Chuck Palahniuk, the mind behind novels like “Fight Club”, “Choke”, and “Survivor”, has been a leading figure in pop fiction for over a decade now. It’s odd, since most of his work aims to tear down the very culture that built him up. His fan base is massive and expanding, so much so that his website is not official, but fan-built, called “The Cult”.

Palahniuk is very supportive of this site and last year put out a call for transgressive short stories from his fan base, which he would sift through with the goal of selecting the best of the best for a collection. The response he got was a testament to the influence he’s had since “Fight Club” was published in 1996.

The term “transgressive fiction” refers to stories that push social boundaries often tackling taboo subjects deemed shameful and inappropriate by most people. If you want a better definition of this term, open this book and feast on the transgression.

The 20 stories found in “Burt Tongues” run back and forth across the spectrum like an explosive game of Pong. Some of the topics touch upon include: a suicide pact between teen girls gone horribly wrong; a one night stand between a mute and an armless heroin addict; an obese woman trying to lose weight through truly disturbing ways; a journalist infiltrating a zombie house of prostitution; and a mentally-disabled boy obsessed with a girl at the grocery store he works.

These stories are very quick but not at all painless.

You can see Palahniuk in every one of these including his influence and his fingerprint. This sometimes is not good because there are 20 different authors but the voice rarely changes up enough to notice. It often feels like one voice speaking in every story. Not that this voice is not entertaining. It’s a great one but each writer should have his or her own style. This is something that is often lacking.

Throughout this book, it’s hard to not feel like taking a shower as the stories jump from gross to distressing to straight up gag-worthy. Often, the feeling comes after a story to drop the book and say, “Nope, no way. Not happening. Absolutely nope.” It happened to me several times.

If you are a fan of Palahniuk and his subversive style of writing, this collection is for you. You will laugh at the dark comedy – and I mean black as the dead of space or a third degree burn – and you will be on the edge of your seat just trying to figure out what could possibly happen next. There are no boxes here. There are no lines these authors are trying to draw inside of.

Nothing is safe. Nothing is sacred.

If you have a bad taste in your mouth after reading this anthology, keep reading until you can’t taste anything anymore. Push through.

Exploring this side of fiction can be rewarding and a change of pace for those used to more popular, easy-going bestsellers. Try it out but be warned – it will mess you up.