'Choke'

I've read one Chuck Palahnuik book and seen both of his film adaptations (Fight Club, Choke).

Both are very similiar. Both stories feature desperate, lonely protagonists as they invade self-help groups in order to put themselves on a pedestal, feed their own addictions or feed their own warped sense of worth.

Palahnuik tends to write about the emotionally damaged and deranged. The final part of the novel revolves around the protagonist's friend, Denny, who suddenly decides to begin constructing this edifice out of rocks.

This is a nod to Ferdinand Cheval, a French postman who decided to begin doing the same thing in southeast France. It was called the Ideal Palace and it still stands as a respected and renowned example of naive architecture.

He wanted to be buried there; however, it was against the law. So, he spent the final eight years of his life building his own mausoleum, which he completed a year before passing away at age 88.