Burnt Tongues - a collection of transgressive stories. Transgressive fiction authors write stories some are afraid to tell. Stories with taboo subjects, unique voices, shocking images—nothing safe or dry

Burnt Tongues, Edited by Chuck Palahniuk, Richard Thomas, Dennis Widmyer. Medallion Press, 2014.

Transgressive fiction authors write stories some are afraid to tell. Stories with taboo subjects, unique voices, shocking images—nothing safe or dry.
Burnt Tongues is a collection of transgressive stories selected by a rigorous nomination and vetting process and hand-selected by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, as the best of The Cult workshop.
These stories run the gamut from horrific and fantastic to humorous and touching, but each leaves a lasting impression.
Some may say even a scar.

Authors: Daniel Broallt, Keith Buie, Chris Lewis Carter, Michael De Vito, Jr., Terence James Eeles, Matt Egan, Jason M. Fylan, Amanda Gowin, Bryan Howie, Tyler Jones, Phil Jourdan, Neil Krolicki, Richard Lemmer, Tony Liebhard, Gus Moreno, Brien Piechos, Adam Skorupskas, Brandon Tietz, Gayle Towell, Fred Venturini

Despite its little-heralded status in literary circles, the counterculture genre known as transgressive fiction, wherein the author and/or protagonist bucks social conventions by violating one or more taboos, actually has a rather illustrious history. Classic novels such as Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, featuring the murderous Raskolnikov, for instance, can be categorized as transgressive fiction. In this collection of 20 contemporary short stories, lead editor Palahniuk makes certain each piece qualifies as an example of both first-rate craftsmanship and something that pushes the envelope of social acceptability. In Neil Krolicki’s opening tale, Live This Down, three humiliated high-school girls plot their suicides using a poison-gas recipe gleaned from the Internet. An animal-shelter technician in Chris Lewis Carter’s Charlie recognizes the tortured cat someone drops off as one he himself abused when it was a kitten. Matt Egan’s A Vodka Kind of Girl recounts the sad fate of a calorie-counting, bulimic woman. Anyone looking for boundary-breaking tales that also pack a haunting, powerful punch will find hours of entertainment here. --Carl Hays

 

“This is a book of spores. These stories, you breathe onto the page and they float up into your mucous membranes, their spiky edges lodging characters and voices in your head that shudder to life when you least expect it. Just when you think you’ve closed the book, it opens up all over again, inside you.”—Stephen Graham Jones
 

Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk, who is said to have made audiences faint after reading from his own short story Guts, is plotting the release of a collection of "transgressive" short stories on "taboo" subjects by budding writers.
The novelist, who is currently penning a graphic novel sequel to Fight Club, also mentors writers online as part of what his publisher called his "mission to bring people back to books". His students are encouraged to use "a minimal writing style like Palahniuk's", said Titan Books, and now the best of their work – as chosen by Palahniuk – is being combined to create the anthology Burnt Tongues, out this autumn.
"Transgressive fiction authors write stories some are afraid to tell. Stories with taboo subjects, unique voices, shocking images – nothing safe or dry," says its publisher. "These stories run the gamut from horrific and fantastic to humorous and touching, but each leaves a lasting impression. Some may say even a scar."
Palahniuk's own story, Guts, which features disturbing scenes of masturbation, is reported to have made listeners faint. "The publicist who watched all three events said the people fell the moment I read the words 'corn and peanuts'. It was that detail that made seated people go limp," Palahniuk has written. "Standing people, according to my translator in Italy, they just dropped, disappearing in the crowd. In Bologna, where an actor read Guts in Italian, the listening crowd was riddled with holes, empty spaces where people and fallen and lay on the stone floor. 'Do you know,' the translator said, 'this awful story is being read in a cathedral?'"
Burnt Tongues' 20 stories "are as eclectic as the authors themselves", said Titan Books, which has just acquired the book in the UK, with titles ranging from Zombie Whorehouse to Mind and Soldier. Heather Musick at its US publisher Medallion Press called Burnt Tongues a "remarkable collection of transgressive short stories by talented authors whose work captivates and leaves an indelible mark".  - Alison Flood