Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

By Chuck Palahniuk

In this mind-bending novel, Rant is the life story of Buster “Rant” Casey, a high school rebel who becomes a leader in an urban demolition derby known as Party Crashing. The book takes the form of an oral history, pieced together by friends gathered to testify about his short, violent life. It explores the possibility that Rant’s saliva caused a silent urban plague of rabies and hints at his ability to escape the prison house of linear time.

Like most people I didn’t meet Rant Casey until after he was dead. That’s how it works for most celebrities: After they croak, their circle of friends just explodes. …

Rant is a high school rebel who always wins and has a troubled past that includes childhood murders. He escapes his small hometown of Middleton for the big city where he becomes the leader of Party Crashing. On appointed nights participants recognize each other by such designated car markings as “Just Married” toothpaste graffiti before crashing into one another.

After Rant’s spectacular highway death, friends come together to piece together an oral history of his life. Their anecdotes delve into the possibility that his saliva caused a silent urban plague of rabies and hint at Rant’s ability to escape the confines of time itself.

Published by Doubleday on May 1, 2007, with a print length of 336 pages, this book offers a unique blend of horror, satire, and philosophical musings. With its complex characters and intricate plot, Rant is a definitive work from the literary provocateur Chuck Palahniuk, known for his generation-defining classic Fight Club and the pedal-to-the-metal horrorfest Haunted.

What ‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon was to typhoid, what Gaetan Dugas was to AIDS, and Liu Jian-lun was to SARS, Buster Casey would become for rabies. Prepare yourself for a gripping and unconventional read that challenges your perceptions of time, identity, and the nature of life itself.

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