Damned

I read Chuck Palahniuk's Diary before starting this blog and couldn't tell you a thing about it, except that I remember an appealing trenchancy. Damned is likely to stick in the memory longer, being an account of 13-year-old Madison Spencer's trip to Hell. The story begins as a Breakfast Club, with Madison in "detention" with a jock, cheerleader, geek, and punk. She is the daughter of a Hollywood power couple who jet off to Bhutan or Burundi every few weeks to adopt another sibling. Palahniuk is mordant and funny throughout: The English Patient plays endlessly in Hell, and Madison believes she's there because of a "marijuana overdose." The girl possesses both great wisdom and the limitations of a 13-year-old, a combination that can be jarring at times, but most readers will want to roll with it. Just think Joan of Arc.