well i'll be damned

it's no surprise that i'm flat-out obsessed with all things chuck palahniuk.
his books are gritty and and oftentimes offensive.  he's writes the type of books that contain characters that say all the things you wish you could say.  or think the type of thoughts that you assume make you a terrible person.  but it's honest and it's in your face.  you can't help but identify with the characters (and then hate yourself for it while simultaneously attempting to keep feelings of jealously at bay).  and although you may not share their characteristics identically he writes his characters as the inherently flawed people we all truly are.

damned is the most recent book of his that i've read.  and if you're into the struggling with the concept of heaven and hell then look no further.  he creates the most descriptive settings i have read in quite some time.  but if you can't stomach the thought of the "the sea of partial birth abortions" or  "the lake of tepid bile" then i'd steer clear.  
he describes hell as a place you can ultimately cope your way through.  if you have enough candy, if you know enough upper level demons, and if you happen to be meet the devil himself then hell is certainly a place you can navigate.  take along with you chuck's own version of the breakfast club as the characters and then throw in all the ways in which he describes you can get yourself damned and  you might catch yourself thinking twice about things you do.  like laying off the horn when you're driving.  or perhaps not using so much offensive language.  
in particularly - fuck (because if he's right then i'm fucked).  and then take into account that his protagonist is a thirteen year old little girl who thinks she's been damned because she OD'd on marijuana.
all of these things automatically make this book out of this world (pun intended).

i need you to read one of my favorite parts.
the scene: the main character's parents attempt to explain sex to her and then afterwards give her a roll of hello kitty condoms.

"now," my dad says, "when a man loves a woman very, very much..."
"or," my mom adds, shooting him a look, "when a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman."  in the fingers of one hand, she still toys with the scrap of red grosgrain ribbon.  my father nods.  "your mother is right."  he adds, "or when a man loves two women, or three women, backstage after a big rock concert..."  
"or," my mom says, "when a whole cell block of male prisoners love one new inmate very, very much..."
"or," my dad interjects, "when a motorcycle gang making a meth run across the southwestern united states loves one drunken biker chick very, very much..."

in closing, i would recommend anything that chuck writes.
i think he's flawless.  but maybe don't take my word for it.  maybe just read something by him. 
i promise he won't let you down.