Chuck Palahniuk’s debut novel Fight Club introduced the world to Tyler Durden and his very particular brand of mayhem. Palahniuk’s most famous creation, immortalized on the big screen, became a cultural touchstone, revered and reviled, oft quoted and frequently misunderstood. Now, more than two decades later, Palahniuk returns <!–more–> to the themes of toxic masculinity, privilege and the appeal of cults with his latest novel, ADJUSTMENT DAY. Following his New York Times bestselling graphic novel debut Fight Club 2 and his coloring book debut Bait, ADJUSTMENT DAY is Chuck Palahniuk’s first novel in four years and, arguably, his most political.

The Conquistadors had the Bible. Mao’s army had his book of quotations. The Nazis had Mein Kampf. American radicals had Saul Alinsky. And, in the novel ADJUSTMENT DAY, the Millennials will have the Declaration of Interdependence. Smug, geriatric politicians bring the nation to the brink of a third world war in an effort to control the burgeoning population of directionless young males; working-class men dream of burying the elites; and professors propound theories that offer students only the bleakest future. People are ready for the reckoning. They’ve been reading a mysterious book and memorizing the inspirational slogans of the Declaration of Interdependence:

• The weak want you to forgo your destiny just as they’ve shirked theirs
• A smile is your best bulletproof vest
• The joy of fiction is that it only needs to smell true

Imagine there’s no God. There is no Heaven or Hell. There is only your son and his son and his son and the world you leave for them.

And when Adjustment Day arrives, Palahniuk fearlessly takes us through the logical conclusion of every separatist fantasy, alternative fact, and conspiracy theory lurking in the American psyche.

ADJUSTMENT DAY is a quintessential Palahniuk novel. (Who else would remind us what ancient shepherds, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and King Henry the VIII have in common?) It is a novel about the power of words, and our collective ability to misunderstand those words in profound ways. It is compelling and challenging, timely and timeless. On sale on May 1, 2018 from W. W. Norton & Company, ADJUSTMENT DAY is Palahniuk doing what he does best, skewering the absurdities in our society, unafraid to offend all parties.