by Julius Albert Custodio

Created on: May 29, 2011   Last Updated: June 03, 2011

Conservative is definitely not in his vocabulary.

The complex and gritty novel turned into cult movie favorite "Fight Club"; the unapologetic tale both twisted and tragic "Choke"; the notoriously nauseating "Guts": these are but a few of the most notable titles in modern shock fiction. It also wouldn't come as a shock that all of these were crafted deep within the recesses of the mind of one man named Chuck Palahniuk.

On the 21st of February 1962, in the city of Pasco, Washington, the world stood still for a baby boy who would soon wield the pen that would write the stories about the darker side of human nature. Charles Michael Palahniuk, known to many as Chuck, was practically raised by his grandparents (along with his three other siblings) after his parents separated and divorced. A career in writing was soon underway as Palahniuk graduated with a Journalism degree from University of Oregon on 1986.

He worked as a diesel mechanic for a while before finally taking hold of the proverbial pen. Unlike most popular novelists though, Palahniuk didn't write fiction immediately. Having a mechanical background, he wrote automotive manuals instead. He also practiced journalism on the side.

It wasn't until his mid-thirties that Chuck Palahniuk started his career on fiction. Inspired by minimalist writing techniques, he applied this writing "voice" in most of his work. Success didn't come quickly for Palahniuk though. Like many authors before him, he also faced rejection from publishers, mostly because of the disturbing content of his novels. Characterized by copious amounts of violence, sex, gore, and graphic imagery, Palahniuk's work constitutes the marginally shunned literary genre, "shock fiction".

Palahniuk's popularity slowly rose when his novel about the secret world of underground arenas, "Fight Club", was published. Soon thereafter, a movie deal was struck and everything took off from there. The movie was hailed by the critics and is one of the catalysts that piqued the interest of many into buying Palahniuk's other works. It wasn't just overnight success though, Mr. Palahniuk also quickly gained a cult following. Backed with a fiercely loyal fan base, he wrote more of his shocking and twisted books dealing with topics that many would consider as taboo. One short story in particular, "Guts", is widely known to have caused fainting when Palahniuk reads it aloud in public.

To date, Palahniuk has written eleven novels (his twelfth novel, "Damned", is scheduled to be published on the 18th of October 2011), and two non-fiction books. Aside from "Fight Club", his other novel, "Choke", was also adapted into film.

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