Chuck Palahniuk Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Chuck Palahniuk is a Novelist and an Essayist.

Early Life

Charles Michael Palahniuk was born to the couple Carol Adele and Fred Palahniuk at Pasco in Washington, US.  Their ancestor’s family had traveled to New York from Canada in 1907.   His mother and father got separated when Palahniuk was a teenager.  The grandparents looked after Palahniuk and three siblings. 

He had a stint with KLCC, a radio station, a local newspaper and as a diesel mechanic. In 1998 he offered to work in a hospital helping incurable patients

He quit this assignment on the death of close patient.

Schooling

Palahniuk enrolled in the University of Oregon School of Journalism. He graduated in 1986. 

Career

Palahniuk’s writing started when he was in his early 30’s. He could not publish his novel, Invisible Monsters. He wrote another novel, Fight Club when he was working as a diesel mechanic. This was a short story and later converted into a full novel. The novel had good reports and received awards as well.

He entered an agreement with Edward Hubbert. The novel was filmed and released in 1999. The novel was published again in 1999,2004 and 2005. The novel was made a comic series, as Flight Club 1, 2 and 3.  He also wrote short stories for comic series.

Palahniuk published three more novels in 1999, viz., Invisible Monsters (revised), and Choke.  The novel Choke appeared as a movie.

Palahniuk wrote the novel Lullaby. Palahniuk went on a tour in 2003 with the idea of promoting his novel, “Diary”. During the tour, Palahniuk told a story, “Guts”, relating to masturbation.  The same has appeared in his novel, Haunted.   The story was also published in the periodical, Playboy in 2004.  He promoted another story, Stranger than Fiction: True Stories during his promotional travels in 2004.  The story Guts was read again to the listeners. The story appears on the internet as audio recordings of the author.

Palahniuk started working on Rant, a science fiction series and attended a workshop at Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2008.  He explained the participating students the style of his writing and theme of fiction.

Adaptations

The video game based on the film, Fight Club, was made public in 2004. The novels Invisible Monsters and Lullaby have been shown on line.  His attempts to film the story, Survivor, did not evince much interest in view of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001. The 20th Century Fox agreed to film the novel in 2004.

His novel, Choke was filmed in 2008 and released for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival.  The filming of the story, Diary, as HBO series (Home Box Office) was also contemplated.  The novel, Rant, was also announced to be filmed in 2014.

TV Appearance

Palahniuk has discussed cultural matters in a series of TV appearances in 2007.

Style Of Writing

In his novels, Palahniuk has described downgraded people by the public.  His stories became mocking horror stories. 

Criticism

His critics have branded Palahniuk as a pessimist.

Personal

Palahniuk has attended regularly the events conducted by defiant Cacophony Society.

In 1999, his father starting dating Donna Fontaine but was murdered by her former boyfriend in 2001. He has been unmarried but living with a boyfriend. He is a guy and living with his partner for over two decades.

Awards

Palahniuk has several awards to his credit: Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (1997), Oregon Book Award for Best Novel (1997), and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (2003).

The novels Survivor and Lullaby have been nominated for 1999 Oregon Book Award and Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel respectively. His novel, Haunted has also been nominated for Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 2005.

Publications

Palahniuk has authored 18 fictions and 14 short fictions. He has also authored 3 non-fiction.

Films

Five of his novels have been filmed.