Diary (novel)

Cover of Chuck Palahniuk's Diary

Diary (2003, 260 pages) is a novel that was written by Chuck Palahniuk. It centers on Misty Wilmot, a once-promising young artist who's drinking too much and working as a waitress in a hotel. Her husband, a contractor, is in a coma after a suicide attempt, and his clients are threatening Misty with lawsuits over a series of vile messages they've discovered on the walls of houses he remodeled.

Suddenly, Misty's artistic talent returns. Inspired but confused by a burst of creativity, she soon finds herself a pawn in a larger conspiracy that threatens to cost hundreds of lives.

Diary loosely falls into the modern horror genre of fiction, putting aside violence and shock tactics in favour of psychological scares and dark humour.

The audio version of Diary is narrated by actress Martha Plimpton.

The main narrative

Diary takes the form of a "coma diary" kept by a Misty Marie Wilmot as her husband lies senseless in a hospital after a suicide attempt. Once she was an art student dreaming of creativity and freedom; now, after marrying Peter at school and being brought back to once quaint, now tourist-overrun Waytansea Island, she's been reduced to the condition of a resort hotel maid. Peter, it turns out, has been hiding rooms in houses he's remodeled and scrawling vile messages all over the walls - an old habit of builders but dramatically overdone in Peter's case. Angry homeowners are suing left and right, and Misty's dreams of artistic greatness are in ruins. But then, as if possessed by the spirit of Maura Kinkaid, a fabled Waytansea artist of the nineteenth century, Misty begins painting again, compulsively.

Misty discovers the islanders, including her father-in-law (previously thought to be dead), are trying to keep outsiders away, as her husband's messages tried to do. Houses inhabited by outsiders are targeted for arson by a group dedicated to the islanders' cause. The story ends with Misty and her family fleeing the burning art museum where her paintings are being exhibited.

Acclaim

* "Some of his best work is here...It could be Palahniuk's most ambitious novel to date, certainly the most ambitious since Fight Club." --The Washington Post Book World
* "Madly inventive...It simply, exuberantly, escapes literary categorization." --Los Angeles Times
* "Diary is far more inspired and philosophical than one would expect even from a top-drawer horror novel." --The Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer
* "Palahniuk has never sounded more like a latter-day Kurt Vonnegut than he does here...Palahniuk is hitting his stride." --The New York Times
* "The closest thing to a plain old mystery Palahniuk has ever written...Stunning, funky stuff." --Entertainment Weekly
* "Daring...Palahniuk's inspiration comes from love of the vernacular of subculters, a black but cynical sense of humor, and a fondness for unusual plt twists...Ominous, shocking." --Chicago Sun-Times
* "Intriguing...Must read for art lovers and those who love a good puzzle." --The Baltimore Sun
* "Palahniuk continues to redefine 'scary' for his readers. Recalling such classic horror tales as Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, Diary 's dark side reveals itself slowly, quietly...Unravelling the mystery that Misty's life has become is as eye-opening for us as it is for her." --Chicago Tribune
* "In his inimitable style, Palahniuk has forged another chilling tale out of our deepest fears and given readers a Rosemary's Baby for the new millennium...Diary is Palahniuk at his harrowing best." --Bookpage
* "This is a book you won't soon forget." --The Hartford Courant
* "Palahniuk's pacing is impeccable...A compelling portrait of the artist as an unwitting conduit of evil." --The Boston Globe
* "Palahniuk is a bracingly toxic purveyor of dread and mounting horror. He makes nihilism fun." --Vanity Fair
* "Palahniuk delightfully pushes Diary into the ludicrous, but his restless intelligence coheres plotwise, and as always he makes his ideas move." --The Village Voice
* "To read a Chuck Palahniuk novel means being shocked, enlightened, disturbed, buoyed, horrified, delighted and perplexedPittsburg Tribune Review