Chuck, whose previous works include Fight Club and Invisible Monsters, is definitely one of my all time favourite authors purely because he transgresses societal norms and expectations and writes some truly original pieces, his previous work Haunted is the most debauch pieces I’ve ever read, but as I did not read it in 2017, it is well beyond the scope of this piece.

To turn to Beautiful You, after that tangent of Palahniuk loving conjecture, which has everything a gal like me could possibly need: a junior lawyer at the edge of her tether, an evil scheme to dominate the world, murder, sex toys and a reclusive old woman who lives in a cave teaching the sexual secrets of the world.

The book is truly satirical, taking misogyny, fame, fashion, self-help, science, sex, capitalism and erotica all in its stride. This is definitely not a book á la 50 Shades of Grey with an aim to get your rocks off; it is very much a dark satire of the very best kind.

Penny, our ingénue turned femme fatale, has a truly encapsulating trajectory in the book. She emerges from her unfulfilled work in a law firm into a world of fame, fashion and sex after meeting C. Linus Maxwell (nickname Climax-Well) a billionaire tech magnate and her new lover. Things take a dark turn, and I won’t ruin all the fun, when Maxwell’s sex-toy business begins to boom, leading to all women on earth becoming enslaved to their own personal pleasure, much to the detriment of earth’s male occupants. Questions begin to arise as to whether there may be an ulterior motive behind Maxwell’s business. Will Penny discover the truth? Will she emancipate women kind from sexual ensnarement? Or will she too become a victim of Maxwell’s evil plan? I’ll leave that for you to discover.

Palahniuk’s work is not for the faint hearted. Those who like transgression, dark satire and have no limits – get a glass of wine and prepare to have fun.

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