Editing Chuck Palahniuk (section)

==Career==

===Early career===
Palahniuk wrote for his local newspaper for a short while but then began working for [[Freightliner Trucks]] 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 by [[Landmark Education]], Palahniuk quit his job as a journalist in 1988.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,1477930,00.html | title= Fright club| work= [[The Observer]]| first= Sean| last= O'Hagan| date= May 7, 2005| access-date= July 8, 2018}}</ref> He performed volunteer work for a [[homeless shelter]] and volunteered at a [[hospice]] as an escort, providing transportation for terminally ill people, taking them to [[support group]] meetings. He ceased volunteering upon the death of a patient to whom he had grown attached.<ref>{{cite book| last= Palahniuk| first= Chuck| title= [[Stranger than Fiction: True Stories]]| location= Garden City| publisher= [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]| year= 2004| pages= [https://archive.org/details/strangerthanfict00pala/page/195 195–199]| isbn= 0-385-50448-9}}</ref>

Palahniuk began writing fiction in his early 30s. By his account, he started writing while attending workshops for writers that were hosted by [[Tom Spanbauer]], which he attended to meet new friends. Spanbauer largely inspired Palahniuk's minimalistic writing style.<ref>{{cite book| last= Palahniuk| first= Chuck| title= [[Stranger than Fiction: True Stories]] Fact and Fiction: an Introduction| location= Garden City| publisher= [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]| year= 2004| isbn= 0-385-50448-9}}</ref>

===''Fight Club''===
After his first novel – ''[[Invisible Monsters]]'' – was rejected by all publishers he submitted it to, he began work on his first published novel, ''[[Fight Club (novel)|Fight Club]]''.<ref name="chuckpalahniuk.net">{{cite web |author=Dennis |url=http://chuckpalahniuk.net/news/the-invisible-monsters-remix-is-now-out |title=The 'Invisible Monsters Remix' Is Now Out! &#124; The Cult |publisher= | website= Chuckpalahniuk.net |date=June 22, 2012 |access-date= December 4, 2013 |archive-date=October 13, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121013002320/http://chuckpalahniuk.net/news/the-invisible-monsters-remix-is-now-out |url-status=dead }}</ref> Palahniuk wrote this story in his spare time while working for Freightliner. After initially publishing it as a short story (which became chapter 6 of the novel) in the 1995 compilation ''Pursuit of Happiness'', Palahniuk expanded it into a full novel, which, contrary to his expectations, a publisher accepted.<ref>Tomlinson, Sarah. "[http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/int/1999/10/13/palahniuk/index.html Is it fistfighting, or just multi-tasking?]". ''Salon''. October 13, 1999.</ref> While the original hardcover edition of the book received positive reviews and some awards, it had a short shelf life.{{fact|date=January 2023}}

Initially, Palahniuk struggled to find a [[literary agent]] and went without one until after the publication of ''Fight Club''.<ref name= agent>{{cite web| website= chuckpalahniuk.net| url= http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/author/faq#How%20did%20he%20land%20an%20agent | title= Author FAQ |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20151029072017/http://chuckpalahniuk.net/author/faq#How%20did%20he%20land%20an%20agent |archivedate=October 29, 2015 | quote=How did he land an agent? Believe it or not, Chuck had to go through hell and back to land an agent...| accessdate=}}</ref> After he began receiving attention from [[20th Century Fox]], Palahniuk was signed by actor and literary agent [[Edward Hibbert]].<ref name= agent/><ref>{{cite web| website= chuckpalahniuk.net| url= http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/author/faq | title= Author FAQ| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20151029072017/http://chuckpalahniuk.net/author/faq |archivedate=October 29, 2015 | quote= Who is his agent? Edward Hibbert of Donadio & Olson, Inc. is Chuck's book agent. Check out Edward's double life as an actor...| accessdate=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Glitz|first=Michael|title= Hibbert on: out actor Edward Hibbert talks about the Noises Off revival, his side career as an agent, and the best antidote to anthrax|publisher= | work= The Advocate |date=December 25, 2001| url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2001_Dec_25/ai_83451277|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101100455/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2001_Dec_25/ai_83451277 |url-status=dead|archive-date=November 1, 2007|access-date=May 23, 2008}}</ref> Hibbert eventually guided and brokered the deal that took ''Fight Club'' to the big screen.<ref name= agent /> In 1999, the [[Fight Club|film adaptation]] by director [[David Fincher]] was released.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Bullet Train': Two decades after 'Fight Club', is Brad Pitt approaching the twilight of his career? {{!}} MEAWW |url=https://meaww.com/brad-pitt-bullet-train-retirement-assassins-action-movies-angelina-jolie-gwyneth-paltrow |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=meaww.com|date=August 4, 2022 }}</ref> The film was a [[box office bomb|box office disappointment]] (although it was No. 1 at the U.S. box office in its first weekend) and critical reaction was mixed, but a [[cult film|cult following]] soon emerged as the DVD of the film became popular upon release.{{fact|date=January 2023}} Three editions of the novel have been published in paperback: in 1999, in 2004 (with a new introduction by the author about the success of the film adaptation), and in 2005 (with an afterword by Palahniuk).{{fact|date=January 2023}}

===''Invisible Monsters'', ''Survivor'', and ''Choke''===
A revised version of ''Invisible Monsters'', as well as his fourth novel, ''[[Survivor (Chuck Palahniuk novel)|Survivor]]'', were published in 1999. A few years later Palahniuk managed to complete his first [[New York Times bestseller list|''New York Times'' bestseller]], the novel ''[[Choke (novel)|Choke]]'', which later was made into a [[Choke (2008 film)|movie]].

===''Lullaby''===
[[File:Palahniuk, Chuck.jpg|thumb|Palahniuk at the [[Miami Book Fair International]] 2011]]
The year 1999 brought a series of great personal tragedies to Palahniuk's life. At that time, his father, Fred Palahniuk, had started dating a woman named Donna Fontaine, whom he had met through a [[personal ad]] under the title "[[wikt:kismet|Kismet]]".<ref name= "McDonough">{{cite news |last1=McDonough |first1=Ted |title=Latah murder inspires novel; 'Choke' a dark story of sexual addiction |url= https://dnews.com/local/latah-murder-inspires-novel-choke-a-dark-story-of-sexual-addiction/article_e59f0598-74e2-5ef0-b712-e5176dd555cd.html |access-date=August 16, 2020 |work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |date=June 15, 2001 |language=en}}</ref> Her former boyfriend, Dale Shackelford, had previously been imprisoned for sexual abuse and had vowed to kill Fontaine as soon as he was released from prison. Palahniuk believes that, using a personal ad, Fontaine was looking for "the biggest man she could find" to protect her from Shackelford, and Palahniuk's father qualified.<ref>"Palahniuk, Slapstick, Skyspace". ''[[Studio 360]]'', [[NPR]]. February 12, 2006.</ref> After his release, Shackelford followed Fontaine and the senior Palahniuk to Fontaine's home in [[Kendrick, Idaho]], after they had gone out for a date. Shackelford then shot them both and dragged their bodies into Fontaine's cabin home, which he then set alight. In the spring of 2001, Shackelford was found guilty for two counts of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. In the wake of these events, Palahniuk began working on the novel ''[[Lullaby (Palahniuk novel)|Lullaby]]''. He has stated that he wrote the novel to help him cope with having participated in the decision to have Shackelford receive the [[capital punishment|death sentence]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Morton |first1=K. Willis |title=Lullaby at the Fight Club: The Chuck Palahniuk Gob Q & A |journal=[[Gobshite Quarterly]] |date= February 2003 |issue=1 |url= http://www.gobshitequarterly.com/arkive/issue001/morton_lullaby_gobqa_eng.htm |access-date=August 16, 2020}}</ref>

==="Guts" and ''Haunted''===
While on his 2003 tour to promote his novel ''[[Diary (novel)|Diary]]'', Palahniuk read to his audiences a short story entitled "Guts", a sensational tale of accidents involving [[masturbation]], which appears in his book ''[[Haunted (Palahniuk novel)|Haunted]]''. The story begins with the author telling his listeners to inhale deeply and that "this story should last about as long as you can hold your breath." It was reported that 40 people had fainted listening to the readings while holding their breath.<ref>"[http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,1168227,00.html I dare you]". ''[[The Guardian]]''. March 13, 2004.</ref> ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine later published the story in their March 2004 issue and Palahniuk offered to let them publish another story along with it, but the publishers found the second work too disturbing to publish. On his tour to promote ''[[Stranger than Fiction: True Stories]]'' during the summer of 2004, he read "Guts" to audiences again, bringing the total number of fainters up to 53 (and later up to 60 while on tour to promote the softcover edition of ''Diary''). In the fall of that year, he began promoting ''Haunted'', and continued to read "Guts". In June 2005, Palahniuk noted that his number of fainters was up to 67.<ref>{{cite news|author= |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3643352/67-people-fainted-as-I-read-my-horror-story.html |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3643352/67-people-fainted-as-I-read-my-horror-story.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=67 people fainted as I read my horror story |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=June 7, 2005 |access-date=June 30, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 

At a 2005 appearance in Miami, Florida, during the ''Haunted'' tour, Palahniuk commented that ''Haunted'' represented the last of a "[[horror fiction|horror]] trilogy" (including ''Lullaby'' and ''Diary''). He also indicated that his then-forthcoming novel, ''[[Rant (novel)|Rant]]'', would be the first of a "science fiction trilogy".

In 2008, Palahniuk spent a week at the [[Clarion West Writers Workshop]], instructing eighteen students about his writing methods and theory of fiction.<ref>{{cite journal| title= Clarion West Turns 25| journal= Locus Magazine| date= September 2008| page= 5}}</ref>

===Adaptations===
In addition to the film, ''Fight Club'' was adapted into a [[Fight Club (video game)|fighting video game]] loosely based on the film, which was released in October 2004, receiving universally poor reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/919413.asp?q=fight%20club |title=Fight Club |publisher= | website= GameRankings.com |date= November 16, 2004 |access-date= December 4, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060101173831/http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/919413.asp?q=fight%20club |archive-date=January 1, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Palahniuk has mentioned at book readings that he is working on a musical based on ''Fight Club'' with David Fincher and [[Trent Reznor]].<ref>{{cite news| last= Chang | first= Jade | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A2799633 | title= Tinseltown: Fight Club and Fahrenheit| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20150610183132/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A2799633 |archivedate=June 10, 2015 | website= [[BBC]].co.uk| date= July 2, 2004}}</ref> [[Edward Norton]] has said that he thinks it is unlikely that he and [[Brad Pitt]], who "can't sing," would reprise their film roles in a musical.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Scoop: Elisabeth Hasselbeck invited to Palin rallies/Plus: Ed Norton disses Brad Pitt's singing; Katie Holmes no ratings winner|url= https://www.today.com/popculture/elisabeth-hasselbeck-invited-palin-rallies-wbna27329218|date= October 23, 2008|work= [[Today.com]]|access-date=July 9, 2009}}</ref>

Graphic novel adaptations of ''Invisible Monsters'' and ''Lullaby'', drawn by comic artist Kissgz, a.k.a. Gabor, are available online.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/features/comics/ |title= The Cult |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131015144958/http://chuckpalahniuk.net/features/comics |archive-date=October 15, 2013 }}</ref>

Following the success of the movie of ''Fight Club'', interest began to build about adapting ''Survivor'' to film. The film rights to ''Survivor'' were sold in early 2001, but no [[movie studio]] had committed to filming the novel. After the [[September 11 attacks|attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001]], movie studios apparently deemed the novel too controversial to film because it includes the hijacking and crashing of a civilian airplane.<ref>''Postcards from the Future: The Chuck Palahniuk Documentary''. Kinky Mule Films. DVD Video. 2003.</ref>

Following that, the film rights to ''Invisible Monsters'' and ''Diary'' also were sold. While little is known about some of these projects, it is known that [[Jessica Biel]] was signed on to play the roles of both Shannon and Brandy in ''Invisible Monsters'', which was supposed to begin filming in 2004, but {{As of|2010|lc=on}} was still in development.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756666/ | title= Invisible Monsters | website= IMDb.com | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100930145651/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756666/| archivedate=September 30, 2010}}</ref>

On January 14, 2008, [[Choke (2008 film)|the film version of ''Choke'']] premiered at the [[Sundance Film Festival]], starring [[Sam Rockwell]], [[Kelly Macdonald]] and [[Anjelica Huston]] with [[Clark Gregg]] directing.<ref>Widmyer, Dennis. [http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?threadid=28409 ''Chuckpalahniuk.net'']. April 30, 2007. {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131012213144/http://chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?threadid=28409 |date=October 12, 2013 }}</ref> David Fincher  expressed interest in filming ''Diary'' as an [[HBO]] miniseries.<ref>Sciretta, Peter. [http://www.cinematical.com/2005/06/17/the-chuck-palahniuk-update/ The Chuck Palahniuk Update]. ''Cinematical.com''. June 17, 2005. {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090924020625/http://www.cinematical.com/2005/06/17/the-chuck-palahniuk-update/ |date=September 24, 2009 }}</ref><ref>''Chuckpalahniuk.net''. Retrieved October 12, 2006.</ref>

On September 11, 2014, the film version of ''Rant'' was announced, starring [[James Franco]], with [[Pamela Romanowsky]] writing and directing.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://litreactor.com/news/news-exclusive-james-franco-options-chuck-palahniuks-rant |title=EXCLUSIVE: James Franco Options Chuck Palahniuk's 'Rant' UPDATED| website= litreactor.com}}</ref>