Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk is an American novelist and freelance journalist, who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He is best known as the author of the award-winning novel "Fight Club," which also was made into a feature film. He graduated from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism in 1986, having interned for KLCC.

Palahniuk attended writers workshops with Tom Spanbauer in his mid thirties and began writing fiction. His first novel, "Invisible Monsters" was rejected by publishers for being too disturbing, which prompted him to write "Fight Club" in an effort to disturb the publisher even more. At this stage, he was still working as a mechanic. Palahniuk became a cult figure after the publication of "Invisible Monsters" and "Survivor" in conjunction with the movie release of "Fight Club" in 1999.

Palahniuk apparently began the novel "Lullaby" during the time in which his girlfriend was murdered. He later stated that he used the writing process to help him cope with his decision to help get the murderer a death sentence.

While on his 2003 tour to promote his 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." His next novel, Rant, was the first of a science fiction trilogy.