About a week ago I made my way to a book store after realising it had been some time since I had bothered to read anything that wasn’t on some kind of screen. Not knowing what I wanted or what was available that I would be keen on reading, I fell back on a consistently good author named Chuck. His last name is Palahniuk, and I don’t intend on having to mention that surname anymore, due to the difficulty in spelling the damn thing. Lo and behold I was told that his latest book was indeed available. But it wasn’t the book I was looking for. Nor was it the droid. I was keen on getting Snuff, but instead, was shown a book called Pygmy. After a quick scan of the back cover, I bought it. It’s not really all that hard deciding to purchase something you know – or at least are certain of – is going to be good. The adventure of this operative had begun.

Ok. Firstly, how in the name of wide wide world of sports can this book be summarised without either spoiling it or worse, ruining the concept with some feeble attempt at explanation? I am really not sure, so bear with me as I try my best to do neither. The way Chuck has written this book is both difficult and very rewarding. The story follows a diminutive young man named Pygmy, who has been accepted as a foreign exchange student with an American dream nuclear family in an un-named small-town in the heartland. He is not just there to study. He is planning something big.

Delivered via ‘despatches’ which detail Pygmy’s experiences both past and present, Chuck has managed to fire vicious barbs at American culture using the disjointed voice of his protagonist. It is hard to read the book and not put on a voice; broken English the kind you can stereotype with someone of Asian decent. At the start of each shift reading the book, it takes some time to get into the groove of being able to read it fluently. As usual, Chuck repeats things. In an interview with the author here, he explains his use of repetition, and in this case, the use of quotes from various dictators:

The quotes are nonfiction elements, and by including a nonfiction element, you lend a greater reality to an incredible fictional story, like the rules in Fight Club. They lend gravity to the scene and they signal the scene is being summarized and ended in Pygmy’s mind.

The family Pygmy lives with is never named. In fact names are rarely used, except for those of his fellow exchange students – or operatives, as he puts it. The Cedar family, with which he is living, includes ‘cow father’, ‘chicken mother’, ‘pig dog brother’ and the most interesting member, ‘cat sister’. It can be said that Pygmy is not just there to learn, he is planning something. The other foreigners, or operatives, all share the one goal – the same plan. It has to be said the way that Pygmy views those around him, the community and society as a whole can be quite negative and often scathing. But it is hidden under a veil of single-mindedness, brainwashed into him at a young age, so almost sounds innocent.

The great part of this novel is how Chuck has managed to get across this sense of desire of Pygmy to fulfill his obligations to the plan with a gradual softening of his hatred of America. Seeing Americans through his eyes, as I said before, lets some serious shit be said and done. But it is all done with this constant wonder and suspense as to what the ‘plan’ is. The book builds upon a foundation that gradually reveals itself and the final act is sheer brilliance. I couldn’t put it down once I was on the home straight and the feeling of contentment and satisfaction at the end is great. I can easily recommend this book to all who enjoy Chuck’s twisted, acerbic and surreal take on the world.

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