Far more hits than misses in this collection of "transgressive" short fiction, which contains some very compelling stories and noteworthy new voices. It all runs very dark and subversive, hence the "transgressive" label. The editors, Chuck Palahniuk, Richard Thomas and Dennis Widmyer, have done an outstanding job of collecting and presenting these new writers. The editors explain what "transgressive fiction" is, with a warning about some of the subject matter. While I found the content compellingly twisted and inventive, there is nothing too over-the-top horrible here, at least for me. Just a lot of stories from the dark side, with some very interesting points of view. Whoa. I didn't know this type of fiction had a name, but now I know....transgressive! Rene Chun, a NY Times columnist described it as such: "A literary genre that graphically explores such topics as incest and other aberrant sexual practices, mutilation, the sprouting of sexual organs in various places on the human body, urban violence and violence against women, drug use, and highly dysfunctional family relationships, and that is based on the premise that knowledge is to be found at the edge of experience and that the body is the site for gaining knowledge."This book caught my attention because Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) is the editor. The stories included in the collection all passed muster with his disturbed and morbid eye. Good Halloween reading, not for the faint of heart.
What do You think about Burnt Tongues (2014)?
The style of the stories starts to become repetitive, but still some good ones worth reading.
—becka
Well, I am featured in this, so basically it's the greatest of all time.
—reader100
