Note: I received access to read this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Burnt Tongues has some good writing in it but I don't feel better for having read it. A bunch of writers imitate Chuck Palahniuk's writing style but I only liked one of the stories from beginning to end: Charlie. ( )

A highly original transgressive collection of Palahniukian fiction. Burnt Tongues is different most other anthologies you have read because it's a greatest hits of Chuck Palahniuk's workshop.

The stories are unique and amazing but even with that the introduction is worth the price of entry alone. For anthology and collection lover like myself it is a treat to be treated with great introductory words.

Burnt Tounges starts really strong with Neil Krolicki "Live this Down" and Chris Lewis Carter's "Charlie", which shine a very jagged and human light on difficult themes like suicide and animal rescue. Of course, the quality wavers, but there are some standout peppered throughout the collection like Brandon Tietz' heart wrenching "Dietary" and Brien Piechos' witty "Heavier Petting".

Deeply twisted. Highly literary. All with a touch of Palahniuk. Something that is needed right now. Right now. Now. ( )

Burnt Tongues is a collection of twenty dark, twisted, slightly off-kilter tales. They are as a whole strange and disturbing and run the gamet from teenage suicide pacts to bestiality to zombie whorehouses. These stories deliberately make the reader uncomfortable and may not be mainstream enough for all. These stories do have excellent writing in common and are guaranteed to leave you slackjawed and ready to puke.

Tales of teen suicides in fancy hotel suites, voyeuristic videos passed around the school, kids who really torture animals, bored employees in corporate cubicles, body torture to pass the time by retail clerks, a love affair with a girl named Melody, undercover reporters with few places to hide their recorders, being mistaken for someone famous, a high-heeled lady who just appears in an alley, a vodka kind of girl, a beauty queen and her new diet, girls without arms, abandoned homes in Detroit, special needs students, and more. ( )

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.

Reference

The New Oxford American Dictionary (Kindle Locations 860533-860534). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. ( )