Born: February
21, 1962
Pasco, Washington
Occupation: novelist, essayist
Nationality: United States
Genres: literary Fiction, satire, horror
Literary movement:
Postmodernism, Minimalism, Recaptured literature
Influences: Amy Hempel, Gordon Lish, Ira Levin
Website: chuckpalahniuk.net
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American satirical
novelist and freelance journalist of Ukrainian ancestry born in
Pasco, Washington. The press release for his latest book, Rant,
states he is now living in Vancouver, Washington. He is best known
for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into
a film directed by David Fincher. He has one of the largest centralized
followings of any author on the Internet, based around his official
website.
Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington, the son of Carol and Fred
Palahniuk, and grew up living in a mobile home in nearby Burbank,
Washington, 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 Washington.
Chuck Palahniuk, September 21, 2004, on tour at the University at
Albany to promote Diary.
In his twenties, Palahniuk attended the University of Oregon's 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 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 short 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
Education, 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
Society in his adulthood. He is a regular participant in their events,
including the annual Santa Rampage (a public Christmas 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.
