Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniukis an American novelist and freelance journalist, who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He is the author of the award-winning novel Fight Club, which also was made into an acclaimed film of the same name...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth21 February 1962
CityPasco, WA
CountryUnited States of America
public
Writing in public gives you that access to a junkyard of details all around you.
annoys destroy held magical revered sort tour
The pretentiousness of literature really annoys me; the way a writer is held as this sort of magical person to be revered on the stage. Everything I do on tour is to try and destroy that pretense.
acne burned distant face family famous good growing jack knew led military mutilation prayed scars uncle
Jack Palance was my distant uncle - that's the family gossip. Growing up, my family knew everything about his face getting burned and scarred in the military and how that mutilation led him to become such a famous 'heavy' in films. I prayed for good scars of my own. Not just acne scars.
appear book choke comedy coming diagnosed dying lung meant plot privately promote public save trying version
In 2008, while the film version of my book 'Choke' was coming to market, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. That meant that I had to appear in public to promote a comedy about a son trying to save his dying mother - the plot of Choke - while privately I was caring for my own dying mother. It was torture.
anecdotes bring illustrate interact
I tell everyone I interact with what I'm working on and let them bring me anecdotes that illustrate my themes.
We're making the same mistakes we made 1,000 years ago. So they must be the right ones. So relax.
frontier left
The only frontier left is the world of intangibles. Everything else is sewn up too tight.
rant
So much of 'Fight Club' was a rant against fathers.
alexander checked david foster goes heath horrible kurt lifetime men peak trend
I think my heart always goes out to men at the peak of their celebrity who checked out. There's such an odd, horrible trend in my lifetime for it - Kurt Cobain, David Foster Wallace, Alexander McQueen, Heath Ledger.
catch life modern
I live by fallacy. 'If I get enough nice Ikea furniture, I'll be a grown-up.' Then I catch myself. Or, 'If I get off by myself, away from the stress of modern life, I'll be OK.' Then I catch myself.
verbs
Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come in under the radar, below people's defenses.
catch fact fun stupid
I never think I'm making fun of my culture. In fact I'm making fun of myself, because I catch myself doing some very stupid things.
instead plot point
Sometimes, like in 'Invisible Monsters,' I get too out of control, and instead of a plot point every chapter, I want a plot point in every sentence.
mammals order seen south visit
When I visit my brother in South Africa, I order things I've only seen in zoos. Little deers and kudu, all the mammals you would never think of eating.