Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk – Reviewed by Guy Portman
Tender Branson, the last survivor of the Creedish Church cult, has hijacked an aeroplane, which is now flying on autopilot. His objective: to dictate his life story onto its black box before the plane crashes. Tender details how the Nebraska-based church sent him out into the world to work as a domestic servant, in order to earn money, which he was obliged to turn over to the cult. Employed by an ostentatiously wealthy couple he never saw, Tender became an expert on everything from eating etiquette, stain removal and furniture arrangement, to food preparation and flower presentation.
Later, our protagonist finds fame as the last purported surviving member of his cult. His new status sees him transform into a self-conscious, vain celebrity with a host of TV appearances to his name and a best-selling prayer book.
Survivor is an innovative and erudite social commentary, brimming with satirical observations. Amongst the targets for its irreverent dark humour are death, The Bible and suicide hotlines. The text could be described as Dadaist due to the emphasis on the frivolous, the superficial and the narcissistic.
In this voracious Palahniuk reader’s opinion, Survivor is a work of undoubted genius, and one of the author’s best efforts. However, it is let down slightly by the latter stages, which are somewhat rambling.
