The first rule of Chuck Palahniuk: don't talk about Chuck Palahniuk.

Okay, if you haven't read (or seen) Fight Club, you have no clue what we're talking about.

When he wrote Fight Club, he'd already completed another novel, Invisible Monster, only for publishers to reject it because of its disturbing content. Ouch. Palahniuk wasn't about to wallow in a pity party, though. Instead, it was this rejection that led him to start work on Fight Club—a novel that he intended to disturb publishers even more.

How's that for a rebel?

Despite this aim, publishers were willing to publish Fight Club. It may not have been a massive hit at first, but the movie changed all that. This success led to a revised version of Invisible Monsters, along with several other successful novels. It was with Choke that Palahniuk finally scored a New York Times bestseller, establishing its author as one of today's most successful postmodern writers.

Palahniuk's own definition of his work is "transgressional fiction," and we have to agree. He's not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to subject matter, while his writing style makes use of repetition and everyday language. He's not into writing flowery, poetic stuff—he's more interested in how everyday folks speak and often takes time out to let us in on their (sometimes bizarre) beliefs and theories.

Fight Club

In this book, we're introduced to a narrator who is suffering from insomnia, hates his job, and spends his time hanging out at support groups for people with various illnesses. He doesn't actually have these illnesses, but hey, he finds it therapeutic.

The narrator soon has other things on his mind when his apartment is wrecked by an explosion. Luckily for him, a mysterious guy called Tyler Durden (who he first met while on vacation) gives him a place to stay—this leads to the duo setting up a club of their own: an underground fighting ring in which disillusioned men can vent their frustrations. Fighting is enough at first, but as time goes on, the guys pool their energies into more explosive anarchist action…

Written in 1996, Fight Club shines a light on the restlessness and powerlessness that folks can feel in late capitalist society. They may have money and the latest goods, but working at a job you can't stand and feeling as though you're just a cog in the machine can be pretty depressing. The appeal behind Fight Club is that it gives these guys a sense of control over their lives and lets them lash out against the system. As it goes on, though, things get more confusing and we start to wonder about the narrator's identity. And just who is this Tyler Durden anyway?

No spoilers, but it all gets really trippy. Majorly postmodern.

Invisible Monsters

Told from the viewpoint of a fashion model whose face has been disfigured by a gunshot wound (how's about that for a gloomy intro?), this novel charts the process of reinvention that the narrator embarks on while in hospital—a reinvention helped along by fellow patient Brandy Alexander. When the duo starts to suspect that the narrator's ex-fiancé and ex-best friend may have played a role in the narrator's predicament (this is starting to sound like a Jerry Springer synopsis, huh?), it's time for revenge. The narrator and Brandy go on to embark on an off-kilter road trip that includes kidnap, robbery, and prescription drugs. It doesn't get more "transgressional" than this.

If you thought Fight Club was a wild ride, then you've seen nothing yet. This novel is full of plot twists and a narrative that leaps backward and forward in time. Fragmentation? You bet. Plus, Palahniuk once again makes the most of his late capitalist setting, commenting on consumer culture, plastic surgery, sexuality, and the whole cult of "beauty". Though it was first published in 1999, 2012 saw the publication of a revamped edition, Invisible Monsters Remix, that's even more crazy and fragmented than the original.

Chew on This

What sort of genre(s) do you think Fight Club falls into? Head over to this page for some ideas on how to describe this novel.

Identity is another big theme in Fight Club. For more on this, plus some questions to chew on, check out this page.