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Only problem of Chuck Palahniuk’s latest book Pygmy: Writing so cryptic in broken English that account of mission of operative Pygmy gives reader headache. Begins here review of telling story of young spy sent to United States for priority mission Operation Havoc. For official record, agent number 67 with name Pygmy by host pig dog brother and host cat sister sent to Midwest America to live with soda drinking, “Made in China” shirt wearing, and Wal-Mart shopping family and attend brainwashing song singing and spelling war holding middle school to carry out terrorist mission.
Although Palahniuk’s Clockwork Orange-esque writing does take some time to get used to, within a few chapters the quirky Pygmy’s storytelling develops a familiar rhythm. In each dispatch entry, Pygmy recounts his day-to-day activities with his host families, at school and with his fellow operatives. His blunt and literal descriptions of his activities are humorous, as they show just how clumsy his attempts to blend in really are. His attempt to invite a girl to dance with him goes horribly wrong when he asks, “Speciman female, permit perform mating dance prior generate human embryo?” When Pygmy attends a Model United Nations meeting as the U.S. representative, he not only fails to stand up for America, but goes on to apologize to the other teenage delegates about America’s overuse of world energy resources, problems with obesity and history of slavery. Throw in several colorful illustrations of how he could easily decapitate every person he meets with a Punching Panda or Striking Cobra Quick Kill attack and a few inspiration quotes from his buddies Che Guevara, Benito Mussolini, and Mao Tse-tung, and Pygmy almost becomes charming. But despite all the craziness of his new American life, Pygmy never loses sight of his mission: to win the science fair, get his project to Washington D.C., and use it to massacre civilians.
Compared to Palahniuk’s previous books Fight Club, Choke and Invisible Monsters, Pygmy, with its difficult prose and slow-to-develop plot, is unlikely to gain a cult following. But Palahniuk has never been afraid to express unpopular ideas, and Pygmy is no different. Underneath the comical situations of the story, Pygmy picks up on the cultural oddities, dysfunctional family relationships and senseless social behavior of modern American life and declares them with a frankness that makes readers wonder why they are tolerated in the first place. The book does not scold or preach wisdom, but rather tries to open our eyes in that candid, “kids say the darndest thing” kind of manner. Palahniuk’s satire of modern America through the experiences of this impressionable political troublemaker is an entertaining and provocative read.
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