"Top deity ordains all living creation suffer - wasted disease or screaming wearing covered blood - then must some today all to die. Only tragedy if suffer and die during innocent. No sin, no crime, then extinction not earned."

Pygmy is a young adult from a totalitarian state sent to America disguised as an exchange student to live with a family while, at the same time, planning an unspecified act of mass terrorism. He and his fellow operatives are planning something big to take down America and its inhabitants.

This was a first time read and I cannot stress enough how much I did not enjoy it. I'm not big on politics in my books, which had its toll, but the main problem was the writing style. It is written in broken English, which made it very difficult to understand and follow along. It took awhile to get used to, but it was painful nonetheless. 

The story is told through journal entries in which Pygmy refers to himself as "operative me, agent number 67". He discusses the family he lives with, the happenings at school, and snippets of what he and his fellow operatives are up to. He also discusses his past and how where he is from (it is never mentioned where exactly), if you are intelligent and pass a test at a young age, the government will kill your parents and you become a "child of the government" where you are basically training to become a terrorist. This made it slightly interesting as you understand what Pygmy is and why he and his operatives are doing what they need to do.

Overall, I was disappointed with this one because I've enjoyed the majority of Palahniuk's books, and I just couldn't jive with this one. I had to come across a dud at some point though 😅