An insomniac drifts through the meaninglessness of modern life - until he finds purpose in violence. Prisoner to the 9 to 5 and desperate to feel something real, he finds relief in support groups meant for other people's suffering. Then he meets Tyler Durden. They begin with a fight in a car park. Others watch. Others return. Soon the gatherings acquire rules, rituals, and a strange discipline. What feels at first like release takes on a sharper edge, binding its members through bruises and secrecy.

As Tyler's influence grows, the narrator's sense of self begins to loosen. When the truth surfaces, it does not restore order. It reveals how far things have already moved beyond his control. 'Hypnotic, pitiless and told brilliantly' Bret Easton Ellis 'Like a noxious Doug Coupland, Palahniuk charts new-felt and totally contemporary categories of despair' Ali Smith, Guardian VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIES Spine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.