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The Oxygen Thief Diaries #2
Chameleon on a Kaleidoscope
Welcome to the age of Anti-Social Media.
Exchanging alcoholism for sex-addiction the controversial
writer of underground cult classic DIARY OF AN OXYGEN THIEF
retools his advertising skills to seduce women online. It's a pursuit
that quickly becomes an obsession often requiring even more
creativity than his award-winning ad campaigns, but don't worry
there are plenty of breaks. For commercials. Dazzling, daunting
and darkly hilarious CHAMELEON ON A KALEIDOSCOPE is a
spectacular indictment of modern media and our increasing
reliance on it.
Exchanging alcoholism for sex-addiction the controversial
writer of underground cult classic DIARY OF AN OXYGEN THIEF
retools his advertising skills to seduce women online. It's a pursuit
that quickly becomes an obsession often requiring even more
creativity than his award-winning ad campaigns, but don't worry
there are plenty of breaks. For commercials. Dazzling, daunting
and darkly hilarious CHAMELEON ON A KALEIDOSCOPE is a
spectacular indictment of modern media and our increasing
reliance on it.
172 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
99 people are currently reading
8004 people want to read
About the author
Anonymous
791k books3,369 followersBooks can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:
* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
December 17, 2016
Do not buy this book.
I read Diary of an Oxygen Thief because I saw the first page posted on social media and it looked interesting. It was different, dark, honest and intriguing to see how this guy's head worked. However, Chameleon on a Kaleidoscope is so bad I'm actually angry that I wasted my time. Slight spoiler (although nothing great happens in this book to spoil anywhere, there is absolutely no plot), the author rants the entire book about how he is old and does not want to settle down due to obvious personal issues. He just wants to have sex with women. He lists each woman's name, degrades them to a sexual object, finds something wrong with them and then moves on to the next. You read about multiple girls. Finally, the author goes on to talk about how he wrote Diary of an Oxygen Thief and used an online dating website posing as a female to sell his book. It makes me wish I never bought it because from reading the book, the guy obviously is manipulating. This book is an insult to literature and authors everywhere who have worked so hard.
And to make it worse, there are so many typos it looks like he did not even proof read it. Most of the time i had no idea what was going on, as he explained nothing and provided no context. The book ends as if the guy just got bored and had nothing else to rant about. You don't know where the book goes or what happens to the only other important character. Do not waste your money. He's basically just showing you how he wrote and sold his first book and it will just make you regret reading that one too.
I read Diary of an Oxygen Thief because I saw the first page posted on social media and it looked interesting. It was different, dark, honest and intriguing to see how this guy's head worked. However, Chameleon on a Kaleidoscope is so bad I'm actually angry that I wasted my time. Slight spoiler (although nothing great happens in this book to spoil anywhere, there is absolutely no plot), the author rants the entire book about how he is old and does not want to settle down due to obvious personal issues. He just wants to have sex with women. He lists each woman's name, degrades them to a sexual object, finds something wrong with them and then moves on to the next. You read about multiple girls. Finally, the author goes on to talk about how he wrote Diary of an Oxygen Thief and used an online dating website posing as a female to sell his book. It makes me wish I never bought it because from reading the book, the guy obviously is manipulating. This book is an insult to literature and authors everywhere who have worked so hard.
And to make it worse, there are so many typos it looks like he did not even proof read it. Most of the time i had no idea what was going on, as he explained nothing and provided no context. The book ends as if the guy just got bored and had nothing else to rant about. You don't know where the book goes or what happens to the only other important character. Do not waste your money. He's basically just showing you how he wrote and sold his first book and it will just make you regret reading that one too.
December 15, 2016
I knew after hating the first book I should not have read this one. Unfortunately, I bought both books at the same time, and I refused to let it go untouched. Anonymous has never heard of a comma. EVER! The book is a jumbled mess. I just kept asking myself why I was reading a book with no purpose.
April 29, 2021
Ugh 🤦🏽♀️
August 18, 2021
In a world where anyone hardly ever picks a book here's your chance do to it. Chameleon in a candy store ascends with grace from hell, as it's dark, heavy, rough.
With no empathy Anonymous shows us not only the cruel reality of online dating but also a sad truth about ourselves. What do we exactly look for when we scroll through the millions of people who'd like to chat with us? Company? Lust? Love? Attention. We want to prove that we're worth the attentions of everyone in the world. And when fulfilling our desires isn't enough anymore we want to become the object of other's desire.
That's why the author, frustrated cause he may have found the "one" but doesn't exactly know how to feel, decides to create a female alter ego on a dating site, who will help him to sell his books.
Cause after all, love is like selling products, and that's why between the pages of the author's adventures we'll find paragraphs about his advertisements ideas.
Chameleon in a candy store is one of that books that keeps you hooked up to the pages not only for the story itself but for the language used, which combines melancholy and sarcasm to guide us in a world where it gets harder and harder to breathe "clean air", cause after reading both of the author's book you'll understand that after all we are all just oxygen thieves.
With no empathy Anonymous shows us not only the cruel reality of online dating but also a sad truth about ourselves. What do we exactly look for when we scroll through the millions of people who'd like to chat with us? Company? Lust? Love? Attention. We want to prove that we're worth the attentions of everyone in the world. And when fulfilling our desires isn't enough anymore we want to become the object of other's desire.
That's why the author, frustrated cause he may have found the "one" but doesn't exactly know how to feel, decides to create a female alter ego on a dating site, who will help him to sell his books.
Cause after all, love is like selling products, and that's why between the pages of the author's adventures we'll find paragraphs about his advertisements ideas.
Chameleon in a candy store is one of that books that keeps you hooked up to the pages not only for the story itself but for the language used, which combines melancholy and sarcasm to guide us in a world where it gets harder and harder to breathe "clean air", cause after reading both of the author's book you'll understand that after all we are all just oxygen thieves.
April 13, 2025
Books read & reviewed: 1️⃣6️⃣8️⃣🥖4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
Date: Sunday, April 13, 2025
Word Count: 43k Words, very short
╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ My 19th read this month (^-^ )
5️⃣🌟, I...LOVE
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➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗
I love the author's "I don't give a fuck" attitude. Pinnacle of satire i must say 🧐. Honestly some days you just dgaf about everything and just starts writing a book about an incel. It's more atrocious than the first one "diary of an oxygen thief" but this one just makes it better, because if that one takes some things seriously, this one just gave up on life
Date: Sunday, April 13, 2025
Word Count: 43k Words, very short
╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ My 19th read this month (^-^ )
5️⃣🌟, I...LOVE
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗
I love the author's "I don't give a fuck" attitude. Pinnacle of satire i must say 🧐. Honestly some days you just dgaf about everything and just starts writing a book about an incel. It's more atrocious than the first one "diary of an oxygen thief" but this one just makes it better, because if that one takes some things seriously, this one just gave up on life
December 16, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed the book but my biggest issue with it is how horrifying the truth of the final pages are. It pokes fun at itself and makes you guess even more and more about the incredulously self-aware author. The anonymous author also basically crafts a few conspiracy theories about who they are. Great book with great foreshadowing. The author makes you feel and that is a true test of great literature. It is brash, crude, and honest. I would not recommend to kids but an angsty teen could learn either empathy or alcoholism from this book.
March 21, 2017
Perhaps not as good as Oxygen Thief, but still up to par with my expectations. I have to admit, I enjoy the author's asshole-ish ways. It is what it is with him. I think the world of online dating was an interesting subject for "Anonymous" to submerge his addictive nature in for this book. And in all honesty, with the prevalence of online dating, how many of us have a friend who we know is addicted to it? It's rampant, therefore this book is rather timely. Dating sites may have started out being geared towards actual dating and relationships (and maybe E-Harmony still is) but in the present the vast majority are pretty much just a source of getting laid. Such is the case here. This is more or less the diary of an online "dater's" conquests in short-lived, chronological order. And being that this is written in man's point of view, it would be wise to not expect any romantic, love-filled story lines. It is what is it.
Mild Spoiler: I though the whole idea of posing as his attractive girlfriend to push his book on the desperate, gullible men of the dating sites was brilliant. Our narrator may be somewhat of a sexually desperate douche bag himself, but you can't say that he's stupid.
Mild Spoiler: I though the whole idea of posing as his attractive girlfriend to push his book on the desperate, gullible men of the dating sites was brilliant. Our narrator may be somewhat of a sexually desperate douche bag himself, but you can't say that he's stupid.
February 7, 2017
I read the author's first book Diary of an Oxygen Thief earlier this month and thought it was brash but interesting at the same time. This follow up book I felt was better even though it's chock full of grammatical errors. Perhaps because I knew what to expect from the author this second time around I wasn't as annoyed by his brashness. Bottom line is I enjoyed both books and will read any more that are yet to come.
November 18, 2019
Even though I’m not entirely sure of why I jumped back into this series, considering I found the first book less than impressive, I did find that I thought this second installment carried more weight than the first. It did share the same plot problem in that it ultimately leads nowhere; however, I found it better written and marginally more entertaining than the first book. Perhaps because it wasn’t trying so hard to be shocking.
August 24, 2023
Pfffft.
This is likely a sequel that wasn't ever needed, manages to diminish anything vaguely interesting about the first book by simply repeating more of the same "SHOCK! HORROR! MISOGYNY! WOW!" making me wonder if "anonymous" has any proper writing talent; in terms of being able to be satirical, or create a story or characters in order to get across a point, or if this dickhead is actually who he is.
Kind of makes me think of how you can make jokes about sexual assualt if the joke is on the insecurity and freakishness of the rapist, or you can be like this guy and just be like "haha, macho bullshit, what a laugh, I'm a dickhead see? Brilliant." with no level of nuance or anything to actually say.
I do think anyone who's read Diary of an Oxygen Thief and who might have believed there was anything truly worthwhile in it should check out Chameleon On A Kaleidoscope (or Chameleon in a Candy Store as it's since been renamed) just to get the full picture of how pointless this whole thing is. Basically like a travellogue by an ex-patriot sex tourist with no friends. It's like a porno character created by Elliott Rodgers. The whole thing is so black-pilled it's hard to believe that any of his sexual conquests are real.
I'm going to give this 2 stars, rather than 1, because I don't think it even manages to be as offensive as it tries to be, as the whole thing is so ineffective.
This is likely a sequel that wasn't ever needed, manages to diminish anything vaguely interesting about the first book by simply repeating more of the same "SHOCK! HORROR! MISOGYNY! WOW!" making me wonder if "anonymous" has any proper writing talent; in terms of being able to be satirical, or create a story or characters in order to get across a point, or if this dickhead is actually who he is.
Kind of makes me think of how you can make jokes about sexual assualt if the joke is on the insecurity and freakishness of the rapist, or you can be like this guy and just be like "haha, macho bullshit, what a laugh, I'm a dickhead see? Brilliant." with no level of nuance or anything to actually say.
I do think anyone who's read Diary of an Oxygen Thief and who might have believed there was anything truly worthwhile in it should check out Chameleon On A Kaleidoscope (or Chameleon in a Candy Store as it's since been renamed) just to get the full picture of how pointless this whole thing is. Basically like a travellogue by an ex-patriot sex tourist with no friends. It's like a porno character created by Elliott Rodgers. The whole thing is so black-pilled it's hard to believe that any of his sexual conquests are real.
I'm going to give this 2 stars, rather than 1, because I don't think it even manages to be as offensive as it tries to be, as the whole thing is so ineffective.
January 26, 2018
Chameleon On A Kaleidoscope is more or less an updated, modern version of the first book, Diary of an Oxygen Thief. The main character uses his stellar advertising skills to pursue women online. His methodology of going about it and his thought process behind it mirrors that of a psychopath. Soon his manipulating hobby becomes an obsessed, becoming a chameleon to fit the wants of others. Through social media and dating sites he shows just how consumed we have become in profile pictures and online chat rooms. While trying to balance his life his true colors are illuminated by the glow of a computer screen over the course of the novel. I highly recommended reading The Oxygen Thief Diaries. Watching this character develop over the course of these books gives one a peak in to the borderline disturbed behavior and mindset of someone who has been hurt and in return is hurting others.
July 5, 2020
Honestly I just don’t think the author deserves to make money off this
October 17, 2023
god this book is shit.
i don’t know why i thought i’d like the second book if i also hated the first book, matter of fact the second one is ten times worse.
it’s completely forgettable, i’m a fan of mundane repetitive stories to a point but there’s absolutely nothing in this book that makes me wanna finish it. (which i unfortunately did, after almost 3 months.)
and you may be thinking, (well i’m thinking because i like to think there’s a reason for every shit book) maybe that’s the point, maybe it’s the worst fucking book ever because the author is the worst person ever. and yeah maybe.
i wish i could sum it up, but it’s like the first book but worse, at least in the first one there’s some psychological shit going on, but in this one it drags out every interaction.
something i did like is the random poems, and the whole ending of it. (the extra star is for the ending i am fond of the ending. and since i hope no one reads it so i’ll describe it here.) he comes out about making a fake online dating profile posing as his hot girlfriend in order to sell his book, which apparently worked. and the messages from all these potential customers are at the end which i think is fun.
overall most draining book known to man.
i don’t know why i thought i’d like the second book if i also hated the first book, matter of fact the second one is ten times worse.
it’s completely forgettable, i’m a fan of mundane repetitive stories to a point but there’s absolutely nothing in this book that makes me wanna finish it. (which i unfortunately did, after almost 3 months.)
and you may be thinking, (well i’m thinking because i like to think there’s a reason for every shit book) maybe that’s the point, maybe it’s the worst fucking book ever because the author is the worst person ever. and yeah maybe.
i wish i could sum it up, but it’s like the first book but worse, at least in the first one there’s some psychological shit going on, but in this one it drags out every interaction.
something i did like is the random poems, and the whole ending of it. (the extra star is for the ending i am fond of the ending. and since i hope no one reads it so i’ll describe it here.) he comes out about making a fake online dating profile posing as his hot girlfriend in order to sell his book, which apparently worked. and the messages from all these potential customers are at the end which i think is fun.
overall most draining book known to man.
December 28, 2021
Let it be known!!! The only reason I’m giving this three stars is I actually think this book is written by a woman. Why? Because it doesn’t even try to not be misogynistic. It is. “Anonymous” should be banned from being around women. However, since it’s fiction, I actually think this is a sort of exposè on men and all the things they get away with (viewing women as sex objects) just for being men.
But this book is really misogynistic.
P.S the men who rate this “enthralling” and “deliciously controversial” should be put on a watch list
But this book is really misogynistic.
P.S the men who rate this “enthralling” and “deliciously controversial” should be put on a watch list
January 29, 2016
Amazing author
Its basically still diary of an oxygen their but the fact that he wrote another after that about how he still manages to fall for next gal is hopeful.but he is a fuckboy but he's a normal bloke its a mad ting. He's so humble for someone who stacks bare p as well u kno.
Its basically still diary of an oxygen their but the fact that he wrote another after that about how he still manages to fall for next gal is hopeful.but he is a fuckboy but he's a normal bloke its a mad ting. He's so humble for someone who stacks bare p as well u kno.
December 23, 2022
i enjoyed the first book in this series because of the justice the ending gave but this….shiver me timbers he’s such a loser and he just gets worse and worse. he never faces someone who makes him come to terms with the hurt he causes, nobody ever confronts him and he just keeps on going. it’s so vulgar for the sake of it, which was absent in the first. there’s no charm, he just comes across as a mysognist arsehole. i’m not reading the third because i actually couldn’t care less this was so crap
June 2, 2018
Poorly-written sequel. The absence of plot just makes it unbearable and hard to finish because nothing really happens. Author did way better with the first book but with this one it's nothing but a continuous whine journal. Little to no effort was made when it comes to the spelling and grammar with errors in every five pages. Recommended if you just want to know how he's doing after the first book, not recommended at all if you are expecting something more than the first one.
May 15, 2025
The stars I’m giving are only for the writing style. Although it’s literally a journal of misogyny and toxic masculinity, this book wouldn’t be interesting if it wasn’t written by a straight cis white guy who suffered from a deeply traumatic childhood and upbringing. I actually feel sorry for him. The world failed him, so he fails women.
September 4, 2021
It's so easy for me to succumb to this mans literature. Lap up everything he says. I remain aroused and stimulated. Hot and sweaty! Whatever. It reaffirms for me that life could really be like my torturous and despairing daydreams. I love the 'horror' of awful behaviour and I love the supposed horrific person even more so. But apart from being the product of my abuse let me actually talk about why I enjoyed this book outside of the realm of me reliving the comforting torment of my life.
It's interesting for me to see the inner workings of a man's subconscious so unfiltered and honest. Not hinting that this book is some raunchy filthy vile and onomatopoeia littered fuck fest but just that someone can be direct and sincere without the need of so much useless embellishment. The prose speaks for itself. The few spelling errors are an amusing human reminder. The progress from the first book to the second was reassuring and sweet. And he spoke of love in such a way I've never seen.
It's interesting for me to see the inner workings of a man's subconscious so unfiltered and honest. Not hinting that this book is some raunchy filthy vile and onomatopoeia littered fuck fest but just that someone can be direct and sincere without the need of so much useless embellishment. The prose speaks for itself. The few spelling errors are an amusing human reminder. The progress from the first book to the second was reassuring and sweet. And he spoke of love in such a way I've never seen.
July 21, 2016
Not as good as the first one and the grammatical or typographical errors really started to annoy me. Seriously, get a proofreader. I'm completely unsympathetic to the "author" through this one and I wonder if it is because I spent good money on bad publishing - not necessarily bad writing or storyline. It would have been 4 stars if not for the TERRIBLE presentation.
January 4, 2016
This book was not as good as the first book. It just seemed to go forever and not really go anywhere. The author should have left he story at the first book and not continued on. I did not like how repetitive the book was either. I couldn't finish the book so I dropped it.
November 4, 2020
to summarize , it's shit
July 17, 2023
literally wtf even are u
July 10, 2022
Online dating is shit
Also
Online dating is not shit
Also
Online dating ain’t shit
Mitigated but still a nice journey
Also
Online dating is not shit
Also
Online dating ain’t shit
Mitigated but still a nice journey
August 9, 2024
And my first one star review goes to…..no but really, this is a horrible book. The man is so obsessed with sex that I don’t think there was one sentence about anything else.
July 2, 2024
“go to hell,” but I had to sit through this book
February 28, 2013
Cheeky, reflective, unsettling, the story appeals to our baser instincts... Perhaps it's Schadenfreude -- I found myself at once commiserating with and laughing out loud, eyes sparkling, at the narrator's neuroses and hilariously recounted misadventures. I honestly didn't know whether I was wanting to slap him, hug him, or jump his bones. The writing is tight and well-paced and the 150-ish pages fly by, leaving me wanting more, anxious to find out what happens next in this man's colorful life. An interesting commentary on sexual politics, gender roles and the media/advertising's insidious reach. It's a bit shallow and infuriating from a woman's point of view, yet at times profoundly insightful - and while I finally get the narrator's seriously questionable taste in women, having just read 'Why Men Love Bitches,' I'm still left disheartened that herein lies one less exception to these rules... The marks of a good story are that it makes the reader laugh, think, and cry. All these bases, and then some, are covered here. Seriously, a fantastic read.
August 26, 2022
The book was horrible, I mean there’s a reason it took me 8 months to finish. First of all the author is delusional, he’s insecure so he tries to convince himself he’s better than everyone else. Even when things are clearly not going his way, he’s just trying to play it off as if he doesn’t care and as if that was his plan, it’s funny really.
Second of all the writing is horrible. It has many typos, and he even admits that he never proof read his first book when he talks about it so highly. Who writes a book that’s soo good you just have to mention it everywhere you go, but doesn’t even want to read it themselves? Lmfao.
Third of all, the book isn’t even that interesting. The first page has shock value and that’s literally it. The rest of the book is repetitive and very boring. I think a published diary of some random teenage girl would be 10x more interesting, and would probably have better writing too. There’s no reason to read this book, yet alone spend money on it. A friend got this for me so unfortunately I couldn’t return it, wish I could.
Second of all the writing is horrible. It has many typos, and he even admits that he never proof read his first book when he talks about it so highly. Who writes a book that’s soo good you just have to mention it everywhere you go, but doesn’t even want to read it themselves? Lmfao.
Third of all, the book isn’t even that interesting. The first page has shock value and that’s literally it. The rest of the book is repetitive and very boring. I think a published diary of some random teenage girl would be 10x more interesting, and would probably have better writing too. There’s no reason to read this book, yet alone spend money on it. A friend got this for me so unfortunately I couldn’t return it, wish I could.
July 31, 2022
Chameleon-
Misogynistic Irishman had a rough life. Now obviously, after hearing the first word, anyone should think "well he deserves it." The way I see it is a boy got raped. He got bullied. No one loved him. He grew up in a harsh world and hurt people hurt people. Even as he does the awful things he does, I can't help but feel a little remorse. He clearly suffers from mental illness and has a strong fear of abandonment which is the reason he hurts people. In Diary of an Oxygen Thief, you originally just hear a bunch of stuff that leads you to believe he is all to blame for everything. After reading Chameleon in a Candy Store, I find that he isn't as bad as I first thought.
As I continue to think poorly of this man (he isn't AS bad but he's still bad), I can still feel a great sense of empathy for a man who has been broken since childhood. I think this book just shows that everyone has their problems. Maybe we should be more understanding.
Misogynistic Irishman had a rough life. Now obviously, after hearing the first word, anyone should think "well he deserves it." The way I see it is a boy got raped. He got bullied. No one loved him. He grew up in a harsh world and hurt people hurt people. Even as he does the awful things he does, I can't help but feel a little remorse. He clearly suffers from mental illness and has a strong fear of abandonment which is the reason he hurts people. In Diary of an Oxygen Thief, you originally just hear a bunch of stuff that leads you to believe he is all to blame for everything. After reading Chameleon in a Candy Store, I find that he isn't as bad as I first thought.
As I continue to think poorly of this man (he isn't AS bad but he's still bad), I can still feel a great sense of empathy for a man who has been broken since childhood. I think this book just shows that everyone has their problems. Maybe we should be more understanding.
April 10, 2020
Oof. That's my reaction to this book.
I enjoyed Diary of an Oxygen Thief because, I believe, the main character was so comedically unlikeable I couldn't look away. It was a train wreck of a story and I loved every moment of it.
This, however, was somehow the same universe? The same characters? This book is supposed to be connected but I couldn't tell you how. The narrator spends so much time complaining about work, coworkers that don't come into the story (or maybe they do... I couldn't absorb much from this plot line, if there even was one) I lost track of what was actually going on.
I expected so much more from this author! Hopefully his next release will be better.
I enjoyed Diary of an Oxygen Thief because, I believe, the main character was so comedically unlikeable I couldn't look away. It was a train wreck of a story and I loved every moment of it.
This, however, was somehow the same universe? The same characters? This book is supposed to be connected but I couldn't tell you how. The narrator spends so much time complaining about work, coworkers that don't come into the story (or maybe they do... I couldn't absorb much from this plot line, if there even was one) I lost track of what was actually going on.
I expected so much more from this author! Hopefully his next release will be better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews