Doomed

Written by Chuck Palahniuk

Narrated by Tai Sammons

Madison Spencer, the
liveliest, snarkiest dead girl in the universe, continues the adventures in the
afterlife begun in Damned. Having somewhat reluctantly escaped from
hell, she now wanders the purgatory that is Earth as a ghostly spirit, seeking
her do-gooding celebrity parents, fighting the malign control of Satan,
recounting the disgracefully funny encounter with her
grandfather in a fetid highway rest stop in upstate New York when she-oh,
never mind-and climaxing in a rendezvous with destiny on the new, totally
plastic continent in the Pacific called, not at all accidentally, Madlantis.

Dante
Alighieri, watch your back. Chuck Palahniuk is gaining on you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Oct 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470879372

Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk’s fourteen novels include the bestselling Snuff; Rant; Haunted; Lullaby; Fight Club, which was made into a film by director David Fincher; Diary; Survivor; Invisible Monsters; and Choke, which was made into a film by director Clark Gregg. He is also the author of the nonfiction profile of Portland, Fugitives and Refugees, and the nonfiction collection Stranger Than Fiction. His story collection Make Something Up was a widely banned bestseller. His graphic novel Fight Club II hit #1 on the New York Times list. He’s also the author of Fight Club III and the coloring books Bait and Legacy, as well as the writing guide Consider This. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Reviews for Doomed

[mayaarb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At times deeply disturbing and discomfitting, at others a cynical whirlwind of teen angst. While Palahniuk is compared to Vonegut, Ifind he reminds me much more of a darker Tom Robbins. Very well written, beautifully paced, but be prepared for moments that make your skin crawl.

[supershana · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Plot: a young girl narrates from beyond the grave via the internet while unintentionally starting a cult that results in most of humanity damned to hell and nearly causing Armageddon.This is not a review that should reflect on the author or his other books, as I am a huge fan of his. That being said, this was not my favorite book. The girl, writing about her life from ages 11-13, from the view point of a 13 year old, was just not a believable character for me. I understand she was raised in Swiss boarding schools, loved to read, and was well traveled, but I still felt some of it was a stretch, vocabulary and knowledge- wise. A part I had a big problem with was a bathroom scene in which a man stuck his penis through a glory hole and she basically smashed it off with a book. Here were my problems with that scene:-she was raised by parents who were avid nudists, yet failed to recognize a penis and mistook it for dog crap (?)-the belt buckle, boots, and truck were well described, yet she failed to recognize the man as her grandfather who she was living with at the timeAfter trying to get over that, which was referenced many times as a pretty integral scene, there was the ending. It was very disappointing, in my opinion. It was left open as "The End?" but if there was a sequel, I don't think I would read it. That being said, Invisible Monsters was a great read, and Choke was also very enjoyable! So, if this is your first time reading Chuck, I would suggest picking another. If not, go ahead and give it a try. If you already love him, it won't keep you from moving on to the next of his books :)

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Chuck, I love ya, but I wish I could Ctrl Alt Unread this one.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The dead young girl continues to describe her experiences in a blog/diary form. The dead girl has accidentally started a religion as a joke and is trying to correct this error.

[rsplenda477 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having read Palahniuk before, I was eager to consume more of his works. This one did not fail me either. I just can't express enough how much I love his bleak view of the world. His dark, yet humorous, outlook on capitalism, religion, and pretty much everything else in the Western World makes me roll with laughter. Also, his disgusting descriptions of events in his works satiate my desire for the horror genre. Doomed does all of these things...and leaves me wanting nothing but more. Thank goodness this is only part two in a series!

[kale.dyer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The dead young girl continues to describe her experiences in a blog/diary form. The dead girl has accidentally started a religion as a joke and is trying to correct this error.

[juva_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Madison is back and this time she's a ghost. She's got unfinished business on earth now and she's worried about her do-gooder parents who seem intent on sending the whole world to hell. They started a cult in Madison's name and even built a massive island out of discard plastic refuse in the middle of the Pacific ocean. If our intrepid heroine isn't timely about her return it could, in fact, be Armageddon. This book was pretty entertaining, but for a long-time reader of Palahniuk like myself, it all sounds a bit familiar. I'm not sure if he's intentionally repeating himself or just fleshing out ideas he's had before, but this book seemed to lack a certain originality. Still, it's not as bad as some of his other later novels. I enjoyed this bizarre tale and our juvenile narrator. I'm even looking forward to the next one. Curious to see where it all goes.

[kittycunningh-815148 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if the narrator mispronounced words because she was trying to make the point that Madison thinks she is smarter than she really is, or if she just didn't bother to check words she didn't know.

The story sucked. The characters were all unsympathetic. And it isn't finished. This is part of a series and there is more to come of this torture porn grotesquery. I'm sorry I wasted time and money on it. I'm done with this author.

[y2ash · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Doomed continues a few months after the events of Damned with 13 year old chubby Madison Spencer breaking her curfew on Halloween night and having to spend the whole year on Earth. Doomed delves more into Madison's backstory, mostly of her eleventh year. That's when she was banished to stay with her grandparents after creeping her parents out with her fake diary entries of gross bestiality.

In the present, Madison discovers there is a new religion throughout the world: Boorism. People can be just as crude, rude, and downright nasty to one another on the mistaken belief that they will be going to heaven. People everywhere are shouting "Hail Maddy!" Boorism was started by her parents because of a well-intentioned but poorly executed attempt to make hercparents feel better about Madison's death. Also, because she wanted them to be damned together.

While all of this is happening, The Devil is taunting her and the people she thought were her friends seem to be only cogs in the Hell machine. But Madison discovers she might hold a bigger purpose than just being The Devil's puppet.

I liked Doomed more than Damned but only by a smidge. I enjoyed the backstory, really how everything was interconnected and that it seemed that Madison's grandmother, mother, and herself had no free will. Everything was a machination from Hell. That was interesting because nothing happened by coincidence.

I am so glad Palahniuk wasn't as gross and disgusting as he was in Damned. I was very grateful for that. I mean the whole incident with the grandfather in the bathroom was ridiculous beyond belief and gross but I could deal.

Madison got annoying as time went on. She seemed spoiled and I grew tired of her and ctrl-alt-insert random emotion here. I am not sure if I'm going to like the Endgame to this trilogy.

[reneenmeland · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Chuck Palahniuk has done it again. I didn't want this book to end, and can't wait for the next one! As far as the writing goes, Chuck is a walking Master Class in the art of voice. There are so many authors out now where you could rip a page out of one of their books and you would have no idea who wrote it. Not with Chuck. His writing is so distinctive you could tell Chuck's work down to the paragraph. And I think that's a huge accomplishment. Madison Spencer had me laughing out loud through the entire book.

Bravo, Mr. Palahniuk.

[elliepotten · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second book in Palahniuk's Damned trilogy. I actually liked it more than Damned; that one was crazier and more shamelessly grotesque, with Madison traversing Hell with her new friends, whereas in this one she's stuck in Purgatory (drifting around on Earth as a ghost) watching the consequences of her accidental phone call to her grieving parents in the first novel. It was still mad, and occasionally disjointed, but it felt a bit more grounded than the last book, which helped.

[elka.gimpel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Doomed is the 2nd book in the Damned trilogy which chronicles the exploitation and exploits of 13 year old Madison Spencer, a cynical smartass with an impressive vocabulary. When Madison misses hell’s curfew on Halloween night, she becomes trapped on earth. As one of the formerly alive, she must contend with a K addled ghost hunter, the accidental damning of the whole world, and Satan’s pedophilic advances.It’s been so long since I’ve read Damned that I had to put Doomed down after the first chapter for a quick refresher of Maddie & Co’s past exploits. Written in blog posts and tweets it moved quickly, but got stuck in a few spots–I think the author was having a little too much fun describing monkey penis and the different shades of dog turds. Doomed largely focuses on Maddie’s life with her parents and the events that lead to her being condemned to hell; so, it was mostly back-story, and in some blog posts, it takes us centuries back. Madison learns that even before she was born, someone, or something, has been shaping her destiny.The amount of fart jokes, wiener whacking, and descriptions of bestiality were typical Chuck. Fans of the first won’t be disappointed, but I wouldn’t suggest my mother read this. It was a solid middle of a series book–not as great as the first and doesn’t have the type of expectations attached to it that the last would.

[morgtini · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think that I was sort of entranced by Damned when I first read it, but Doomed didn't live up to everything I'd remembered it's predecessor to be. I found myself entirely annoyed with Maddie, with her pompous, childish attitude and I didn't entirely like the direction Palahniuk took at the end of the book. I did enjoy going back into Maddie's childhood, and finding out how she had reached her current position in Hell, but I just didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the series. I'm hoping that the third book will be less annoying and more engaging, though I have to admit that I think if I went back and reread Damned I'd probably find Maddie just as annoying as I did this time.

[vinbert-2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I much preferred Damned. I didn't care for the set up of this, of how all the chapters with Madison started off as "tweets" Also, the other chapters, those dealing with the "mock" Madison, I found those hard to read, they seemed to just run together. Here's hoping it all comes together in the final installment.

[Longbow · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had hoped to find a gem, like Fight Club or Haunted. This book is a turd.