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Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk

American freelance journalist and novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction.

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Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (born February 21, 1962) is an American freelance journalist and novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adult coloring books, as well as several short stories. He is most notably the author of the novel Fight Club, which also was made into a film of the same name, starring Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Brad Pitt.

Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington, the son of Carol Adele (née Tallent) and Fred Palahniuk. He has French and Ukrainian ancestry. His paternal grandfather migrated from Ukraine to Canada and then to New York in 1907. Palahniuk grew up living in a mobile home in Burbank, Washington. His parents separated when he was 14 and subsequently divorced, often leaving him and his three siblings to live with their maternal grandparents at their cattle ranch in eastern Washington. Palahniuk acknowledged in a 2007 interview that he is a distant nephew of actor Jack Palance, and that his family had talked of distant relations with Palance.

In his twenties, Palahniuk attended the University of Oregon School of Journalism, graduating in 1986. While attending college, he worked as an intern for National Public Radio member station KLCC in Eugene, Oregon. He moved to Portland, Oregon soon after. He wrote for the local newspaper for a short while and then began working for Freightliner as a diesel mechanic, continuing until his writing career took off. During that time, he wrote manuals on fixing trucks and had a stint as a journalist, a job to which he did not return until after he became a successful novelist. After casually attending a seminar held by an organization called Landmark Education, Palahniuk quit his job as a journalist in 1988. He performed volunteer work for a homeless shelter and volunteered at a hospice as an escort, providing transportation for terminally ill people and bringing them to support group meetings. He ceased volunteering upon the death of a patient to whom he had grown attached.

The narratives of Palahniuk's books often are structured in medias res, starting 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. Exceptions to this narrative form, however, include the more linear Choke and Diary. Often a major plot twist exists 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.

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Further Resources

Title
Author
Link
Type
Date

Chuck Palahniuk Biography - life, family, parents, name, story, wife, mother, young, son - Newsmakers Cumulation

https://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2004-Ko-Pr/Palahniuk-Chuck.html

Web

Fight Club Author Chuck Palahniuk on Life, Death and Finding Meaning In Your Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gPwXrb6rYg

Web

April 15, 2021

References

chuckpalahniuk.net
Is a
Person
Person

Person attributes

Birthdate
February 21, 1962
Birthplace
Pasco, Washington
Pasco, Washington
Author of
Fight Club
Fight Club
Lullaby (Palahniuk novel)
Lullaby (Palahniuk novel)
Educated at
University of Oregon
University of Oregon
Occupation
Screenwriter
Screenwriter
Journalist
Journalist
Novelist
Novelist
Writer
Writer

Other attributes

Citizenship
United States
United States
Genre
Fiction
Fiction
Satire
Satire
Notable Work
Rant
Rant
‌
Survivor (Palahniuk novel)
Fight Club
Fight Club
‌
Damned (Palahniuk novel)
Wikidata ID
Q268181

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