Burnt Tongues Paperback – August 12, 2014

Though earlier examples have existed, only to end up banned or destroyed, transgressive literature is often cited as germinating with the Marquis de Sade in the late 1700s, before spreading (some would say “metastasizing”) with the works of Emile Zola, Henry Miller, and William S. Burroughs, and more recently, trafficked throughout the novels of Irvine Welsh and this very anthology’s co-editor, Chuck Palahniuk.More risqué in nature than the gothic and noir, yet skating the rim without slipping fully into the empty literary doldrums of all-out pornography, transgressive fiction deals in marginalized characters seeking redemption and identity within the bizarre and grotesque. Violence, incest, body horror, and drug abuse are just a few of the taboos the genre uses as vehicle by which to explore the human condition, in the process unveiling some nasty truths that many people would rather keep chained and out of view in the labyrinths of their hearts and minds.In an effort to further legitimatize and codify the genre, Palahniuk, along with neo-noir writer Richard Thomas and filmmaker Dennis Widmyer, have amassed twenty festering, bruised tales dredged up by some of the hardest rising authors working in the field today. The result is Burnt Tongues: An Anthology of Transgressive Stories—“Burnt Tongues” being a phrase Palahniuk has used to describe the deliberate misuse of words in awkward, interesting ways to jumpstart the reader into seeing them anew.Within the covers of this wonderfully disturbing, squirm-inducing collection, you’ll find all the mortifying, self-inflicted scars you go through great pains to hide from even our closest intimates; the highway blood-smears you can’t help rubberneck; the snarling undulations behind doors left ajar, just enough for your curious but tentative eye to squeeze through.Burnt Tongues wastes no time kicking you into the deep end, opening with Neil Krolicki’s Live This Down. Three teenaged girls, having endured torment and embarrassment of the worst kind in school—including an especially pulpous miscarriage in a hot-tub full of students—form a suicide pact and find a drug cocktail recipe online to do the trick. Soon after taking the concoction, they learn that it can be harder to leave the world as it is to live in it, and suffer the final ironic consequence of failing even at death.In Paper, by Gayle Towell, an actuarial research analyst employs toilet paper as a means to explore her own self-worth between comparing the sexual nuances of her new lover against her ex-husband.Love advice is sought and given in Phil Jourdan’s Mind and Soldier. After a young man solicits his neighbor—a wheelchair-bound war veteran—for pointers on approaching a crush, he’s promptly given an honest crash-course in all manner of monstrous self-loathing and masculine inadequacy.A mute building inspector in Detroit finds an overdosed, limbless junkie in a condemned building, and takes her on an unorthodox ride with him in Adam Skorupskas’s Invisible Graffiti, a modern fairytale about the brain’s ability to create normality out of the most unorthodox situations.And in the anthology’s final story, positioned ideally to administer the coup de grace to whatever remains of your sensibilities, Daniel W. Broallt pulls all the stops with Zombie Whorehouse, a tale of an undercover journalist investigating a secret brothel where the objects of lust are the titular undead. It’s the ultimate exploration of sexual limits and the shapes they can take; the realization that you’re only made aware of your most warped proclivities only after they’ve been thrust upon you.In the remainder of this compendium of deliciously vile behaviors and actions, you’ll find lonely criminals, violent youth, abused animals, bulimic prostitutes, the wretched and disfigured taking desperate—and in some case, final—aim at normalcy and acceptance. Sometimes you’ll want to avert your eyes or silently close the book, never to touch it again, but stay with it. There’s real soul and humanity lurking under all the fluids and scars, and you’ll emerge all the better for tackling it head on, albeit in want of a shower or two afterwards.

OK, the tales are twisted, but not really NSFW. Videos might be NSFW, so might pictures. (My Kindle epub has no pictures). Generally speaking, if you are reading some of these stories at work, you won’t get busted. Just don’t read them on a “parents take their kids to work day.” If you do, don’t let your kids read over your shoulder.Burnt Tongues is a collection of short stories edited by Chuck Palahniuk. Note the subtitle: An Anthology of Transgressive Stories. To get an idea of what transgressive as a genre is, I refer to the dictionary that comes with the Amazon Kindle Application for PC under special usage:of or relating to fiction, cinematography, or art in which orthodox cultural, moral, and artistic boundaries are challenged by the representation of unconventional behavior and the use of experimental forms.This is a qualified definition, meaning a writer in this genre can use other phrases, such as minimalist or grotesque. The editors of this volume explain this in their forward. In The Power of Persisting: An Introduction, Chuck Palahniuk adds thoughts on how this genre came to be so unconventional. His introduction will soften the blow for unprepared readers.That’s about as much warning as I can give.Note that I gave the overall writing a four. There are stories that rate a five, but not all. Out of 20 stories, I only found one that I would rate 3, all others are 4 and higher.There are 20 short stories. I like to read one story and immediately write a few words or a short initial impression. Some stories are so twisted the reader might want to close the book and come back later. Fasten the seat belt, here goes.Live This Down by Neil Krolicki. Not all Japanese imports are equally good.Charlie Chris by Lewis Carter. A story about making amends.Paper by Gayle Towell. Everything should be put on paper.Mating Calls by Tony Liebhard. It’s not about losing; it’s about how you recover.Melody by Michael De Vito, Jr. How to win Melody? It’s a snap.F for Fake by Tyler Jones. A search for a real identity.Mind and Soldier by Phil Jourdan. A shifting reality based on, or the lack of, medication.Ingredients by Richard Lemmer. It’s all in how you play the game.The Line Forms On the Right. by Amanda Gowin All in the family.A Vodka Kind of Girl by Matt Egan. An extreme diet regimen.Gasoline by Fred Venturini . Scars visible and not.Dietary by Brandon Tietz. An even more extreme diet regimen.Invisible Graffiti by Adam Skorupskas. Unspoken, unseen, but still heard graffiti.Bike by Bryan Howie. The reader makes up the ending in this one.Heavier Petting by Brien Piechos. It’s a dog’s life.Engines, O-rings, and Astronauts by Jason M. Fylan. Contrition.Lemming by Terence James Eeles. For this story, the title says it all.The Routine by Keith Buie. Pharmaceutical woes and depression.Survived by Gus Moreno. Missed phone calls; missed, but not forgotten.Zombie Whorehouse by Daniel W. Broallt. Many have claimed problems with a dead f***. But this is over the top. ReferenceThe New Oxford American Dictionary (Kindle Locations 860533-860534). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

because the authors using fake names have contacted me telling me their opinion of me, 2 authors have and gratefully their names do not appear in the anthology. I am compelled to leave a review because I firmly believe that if a story sticks to you it's done it's job. As usual there are a couple of stories that are just bad. I was angry twofold, at myself for reading it, them for writing it. Then the stories began to get better and better. The one that predominantly sticks out for me was penned by Brien Piechos. Not just the writing style(a hair to long) the topics that he set up and knocked down, wow. Spoiler alert, now it begins with the mother wanting greener pastures, a neglected kid, mom goes to Vegas to reconnect and promptly neglects again. Then in concise summation relates how wolves eat kids of parents who perpetuate cycles instead of breaking the cycle and then most lose direction in life. We all have met someone like Redemption, then he goes on about those who see more into animals. He offended me at first then I had to check me because it true, because I don't want to think about people who believe and like to live this way. It's amazing how if you change the name of the sin, and it can be any sin bestiality(animal husbandry) adultry(sex addiction) the acceptance rate goes up and up. Even child neglect becomes acceptable. I did burn my tongue with this story, it was an honest view,a wake up call that when people need to purge their conscience to listen to the hurt they aren't sharing. Brien P thank you. Now there are quite a few honors in no particular order to Jason Fylan, Bryan Howie, Brandon Tietz, and two more. I will be looking for works by all these writers. Hopefully looking for a Burnt Tongues 2. Thank you all for the last week, I had a great time, see you again soon.

So, bought this on a whim as I have always been a huge fan of chuck palahniuk.These book does not fail to please, each writer has their own style and the shock value varies from chapter to chapter. Only halfway through, but definitely am enjoyable read thus far.

I really enjoyed this anthology. Some stories I definitely preferred to others but that's the nature of any collection of stories, and they were all intriguing in their own way. It's also nice as a light read because you can dip in and out, as the stories are obviously all separate and you can come back to it after not having read it in a while and just pick up where you left off. If you're a fan of Chuck, and his subject matter/style of writing, you'll probably enjoy this book.

Absolutely great selection of 21st Century horror wannabees. Some of the short stories are really twisted, kind of what I love about Palahniuk books in general. It's good to see he can spot his talent in others. Not for the faint hearted but then if you read Chuck's books you are with a kindred spirit

Regrettably it seems most of the writers involved were trying to emulate and therefore please the celebrated editor of this anthology. While Palahniuk's prose normally tickles even as it lingers on the seedy side of life a few too many here are on a joyless mission to disgust the reader. There are also repeated visits to the same topics - suicide, violence enacted by children, outlandish sex - which while squarely in the editor's wheelhouse here just serve to emphasise the collection's weaknesses.

As a Palahniuk fan, I was definitely going to get this. The contributing writers do not fail to shock and amuse and their ideas are very tight and well-paced. An excellent showcase of some new unknown writers.