Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
transgressional fictionTransgressive fiction is a genre of literature that focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual and/or illicit ways. Because they are rebelling against the basic norms of society, protagonists of transgressional...
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel
Fight ClubFight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The book follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. The insomnia is aggravated by frequent business travel and an apparent boredom with his comfortable lifestyle...
, which was later made into a
filmFight Club is a 1999 American film adapted from the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an "everyman" who is discontented with his white-collar...
directed by
David FincherDavid Andrew Leo Fincher is an American filmmaker and music video director known for his dark and stylish movies such as Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.- Early life and career :...
. He lives near
Vancouver, WashingtonVancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Clark County. According to the Washington State Office of Financial Management's estimate in April of 2008, the city has a population of 162,400, making it the fourth largest city in...
.
Early life
Palahniuk was born in
PascoPasco is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Washington, United States.Pasco is one of three cities that make up the Tri-Cities region of the state of Washington. The Tri-Cities is a mid-sized metropolitan area of approximately 230,000 people that also includes the cities of...
,
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
. He is the son of Carol and Fred Palahniuk, and grew up living in a mobile home in nearby
Burbank, WashingtonBurbank is a census-designated place in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States, where the Snake River meets the Columbia. The population was 3,303 at the 2000 census. The city is located just south of Pasco, and east of Kennewick, across the Snake and Columbia Rivers, respectively...
with his family. His parents later separated and divorced, often leaving him and his three siblings to live with their grandparents at their cattle ranch in
Eastern WashingtonEastern Washington is a region of the United States defined as the part of Washington east of the Cascade Mountains. It is notable for, among other things:*Central Washington University*The Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam...
.
In his twenties, Palahniuk attended the
University of OregonThe University of Oregon is a public, coeducational research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The second oldest public university in the state, UO was founded in 1876, and graduated its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of...
's School of Journalism, graduating in 1986. While attending college he worked as an intern for
National Public RadioNational Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law...
member station
KLCCKLCC 89.7 FM is a National Public Radio affiliate for Eugene, Oregon and the southern Willamette Valley. It also operates on various other repeater frequencies at other cities in West Central Oregon....
in
Eugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. State of Oregon and the county seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles east of the Oregon Coast...
. He moved to
PortlandPortland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2008, it has an estimated population of 575,930, making it the 29th most populous in the United States. It has been referred to as the most...
soon afterwards. After writing for the local newspaper for a short while, he began working for Freightliner as a diesel mechanic, continuing in that job until his writing career took off. During that time, he also wrote manuals on fixing trucks and had a stint as a journalist (a job he did not return to until after he became a successful novelist). After casually attending a free, introductory seminar held by an organization called
Landmark EducationLandmark Education LLC is a personal training and development company which offers educational programs in approximately 115 locations in more than 20 countries worldwide, including major cities such as London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, and Toronto.An employee-owned, private...
, Palahniuk quit his job as a journalist in 1988. Wanting to do more with his life than just his job, Palahniuk did volunteer work for a homeless shelter. Later, he also volunteered at a hospice as an escort; he provided transportation for terminally ill people and brought them to support group meetings. He ceased volunteering upon the death of a patient to whom he had grown attached.
Palahniuk would also become a member of the rebellious
Cacophony SocietyThe Cacophony Society is “a randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society.” It was started in 1986 by surviving members of the now defunct Suicide Club of San Francisco....
in his adulthood. He is a regular participant in their events, including the annual Santa Rampage (a public
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
party involving pranks and drunkenness) in Portland. His participation in the Society inspired some of the events in his writings, both fictional and non-fictional. Most notably, he used the Cacophony Society as the basis for Project Mayhem in
Fight Club.
Career
Palahniuk began writing fiction in his mid-thirties. By his account, he started writing while attending writer's workshops, hosted by
Tom SpanbauerTom Spanbauer is an American writer, living in Portland, Oregon. He is the creator of the concept of Dangerous Writing. He studied creative writing with Gordon Lish at Columbia University...
, which he attended to meet new friends. Spanbauer largely inspired Palahniuk's minimalistic writing style. His first book,
Insomnia: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Already, never was adapted due to his disappointment with the story (though a small part of it was later salvaged for use in
Fight Club). When he attempted to publish his next novel,
Invisible MonstersInvisible Monsters is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 1999. It is his third novel to be published, though it was his second written novel . The novel was originally supposed to be Palahniuk's first novel to be published, but it was rejected by the publisher for being too disturbing...
, publishers rejected it for its disturbing content. This led him to work on his most famous novel,
Fight Club, which he wrote as an attempt to disturb the publisher even more for rejecting him. Palahniuk wrote this story in his spare time while working for Freightliner. After initially publishing it as a
short storyA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books...
(which would become chapter 6 of the novel) in the 1995 compilation
Pursuit of Happiness, Palahniuk expanded it into a full novel, which—contrary to his expectations – the publisher was willing to publish. While the original hardcover edition of the book received positive reviews and some awards, it had a short shelf life.
Initially, Palahniuk struggled to find a
literary agentA literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
and went without one until after the publication of
Fight Club. After he began receiving attention from
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
, Palahniuk was signed by
Edward HibbertEdward Hibbert is an English actor and literary agent.-Biography:Hibbert was born in Long Island, New York, the son of Geoffrey Hibbert. He was raised in England, where he attended London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He returned to the U.S. in the mid-1980s...
, who is most famously known as the actor who played Gil Chesterton on
FrasierFrasier is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993 to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Paramount Television.A spin-off from Cheers, Frasier stars Kelsey Grammer as psychiatrist...
. Hibbert eventually guided and brokered the deal that took
Fight Club to the big screen. In 1999, three years after the novel's publication, the film adaptation by director David Fincher was released. The film was a box office disappointment (although it was #1 at the U.S. box office in its first weekend) and critical reaction was mixed but a
cult followingA cult film is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
soon emerged as the DVD of the film was popular upon release. The novel has been re-released three times in paperback, in 1999, in 2004 (with a new introduction by the author about the success of the film adaptation) and in 2005 (with an afterword by Palahniuk).
A revised version of
Invisible Monsters, as well as his fourth novel,
SurvivorSurvivor is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk and published in February 1999. A satire of commercial culture, it is the story of Tender Branson, a member of the Creedish Church, a death cult...
, were also published that year, allowing Palahniuk to become a cult figure himself. A few years later Palahniuk managed to make his first
New York Times bestseller, the novel
ChokeChoke is a 2001 novel by American author Chuck Palahniuk.-Plot summary:Choke follows Victor Mancini and his friend Denny through a few months of their lives with frequent flashbacks to the days when Victor was a child. Victor grew up while going from one foster home to another. Victor's mother was...
. From then on, Palahniuk's later books would often meet with similar success. Such success has allowed him to go on book tours to promote his books, where he reads from both new and upcoming works.
The year 1999 brought a series of great personal tragedies to Palahniuk's life. At that time, his father, Fred Palahniuk, had started dating a woman named Donna Fontaine, whom he had met through a personal ad under the title "Kismet". Fontaine's ex-boyfriend Dale Shackleford had recently been imprisoned for sexual abuse. Shackleford had vowed to kill Fontaine as soon as he was released from prison. Palahniuk believes that through her personal ad, Fontaine was looking for "the biggest man she could find" to protect her from Shackleford and Palahniuk's father fit this description. After his release, Shackleford followed Fontaine and the senior Palahniuk to Fontaine's home in
Kendrick, IdahoKendrick is a city in Latah County, Idaho, United States. The population was 369 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Kendrick is located at ....
, after they had gone out for a date. Shackleford then shot them both and dragged their bodies into Fontaine's cabin home, which he set on fire immediately afterwards. In the spring of 2001, Shackleford was found guilty for two counts of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. In the wake of these events, Palahniuk began working on the novel
LullabyLullaby is a horror-satire novel by American author Chuck Palahniuk, published in 2002. It won the 2003 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 2002.-Background:...
. According to him, he wrote the novel to help him cope with having helped decide to have Shackleford get the
death sentenceCapital punishment or the death penalty, is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences....
.
In September 2003, Palahniuk was interviewed by
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused publications US Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EWs primary concentration is on entertainment...
s Karen Valby. During the interview, Palahniuk in confidence mentioned information pertaining to his partner. While it had been previously believed by many that he was married to a woman (some members of the press had claimed he had a wife), Palahniuk had in fact been living with his boyfriend. Some time later, Palahniuk believed that Valby was going to print this information in her article, without his consent. In response, he put an angry audio recording of himself on his web site, not only revealing that he is
gayHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
, but also making negative comments about Valby and a member of her family. However, Palahniuk's fears turned out to be ungrounded, and Valby's article did not reveal anything about his personal life outside of the fact that he is unmarried. The recording was later removed from the website, making some fans believe that Palahniuk is embarrassed by his homosexuality. According to Dennis Widmyer, the site's webmaster, the recording was not removed because of the statements regarding his sexuality, but because of the statements about Valby. Palahniuk would later post a new recording to his site, asking his fans not to overreact to these events. He also apologized for his behavior, claiming that he wished he had not recorded the message. Palahniuk is now openly gay, and he and his unnamed male partner, according to a profile and interview in
The AdvocateThe Advocate is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States....
in May 2008, live in "a former church compound outside Vancouver, Wash."
While on his 2003 tour to promote his novel DiaryDiary is a 2003 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The book is written like a diary, its writer/narrator/main character being Misty Wilmot, a once-promising young artist currently working as a waitress in a hotel. Her husband, a contractor, is in a coma after a suicide attempt...
, Palahniuk read to his audiences a short story titled "Guts", a tale of accidents involving masturbationMasturbation refers to sexual stimulation, especially of one's own genitals , often to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by other types of bodily contact , by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods...
, which appears in his book HauntedHaunted is a 2005 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The plot is a frame story for a series of 23 short stories, most preceded by a free verse poem...
. It was reported that to that point, 40 people had fainted while listening to the readings. PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
magazine would later publish the story in their March 2004 issue; Palahniuk offered to let them publish another story along with it, but the publishers found the second work too disturbing. On his tour to promote Stranger Than Fiction: True StoriesStranger Than Fiction: True Stories is a non-fiction book by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 2004. It is a collection of essays, stories, and interviews written for various magazines and newspapers. Some of the pieces had also been previously published on the internet...
in the summer of 2004, he read the story to audiences again, bringing the total number of fainters up to 53, and later up to 60, while on tour to promote the softcover edition of Diary. In the fall of that year, he began promoting "Haunted", and continued to read "Guts". At his October 4, 2004 reading in Boulder, Colorado, Palahniuk noted that, after that day, his number of fainters was up to 68. The last fainting occurred on May 28, 2007, in
VictoriaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria is a major tourism destination seeing more than 3.65 million visitors a year who inject more than one billion dollars into the local economy. Victoria is a cruise ship port where...
,
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
, Canada, where 5 people fainted, one of which occurred when a man was trying to leave the auditorium, which resulted in him falling and hitting his head on the door. Palahniuk is apparently not bothered by these incidents, which have not stopped fans from reading "Guts" or his other works. Audio recordings of his readings of the story have since circulated on the Internet. In the afterword of the latest edition of "
HauntedHaunted is a 2005 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The plot is a frame story for a series of 23 short stories, most preceded by a free verse poem...
", Palahniuk reports that "Guts" is now responsible for 73 faintings.
At a 2005 appearance in
Miami, FloridaMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
, during the Haunted
tour, Palahniuk commented that Haunted
represented the last of a "horrorHorror fiction is a genre of fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle and horrify the audience. Historically, the cause of the "horror" experience has often been the intrusion of a disturbing supernatural element into everyday human experience...
trilogy" (including Lullaby
and Diary
). He also indicated that his then-forthcoming novel RantRant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk released on May 1, 2007.Rant is told in the form of an oral biography. When the story begins, the reader discovers that the main character, Buster Landru "Rant" Casey, is already deceased...
would be the first of a "sci–fiScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
trilogy".
In 2008 Palahniuk took a role as an instructor for the Clarion West Writers WorkshopClarion West Writers Workshop is an intensive six-week program for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. It runs yearly late June through the end of July. The workshop is limited to 18 students per year. Each of the six weeks is instructed by a different...
, spending a week teaching his writing methods and theory of fiction to eighteen students.
Writing style
Palahniuk's books prior to Lullaby
have distinct similarities. The characters are people who have been marginalized in one form or another by society, and who react with often self-destructive aggressiveness (a form of story that the author likes to describe as transgressive fiction). Starting with Lullaby
, his novels have been satirical horror stories.
The narratives of Palahniuk's books often start at the temporal end, with the protagonist recounting the events that led up to the point at which the book begins. Lullaby
used a variation of this, alternating between the normal, linear narrative and the temporal end after every few chapters. However, exceptions to this narrative form include the more linear Choke
and Diary. There is often a major plot twist that is revealed near the end of the book which relates in some way to this temporal end (what Palahniuk refers to as "the hidden gun"). His more linear works also include similar plot twists.
Palahniuk's writing style has been influenced by authors such as the minimalist
Tom SpanbauerTom Spanbauer is an American writer, living in Portland, Oregon. He is the creator of the concept of Dangerous Writing. He studied creative writing with Gordon Lish at Columbia University...
(who taught Palahniuk in Portland from 1991 to 1996),
Amy HempelAmy Hempel is an American short story writer, journalist, and university professor at Brooklyn College.-Life:Hempel was born in Chicago, Illinois...
,
Mark RichardMark Richard is an American short story writer, novelist, screenwriter, and poet. He is the author of two award-winning short story collections, The Ice at the Bottom of the World and Charity, and a bestselling novel, Fishboy....
,
Denis JohnsonDenis Johnson is an American author who is best known for his short story collection Jesus' Son and his novel Tree of Smoke , which won the National Book Award.-Biography:...
,
Thom JonesThom Jones is an American writer, primarily of short stories.Jones was raised in Aurora, Illinois and attended the University of Hawaii where he played catcher on the baseball team. He later attended the University of Washington, where he graduated in 1970, and the celebrated University of Iowa...
, and
Bret Easton EllisBret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
. In what the author refers to as a
minimalisticMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post-World War II Western Art, most strongly with American...
approach, his writings use a limited vocabulary and short sentences to mimic the way that an average person telling a story would talk. In an interview, he said that he prefers to write in verbs instead of adjectives. Repetitions of certain lines in the stories' narratives (what Palahniuk refers to as "choruses") are one of the most common aspects of his writing style, found dispersed within most chapters of his novels. Palahniuk has said that there are also some choruses between novels; the color
cornflower blueCornflower blue, a shade of azure, is a shade of light blue with relatively little green compared to blue.Cornflowers are among the few "blue" flowers that are truly blue, most "blue" flowers being a darker blue-purple....
and the city of
Missoula, MontanaMissoula is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. The population was 57,053 at the 2000 census and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Statistical Area was 95,802, making it the second-largest city and metropolitan area in Montana. It is the largest...
, are said to appear in all of his books. However, Palahniuk is best known for the
cynicalCynicism originally comprised the various philosophies of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics, founded by Antisthenes in about the 4th century BC...
and
ironicIrony is a situation, literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity, discordance or unintended connection that goes beyond the most evident meaning....
black humor that appears throughout his work. It is the mix of this sense of humor and the bizarre events around which these stories revolve (considered discomforting by some readers) that has resulted in Palahniuk being sometimes labeled as a "shock writer" by members of the media. The characters in Palahniuk's stories often break into philosophical asides (either by the narrator to the reader, or spoken to the narrator through dialogue), offering numerous odd theories and opinions, often
misanthropicMisanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the human species. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος and άνθρωπος .-Forms:...
or darkly
absurdistAbsurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe ultimately fail , because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual...
in nature, on complex issues of death, morality, childhood, parenthood, sexuality and God.
Many of the ideas in his novels are traced to
ContinentalContinental philosophy, in contemporary usage, refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe. This sense of the term originated among English-speaking philosophers in the second half of the 20th century, who found it useful for referring to a range of...
thinkers such as
Michel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, sociologist and historian. He held a chair at the Collège de France with the title "History of Systems of Thought," and also taught at the University of California, Berkeley.Foucault is best known for his critical studies of...
and
Albert CamusAlbert Camus was a French author, philosopher, and journalist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He is often cited as a proponent of existentialism , but Camus himself refused this particular label...
.
When not writing fiction, Palahniuk tends to write short non-fiction works. Working as a freelance journalist in between books, he writes essays and reports on a variety of subjects; he sometimes participates in the events of these writings, which are heavy in field research. He has also written interviews with celebrities, such as
Juliette LewisJuliette Lewis is an American actress and musician.-Life and career:Lewis was born in Los Angeles, California to Geoffrey Lewis, an actor, and Glenis Duggan Batley, a graphic designer...
and
Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson , is an American musician and artist known for his controversial stage persona and image as the lead singer of the eponymous band. His stage name was formed from the names of actress Marilyn Monroe and convicted murderer Charles Manson...
. These works appear in various magazines and newspapers, such as the
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
and Gear
magazine. Some of these writings have shown up in his book Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories. Palahniuk also includes some non-fiction
factoidA factoid is a questionable or —unverified, incorrect, or fabricated—statement formed and asserted as a fact, but with no veracity. The word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary as "something which becomes accepted as fact, although it may not be true." However, the word can sometimes mean,...
s within his fictional works. According to the author, these are included in order to further immerse the reader in his work.
Criticism
The content of Palaniuk's works has earned him a reputation as a
nihilistNihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more aspects of life or the world in general. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
. Palahniuk however rejects this label, claiming he is a Romantic, and that his works are mistakenly seen as nihilistic because they express ideas that others do not believe in.
Laura Miller of
Salon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online magazine, with content updated each weekday. American liberal politics is its major focus, but it covers a range of issues. Reviews and articles about music, books and films are also a prominent feature of the site....
wrote a scathing review of Diary
, saying that Palahniuk's books "traffic in the half-baked nihilism of a stoned high school student who has just discovered Nietzsche and Nine Inch Nails" and that "everything even remotely clever in them has been done before and better by someone else".
In response, fans as well as Palahniuk himself (who had never responded to a review before) sent angry e-mails to Salon's Letters
section. Palahniuk observed "Until you can create something that captivates people, I'd invite you to just shut up. It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one."
As Palahniuk's career continues, some critics have also accused him of using lurid subject matters simply because it is expected of him. In the OnionThe Onion is an American "news satire" organization. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper and website known as The A.V. Club...
A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. It comes included with the print editions of The Onion, and maintains its own separate website. Unlike its parent publication, The A.V. Club is non-satirical, though it strives for a humorous, snarky tone...
s review of
Haunted, the reviewer wrote that gruesome scenes are "piled up to such extremes that it seems like Palahniuk is just double-daring himself to top each new vile degradation with something worse."
Adaptations
Other than the film,
Fight Club was also adapted into a
fighting video gameFighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in one-on-one close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena...
loosely based on the film, which was released in October 2004 to universally poor reviews. Palahniuk has mentioned at book readings that he is working on a musical based on
Fight Club with David Fincher and
Trent ReznorMichael Trent Reznor is an American songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist and founder of the industrial rock musical project known as Nine Inch Nails; he was previously associated with the bands Option 30, Exotic Birds, and Tapeworm, among others. As of 2007, Reznor split his ties with...
.
Edward NortonEdward Harrison Norton is an American film actor, screenwriter and director. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. A year later, his lead role as a reformed white power skinhead in American History...
has said that he thinks it is unlikely that he and
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men, a label that entices the media to report on his off-screen life...
, who "can't sing", would reprise their film roles for the musical.
Graphic novel adaptations of
Invisible Monsters and
Lullaby, drawn by comic artist Kissgz, aka Gabor, are available online.
Following the success of the movie of
Fight Club, interest began to build in adapting
Survivor to film. The film rights to
Survivor were first sold in early 2001, but no
movie studioA movie studio is, in the established sense of the term, a company that distributes films. Literally, however, the term denotes a controlled environment for the making of a motion picture. This environment may be interior , exterior , or both...
had committed itself to filming the novel. After the attacks on The Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the movie studios apparently deemed the novel too controversial to film because it includes the hijacking and crashing of a civilian airplane. However, in mid-2004
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
decided to commit itself to adapting Palahniuk's novel. Palahniuk has said that the people who made the film
Constantine will be working on this film.
In the meantime, the film rights to
Invisible Monsters and
Diary were also sold. While little is known about some of these projects, it is known that
Jessica BielJessica Claire Biel is an American actress and former model, who has appeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Illusionist and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry...
was signed on to play the roles of both Shannon and Brandy in
Invisible Monsters, which was supposed to begin filming in 2004 but has not begun production.
On January 14, 2008,
the film version of ChokeChoke is a 2008 black comedy film directed by Clark Gregg. The film stars Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. Production took place in New Jersey in 2007. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was purchased by Fox Searchlight Pictures for distribution...
premiered at the
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as the Sundance Resort, the festival is the premier...
, starring
Sam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor, appearing primarily in independent films.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Daly City, California, the son of actors who divorced when he was five years old. He was raised by his father, Pete Rockwell, in San Francisco while his mother, Penny Hess, stayed behind in...
and
Anjelica HustonAnjelica Huston is an American actress and former fashion model.Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston...
with
Clark GreggClark Gregg is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He co-stars in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which debuted in early 2006.-Biography:...
directing. David Fincher has expressed interest in filming
Diary as an HBO miniseries.
Website
In 1999, a fan by the name of Dennis Widmyer introduced himself to Palahniuk at a reading for
Invisible MonstersInvisible Monsters is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 1999. It is his third novel to be published, though it was his second written novel . The novel was originally supposed to be Palahniuk's first novel to be published, but it was rejected by the publisher for being too disturbing...
. He pitched the idea of a website devoted to Palahniuk, as he felt at the time that there was not enough information available online for the author. Palahniuk was flattered and accepted the offer, unsure if Widmyer would actually follow-through with his plan. A few weeks later, he received an email from Widmyer informing him that ChuckPalahniuk.net was now up and running and already growing a dedicated fan base. Approving of the site, Palahniuk soon gave Widmyer permission to call it official.
Over the course of the next ten years, the website (which calls itself The Cult) grew to become the largest of its kind. With over 700,000 pageviews a month and 30,000 registered users on its forums alone, it expanded to include sections on Palahniuk's books, movies, media appearances, tour dates and more. But perhaps its most important feature remains the Writers' Workshop. In 2004 Palahniuk and Widmyer conceived of a section on the site where up and coming writers could submit their original work to a database and have it read, rated and reviewed by their peers. The section accepted everything from short stories and poems to screenplays and novel excerpts. Palahniuk would then pen a monthly 'How To' essay on writing that his readers could benefit from and apply to their own craft. This process continued for three years.
In February 2009, Palahniuk began accepting six stories every month from his fans that would be narrowed down through a nominations process every month. The stories are read and reviewed by Palahniuk and helpful feedback is provided for the writer. It is Palahniuk's intention in 2010 to select the best stories from the year and publish them in an Anthology for which he will be writing the introduction.
Besides contributing thoroughly to his fans through the Writers Workshop on the site, Palahniuk also tries to answer every piece of fan mail sent to him. He sometimes sends odd gifts (such as plastic severed hands, prom tiaras, and masks) back with his responses. He also often gives these to fans at his book readings, sometimes as prizes for asking him questions. Along with signing fans' books at these readings, he also marks them with humorous rubber stamps that relate to the books (for instance, a stamp of "Property of Dr. B. Alexander Sex Reassignment Clinic" in a copy of
Invisible Monsters).
Television appearances
Besides his various promotional outings, Palahniuk has also made several notable television appearances to discuss cultural issues,
including
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations exploring his beloved
Pacific NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America, bound by the Pacific Ocean to the west. There are several partially overlapping definitions of the region, but they generally include the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, and...
in 2007 and the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
's Hardtalk Extra in 2004.
Awards
Palahniuk has won the following awards:
- the 1997 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (for Fight Club)
- the 1997 Oregon Book Award for Best Novel (for Fight Club)
- the 2003 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (for Lullaby)
He was also nominated for the 1999 Oregon Book Award for Best Novel for
Survivor and for the
Bram Stoker Award for Best NovelThe Bram Stoker Award for Novel is an award presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing for novels.-Winners and nominees:The following are the nominees and winners.* 1987: Misery by Stephen King...
for
Lullaby in 2002 and
Haunted in 2005.
Fiction
- Fight Club
Fight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The book follows the experiences of an unnamed protagonist struggling with insomnia. The insomnia is aggravated by frequent business travel and an apparent boredom with his comfortable lifestyle...
(1996)
- Survivor
Survivor is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk and published in February 1999. A satire of commercial culture, it is the story of Tender Branson, a member of the Creedish Church, a death cult...
(1999)
- Invisible Monsters
Invisible Monsters is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 1999. It is his third novel to be published, though it was his second written novel . The novel was originally supposed to be Palahniuk's first novel to be published, but it was rejected by the publisher for being too disturbing...
(1999)
- Choke
Choke is a 2001 novel by American author Chuck Palahniuk.-Plot summary:Choke follows Victor Mancini and his friend Denny through a few months of their lives with frequent flashbacks to the days when Victor was a child. Victor grew up while going from one foster home to another. Victor's mother was...
(2001)
- Lullaby
Lullaby is a horror-satire novel by American author Chuck Palahniuk, published in 2002. It won the 2003 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 2002.-Background:...
(2002)
- Diary
Diary is a 2003 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The book is written like a diary, its writer/narrator/main character being Misty Wilmot, a once-promising young artist currently working as a waitress in a hotel. Her husband, a contractor, is in a coma after a suicide attempt...
(2003)
- Haunted
Haunted is a 2005 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The plot is a frame story for a series of 23 short stories, most preceded by a free verse poem...
(2005)
- Rant
Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk released on May 1, 2007.Rant is told in the form of an oral biography. When the story begins, the reader discovers that the main character, Buster Landru "Rant" Casey, is already deceased...
(2007)
- Snuff
Snuff is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk that was released on May 20, 2008.-Book description:Cassie Wright, porn priestess, intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication porn movies, on camera, with six hundred men. Snuff unfolds through the perspectives of Mr....
(2008)
- Pygmy
Pygmy is an epistolary novel by Chuck Palahniuk. It was released on May 5, 2009.-Plot:The plot revolves around a 13-year-old exchange student, one of a dozen "shipped to America", to live with American families...
(2009)
- Tell All (2010)
Non-fiction
- Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon is a travelogue by novelist Chuck Palahniuk.The book alternates between autobiographical chapters, and lists of the author's favorite activities in his home city of Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.Palahniuk guides...
(2003)
- Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories is a non-fiction book by Chuck Palahniuk, published in 2004. It is a collection of essays, stories, and interviews written for various magazines and newspapers. Some of the pieces had also been previously published on the internet...
(2004)
- You Do Not Talk About Fight Club: I Am Jack's Completely Unauthorized Essay Collection (2008) (introduction)
Filmography
- Fight Club
Fight Club is a 1999 American film adapted from the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an "everyman" who is discontented with his white-collar...
(1999)
- Choke
Choke is a 2008 black comedy film directed by Clark Gregg. The film stars Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. Production took place in New Jersey in 2007. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was purchased by Fox Searchlight Pictures for distribution...
(2008)
- Invisible Monsters (2010)
- Haunted (TBA) - optioned property
- Survivor (TBA) - script stage
- Rant (TBA) - optioned property
- Diary (TBA) - optioned property
- Lullaby (TBA) - optioned property
External links