As with If You Lived Here, agents just couldn't embrace the dark tone in Chuck's work, and while his voice as a writer got some recognition, nobody was willing to take a chance on him. The 700-page monster of a book was Chuck’s attempt at emulating Stephen King, and was rejected across the board (although parts were later recycled for use in Fight Club.) Unfazed, Chuck dabbled with even darker material, writing a manuscript called Manifesto, which would go on to become Invisible Monsters. The Love Theme of Sybil and William followed in October.Ĭhuck’s first attempt at a novel, If You Lived Here, You’d be Home Already, was also written while attending the workshop.

A friend suggested he attend a workshop hosted by Tom Spanbauer, minimalist guru behind the art of “Dangerous Writing.” The resulting short story, Negative Reinforcement, appeared in the now defunct literary journal Modern Short Stories in August 1990, and is Chuck’s first known published work. In his mid-thirties, Chuck decided to try his hand at writing fiction. It depends who you believe.' The tragic event is depicted on the U.S. Some of the family claimed he was never a violent, crazy person before that. In the article, Chuck is quoted as saying, 'My grandfather was hit over the head by a crane boom in Seattle. Chuck’s father, who was three at the time, watched from under a bed as Nick Palahniuk searched the house for additional victims, before turning the gun on himself. As recounted in an interview with The Independent, his grandfather shot and killed his grandmother after an argument over the cost of a sewing machine. But Chuck never knew his father’s parents. According to Chuck, his paternal grandparents decided to pronounce it as a combination of their first names, Paula and Nick. The surname, Palahniuk, which is Ukrainian in origin, can be spelled and pronounced numerous different ways. His parents, Carol and Fred Palahniuk, separated and divorced when he was fourteen, leaving Chuck and his siblings to spend much of their time on their maternal grandparent’s cattle ranch. There are those who would have us believe he entered this world kicking and screaming, brandishing a pen, when in fact he comes from much more humble (albeit interesting) beginnings.īorn February 21, 1962, Charles Michael Palahniuk spent his early childhood living out of a mobile home in Burbank, Washington. In the case of bestselling cult author Chuck Palahniuk, the embellishment of his exploits by fans has made it hard to tell exactly where reality ends and the storytelling begins. The rest of us have no choice but to live vicariously through their stories.

Truth is stranger than fiction, at least for those blessed with interesting lives.

Chuck palahniuk books