Pygmy is some fucked up nonsense. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who has read Chuck Palahniuk before, but still, fair warning. In spite, or more likely, because of its fuckedup-ness, Pygmy remains mostly entertaining.
“For official record, if become bankrupt old retail distribution centers-labeled supermega, so-enlarged foodstuff market- later reincarnate to become worship shrine. First sell food-stuff, next then same structure sell battered furnitures, next now born as gymnasium club, next broker flea markets, only at final end of life…sell religions.”
Mostly. The writing style takes a lot of getting used to, and even after a couple hundred pages, I was still having to slow down and translate quite a bit. A series of reports by the main character, the writing consists of broken English and occasional nonsense. Pygmy has been adopted by a stereotypical American family, who he has been tasked with infiltrating and therefore destroying Americans. Along with other agents sent by his unnamed country, Pygmy attempts to steal weaponry, impregnate his host sister and understand America.
I found some of the satire hysterical, particularly the bits lampooning his host family and their religion (see above quote). Other parts seemed like a bit much, or just didn’t make any damn sense. I mean, it’s all in bad taste, but some of it is ickier than the rest. Still, if you can stomach typical Palahniuk nasty, along with partially unintelligible narrating, give it a shot. You might find it funnier than you’d expect.
