Pygmy

Last night I finished reading the novel Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk. The novel is told in the form of reports written by an unnamed agent (who, due to his short stature, is nicknamed "Pygmy") who arrives in the USA from an unnamed totalitarian state posing as a high school exchange student. Taken in by an American family Pygmy is introduced to various aspects of American life which he views with total contempt, intermingled with flashbacks to his earlier life and training for his mission. It turns out that Pygmy and his fellow agents are planning a horrific attack upon America. This book, Palahniuk's tenth novel, is told in a dialect similar to what is known as "Engrish" (a kind of English originating in Japan and other East Asian countries). As usual with Palahniuk the book is kind of a satire of modern life and is very violent, rude and also extremely funny. It also has a level of heart that is quite unusual for Palahniuk.

Also, since I am determined to be successful I started writing a script for a TV show.

It was another very quiet and not particularly eventful day at work again. I am really looking forward to the weekend. On my way home I bought an issue of Total Film magazine which this month featured a list of 27 "mind-blowing" movies (2001: A Space Odyssey was number one), a big article about Inception, and a look at the life and work of Philip K. Dick (which was kind of a surprising coincidence for me because I'd been reading so much of his stuff over the past couple of weeks).