Invisible Monsters (novel)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Invisible Monsters
Written by: Chuck Palahniuk
Central Theme:
Synopsis: A beautiful fashion model has her lower jaw blown off in a drive-by shooting. Jump to her meeting Brandy Alexander, the large-handed drag queen supreme who is one surgery away from being a "real" woman.
First published: September 1999
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"Give me attention. Flash."

Invisible Monsters is a 1999 novel by Chuck Palahniuk.

Not to be confused with the other Invisible Monsters.

Tropes used in Invisible Monsters (novel) include:
  • Anachronic Order
  • Arc Words
    • Sorry, Mom. Sorry, God.
    • Give me attention. Flash.
    • Jump to…
  • The Blank: "Birds ate my face."
  • Bittersweet Ending
  • Body Horror
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: When Manus has a "seizure". What he doesn't know is what Brandy tells the houseowner to do. It involves shoving a wallet down his throat.
  • Death Faked for You: The Rhea sisters fake Brandy Alexander's death so they can start her transition.
  • Drag Queen: Rhea sisters.
  • Evil Feels Good
  • Face Stealer: It turns out Brandy looks exactly like the narrator.
  • First-Person Smartass
  • Gag Boobs: Brandy Alexander
  • How We Got Here
  • The Nameless: The narrator, until the very end. It's Shannon MacFarland, if you're curious.
  • Nightmare Face: This is so bad that the narrator can steal a turkey without being caught.
    • Yup. (this might be considered NSFW)
  • The Reveal: -deep breath- Brandy Alexander is Shane, the narrator's brother. And Shane never died from AIDS. Also, Brandy isn't actually a transsexual because she doesn't want to be a woman. She just wants to destroy herself. And Manus is Seth, who is actually gay and only likes the narrator because she looks exactly like Shane. Oh and speaking of Shane, Seth was the one who molested him and gave him an STD. And Evie is actually a transsexual and the whole shooting in the opening chapter was set up by her and Brandy. They knew each other through a transgender support group. And Brandy has known all of this from the beginning. Yeah, and the narrator, Shannon MacFarland? She shot herself in the face. It's all her fault. -exhale-
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful: Brandy Alexander
  • Squick
  • Theme Naming: Shane and Shannon.
  • Transgender: Brandy Alexander and Evie. Although technically, the former doesn't count because for her it's just a form of self-mutilation.
  • Unreliable Narrator: The narrator confesses she just hates everyone and that in fact nobody behaves worse than she does.