Line #42 Literature/InvisibleMonsters


1	[[quoteright:292:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/invisiblemonsterspalahniuk_2539.jpg]]
2	[[quoteright:221:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/invisiblemonstersremixpalahniuk_3298.jpg]]
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4	->"''Give me attention. Flash.''"
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6	''Invisible Monsters'' is a 1999 novel by Creator/ChuckPalahniuk about a beautiful fashion model. Despite her awful past and family difficulties, "Daisy St. Patience" continues to be widely successful, and even holds down a relationship with a handsome detective. That is, until [[FromBadToWorse everything goes to hell]] ''and her entire lower jaw is blown off in a drive-by shooting.''
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8	Save for her mangled jaw and [[TheVoiceless inability to talk]], she is left perfectly intact and carefully drives herself to hospital, only to soon suffer a [[HeroicBSOD massive breakdown]] when she learns birds flew into her car and [[NightmareFuel ate the remains of her face]]. Soon switching to baby food and starting ventriloquism lessons to learn how to talk again, Daisy quickly [[TheFaceless adopts a few veils]] when she meets Brandy Alexander, the large-handed drag queen supreme who is one surgery away from being a "real" woman. Taking Daisy under her wing, Brandy gives her a new identity and starts teaching her how to let go of her past and live again.
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10	Interestingly, the book was originally denied by publishers for being too dark, and ''Invisible Monsters'' was supposed to be Palahniuk's first novel; after responding by making an [[TakeThatCritics even more offensive]] novel (which turned out to be his most famous book -- ''Literature/FightClub''), the eventual success of ''Fight Club'' meant Palahniuk's ''Invisible Monsters'' was given another chance and published.
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12	Not to be confused with the other InvisibleMonsters.
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14	----
15	!!Tropes found in this work:
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17	* AnachronicOrder: The first book jumps around frequently, but the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Remix]]'' version jumps around even more through a "choose your own adventure" type guidance you can optionally follow.[[note]]At the end of each chapter, the book notes "Now, please turn to chapter X" for if you want an alternative reading experience closer to what Palahniuk originally wanted (but was talked out of to prevent over-complicating the plot).[[/note]]
18	* AndIMustScream: An interesting variant, as the narrator instead copes with her suicidal temptations and lack of mouth by laughing manically (as it's all people can understand from her).
19	-->What the doctors told me was unless they rebuilt me some kind of jaw [...] I could die any time I fell asleep. I could just stop breathing and not wake up. A quick, painless death.\
20	On my pad with my pen, I wrote:\
21	''don't tease''
22	* ArcWords:
23	** Birds ate my face.
24	** Sorry, Mom. Sorry, God.
25	** Give me X. Flash.
26	** Jump to…
27	%%* BittersweetEnding
28	* BlackComedy: Most of the situations the narrator finds herself in, including the wedding reception at the end of the book.
29	%%* TheBlank: "''Birds ate my face.''"
30	* BodyHorror: The narrator's injuries and the descriptions of them.
31	* DeathFakedForYou: [[spoiler:The Rhea sisters fake Shane's death so Brandy Alexander can start her transition.]]
32	* BrotherSisterTeam: [[spoiler:Brandy is really the narrator's brother, Shane, and they steal pills and other drugs from homes being sold on the real estate market as a team]].
33	* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the narrator's scribbles on her notepad are sly jokes or sardonic snark, but no one understands it most of the time.
34	%%* DragQueen: The Rhea sisters.
35	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The book ends with [[spoiler:the narrator/Shannon giving up the last remnants of her identification to her brother so she can figure out what she wants from life, then walking out and finding a new start for herself. In the ''Remix'' version, she sets up a support group for disfigured women and even gets married!]]
36	* EvilFeelsGood: The narrator decides to burn down Evie's home (twice, in fact) because she knows she can get away with it, and because it feels cathartic.
37	* FaceStealer: [[spoiler:Brandy looks exactly like the narrator before she was disfigured.]]
38	%%* FirstPersonSmartass
39	* GenderReveal:
40	** The narrator, Brandy and Seth learn from a realtor that [[spoiler:Evie was assigned male at birth]], which motivates their decision to sabotage a wedding ceremony.
41	** [[spoiler:Brandy Alexander is really Shane, the narrator/Shannon's brother who ran away from home and is undergoing surgeries in order to transition]].
42	* HiddenDepths: It is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the narrator/Shannon shot herself to escape from her beauty, while her brother Shane/Brandy knew about his sister's identity all along and is still confused about what he wants out of life]].
43	* HowWeGotHere: The book starts with Evie dressed in the remains of a burned dress, having just shot Brandy while the two of them and the narrator are in a burning mansion. And it goes downhill from there.
44	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: [[spoiler:Having shot herself with a revolver and blown her own lower jaw off, the narrator/Shannon is quite nonchalant when she walks into the hospital, taking the time to drop the weapon down a drain pipe before she enters]].
45	* MaskingTheDeformity: The narrator wears veils to hide that she's missing her jaw because of being shot in the face during a drive-by shooting then having the remains [[NightmareFuel eaten by birds]]. [[spoiler:It's later revealed she actually [[AteHisGun shot herself]]]].
46	* MeaningfulEcho: At the end of the book, [[spoiler:Shannon helps her brother out by giving him the last remnants of her identity (her identification) so he can figure out what he wants from life, just like how he helped her in the speech therapy room near the beginning.]]
47	* NightmareFace:
48	** This is so bad that the narrator can steal a turkey without being caught.
49	** [[http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/news/invisible-monsters-xander-lg.jpg Yup.]] (this might be considered NSFW)
50	* NoNameGiven: The narrator, until the very end. [[spoiler:It's Shannon [=MacFarland=], if you're curious.]]
51	* RefugeInAudacity: Many of the situations in the book are motivated by what the narrator is able to get away with, including stealing a turkey from a supermarket (while everyone stares in horror at her face) and asking for information from a hotel clerk while brandishing a rifle and writing down her request for a specific room number as he attempts to shove handfuls of cash into her pockets.
52	* TheReveal:
53	** Brandy Alexander is [[spoiler:Shane, the narrator's brother, who never died from AIDS]].
54	** Brandy [[spoiler:isn't actually transgender because she isn't trying to transition. She just wants to destroy herself]].
55	** Manus [[spoiler:is Seth, who is actually gay and only likes the narrator because she looks exactly like Shane. Seth was also the one who molested him and gave him an STD]].
56	** Evie is actually [[spoiler:transgender, and knew Brandy through a transgender support group]]. And Brandy has known all of this from the beginning.
57	** The narrator, [[spoiler:Shannon [=MacFarland=]]]? [[spoiler:She shot herself in the face. It's all her fault]].
58	%%* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: Brandy Alexander.
59	* SueDonym: The "Brandy Alexander Relocation Program" means the protagonists have to constantly change ridiculous identities (such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard "Hewlett Packard"]], among others.)
60	* ThemeNaming: [[spoiler:Shane and Shannon.]]
61	* TheUnfavorite: Played with. The narrator notes that, in death, her brother receives more attention than her because their parents have become gay rights supporters out of guilt and talk him up every chance they get.
62	* UnreliableNarrator: The narrator confesses she just hates everyone and that in fact nobody behaves worse than she does.
63	* UpdatedRerelease: In 2012, the book was republished as ''Invisible Monsters Remix'', with the AnachronicOrder even ''more'' mixed up and structured like a {{Gamebook}}.

Context Literature / InvisibleMonsters