Writer and freelance journalist Chuck Palahniuk, whose novels Fight Club and Lone Survivor made him famous throughout the world, have Ukrainian roots – his grandfather emigrated to the United States through Canada and settled in New York in 1907. The writer transformed the Ukrainian surname Palagnyuk into Palahniuk not only because it is more sonorous and understandable to the American ear, it is also a combination of the names of his Ukrainian grandparents, whose names were Paula and Nick. The writer has not yet been to his historical homeland, but his brother lives here, so it is quite possible that he will visit Ukraine one day. Palahniuk is also a distant relative of another famous American of Ukrainian origin – the actor of the “Golden Age of Hollywood”, Oscar winner Jack Palance (Vladimir Palagnyuk).
Childhood in a trailer
Chuck was born on February 21, 1962 in the town of Pasco, located on the Northeast Coast of the United States. From there, the family moved to nearby Burbank, where the parents and their four children – Chuck himself and his three brothers and sisters – lived in a trailer, since they did not have a permanent home. When the boy was 14 years old, his parents divorced. It was difficult for the mother to raise four children, so she sent them to her parents, who lived and worked on a cattle ranch. Now it’s hard to believe, but at school, Palahniuk’s classmates called him mentally retarded, he was so different from the general mass of schoolchildren. He still remembers helping the beautiful Glenda Haas, who was new to their class, by collecting beads that had fallen apart due to a broken thread. “You’re so cute!” she said, smiling. “They told me you’re an idiot.” Chuck then kept two beads for himself – as a keepsake.
Truck Repair Guide and Volunteering
In 1986, after graduating from the University of Oregon journalism department, Palahniuk moved to Portland, where he worked as a journalist for local newspapers and radio. However, this occupation did not live up to his expectations: it was uninteresting, absolutely uncreative, and paid disappointingly little. To earn a decent living according to his brands, Chuck began repairing diesel engines, taking a job with the truck manufacturer Freightliner, having managed to write a truck repair manual. He left this job only for a writing career. He returned to journalism only after he became a famous writer.
At the same time, the writer – in his words, in order to find the meaning of life – took up volunteering. He worked in hospice and hospice care, escorting terminally ill people to group meetings. There Palahniuk became friends with one of the patients. His death, even though Palahniuk was mentally prepared for such an outcome, was a serious blow for him, but he did not give up volunteering.
Pessimistic literature
Palahniuk came to literature when he was already over 30. He attended writing workshops with Tom Spanbauer, who, according to critics, inspired Palahniuk to write minimalist prose. The writer himself calls the style in which his works are written transgressive fiction. His style is also distinguished by his ability to write about events of the past as if they were happening in the present. In addition, Palahniuk’s works have a mesmerizing effect on people, especially when he himself reads them aloud. During his presentation tour, those present at the meeting with Palahniuk literally did not breathe as he read his story “Guts.” The fact is that it began with a request from the narrator to hold his breath, since “the story continues until the reader can hold his breath.” 73 people then lost consciousness from lack of air.
The content of his first works was so pessimistic that they refused to publish them: publishers were afraid that they would negatively affect the inner world of readers – make them more suspicious, anxious, and even push them to suicide.
“Fight Club”: a novel…
Nevertheless, in 1995, he still managed to publish one of his stories in a literary almanac. It was the story set out in it that he, developing and expanding the content of the story, turned into his most famous novel, “Fight Club,” published in 1996. For it, Palahniuk was awarded the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and the Oregon State Book Award for “Best Novel” in 1997. “Fight Club” is largely based on real events – for example, Tyler Durden’s remarks and actions repeat the words and actions of his friends: he “copied” the hero’s habit of inserting pornographic footage into children’s films from his classmate, who worked as a projectionist. And his brother Megg, who works as a chemical engineer at Chevron, told him about the details of making explosives; Palahniuk himself was in a group called Cacophony Symphony, which liked to organize large-scale pranks.
…and film adaptation
The success of the novel attracted the attention of filmmakers: the management of the 20th Century Fox studio turned to Palahniuk’s literary agent, Edward Hibbert, who helped the writer enter into an agreement for the film adaptation of “Fight Club” – the copyrights were sold for only… 10 thousand dollars. The film by David Fincher, starring Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, was released in 1999. It’s interesting that at first it failed at the box office, but later gained popularity and then became a cult film. The writer himself admits in an interview that he likes the film version much more than the novel he wrote.
New novels as sublimation of dramatic experiences
Also in 1999, Palahniuk published two more novels, Lone Survivor and Invisible Monsters. His writing career was taking off when tragic events occurred in the writer’s life. First, his father Fred died, who was shot by a pathologically jealous ex-husband of the woman with whom he had gotten together: he promised that he would not forgive her for cheating, and kept his word. The bodies were found in a burned-out garage near Kendrick, Idaho. The drama of this story was given by the fact that Palahniuk’s father as a child witnessed his father kill his mother and then commit suicide – many years later the situation played out in his own life and led to his death.
A few years later, Palahniuk’s mother, Carol Adele, also died – the cause of her death was cancer. The incident not only increased the “gloominess” of his works, but also forced him to immerse himself in his work – in order to escape from pessimistic thoughts. At this time, his novels “Choke”, on which Clark Gregg made the film of the same name, “Lullaby”, “Diary”, “Rant”, “Snuff”, “Tell All” and “The Damned” were published one after another.
Difficult confession
Chuck Palahniuk is openly gay, which he admitted on his website and later in an interview with the Advocate after speaking with Entertainment Weekly reporter Karen Walby because he was afraid she would reveal his secret, which became known to her as a result of candid communication. The confession, according to the writer himself, was difficult, but necessary: it left no reason for rumors and speculation. Palahniuk did not name his partner, but said that he met him while working at Freightliner and since then they have lived together. According to the writer, in the past they worked very hard and hard, but now they deserve peace and comfort.
Parcels tied with colored ribbons
Now Chuck Palahniuk lives in Vancouver, he continues his literary activity – he writes fiction and non-fiction works, including such as “Runaways and Vagabonds: Walks in Portland, Ohio”, “Fantasticer than Fiction”, “Getting Started: Moments of My Writing lives after which everything changed.” In addition to his awards for Fight Club, he was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award twice, in 2002 and 2005.
He likes to send gifts to his fans, which he packs in boxes large and small: his gifts are usually unpredictable, and readers can find in them anything from chocolate-covered cherries to fake dog poop, rubber ducks and necklaces composed of Palahniuk himself made of beads with letters – the names of the recipients. The writer ties the parcels with bright ribbons, and his assistant takes them to the post office – from 75 to 100 items per week.
