Book #15: Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Published: May 1, 2007

Synopsis: Buster “Rant” Casey is dead, but in his short, fast paced life, he has managed to change history. In fact, history seems to be following Rant even to his grave. Despite his heart and body coming to an end, everything that society had become was all because of him.

Rant couldn’t have died. No, everyone seemed to keep him alive. Because everyone knew Rant Casey.

Born in the small town of Middleton, full of hicks and rednecks, Buster was an exceptional child. Not in the way that he was the most intelligent, but he had amazing senses of taste and smell, more advanced than any human. Growing up in a rural town, Buster seems like just another kid with spectacular ideas. He always seemed to know what to do, where to find things, what everyone knew before they were even thinking about it. Nobody knew why or how he acquired all his knowledge, his skills or his confidence as a kid. But he was exceptional.

Buster put his mind to it and began pulling series upon series of pranks on his small town, until he began to acquire his life-long nickname, “Rant.” On top of being an ingenious troublemaker, at a young age he just always happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Then again, with Buster Casey, it could have been the right time. Because of these instances, he happened to start building up another reputation as a serial killer. Towards the end of his life, he was known to be the greatest serial killer of all time. His life ended in a fiery, explosive collision, with his body nowhere to be found.

Told in a form of an oral biography, testimonials of those who knew him, those who heard of him, and those who wished they knew him, were collected and drafted, combined by his friends in an effort to figure out the truth about Rant.

Thoughts: I have to start off saying I LOVE this book by Chuck Palahniuk. A lot of people know he’s written Fight Club (if you didn’t know that, you can pay your respects now) and gives little attention to his other works. With that being said, this easily snakes up around its ranks for me. Palahniuk is known to twist absolutely every aspect of his novel in a satirical, intricate, and hilarious way. (Heads up: I’ve read a lot of his books so don’t be surprised when I just keep writing reviews about him)

I’ll be completely honest though. This was not an easy book to get started on. The oral biography style was confusing because you didn’t really know the characters too well at first, there were some symbols (which actually have a lot of meaning later on) that I didn’t understand, and perspectives and topics changed quickly. If you’re not one that can adjust to fast-paced alterations like that, this book might be a challenge to read. If you’re up for the challenge and love complicated storylines, plot twist after plot twist, hidden meanings and a twisted, crazy place that Palahniuk has set the stage for once again, then you’re in for a fun ride.