are often the people who have the ways to avoid psychiatric detection. On the most basic level this book is merely a work of fiction, but one that makes you reconsider the happy-to-diagnose-anything, medication dependent culture we live in. For anybody who enjoys Palahniuk,Easton Ellis or Irvine Welsh, you'll probably thoroughly enjoy this. For anyone else, this is simply an instant unforgettable classic so don't miss it.Invisible Monsters Less Than Zero (Picador Books) Thank you.

This is an amazing debut novel. Craig Clevenger has written a book that appeals to the buried desire within us all to live life as someone who is not you. And he has done it with some of the most meticulous prose to appear in modern fiction in a long time. A master with detail, Clevenger also keeps the reader guessing as to how the protagonist will outwit the experts through superb "mind games" masked as physician-patient conversations. No matter how erudite the doctor, John Dolan Vincent has the upper hand -- he knows his stuff because he HAS to know it. If he fails to convince the medical staff that he is not insane or suicidal, he will be locked up in the Earthbound equivalent of hell, the Mental Institution.Clevenger is part of a new wave of modern noir, or blank fiction, or perhaps there is no term that captures this emerging literary movement. Along with Will Christopher Baer, Stephen Graham Jones, Chuck Palahniuk, Joey Goebel and others, Craig makes NOW a great time for lovers of fiction of a different flavor. Jump in early, there's a lot more coming from this talented author.

Prodotto in buono stato.

This book was very interesting. It is about a young man who constantly changes identity after each overdose due to a headache he gets every year or so, which causes him to be placed under psychiatric evaluation. What made me buy this book is that Cuck Palahniuk said it was the best book he's read in at least 5 years, and I figured I would like it as well. It was an interesting read, a very quick read as well. It gave great insight into the main character, and it had a lot of twists and turns. While it wouldn't pass for one of Chuck's better novels, it still kept my attention long enough and was better than the books I had read recently. A great debut for an up and coming author, and I would recommend it to people who want to read something new and different. He is a master forger, and it creates all sorts of opportunities and problems for him. Good read.