In spite of communist-era censorship, he published a shocking collection of reports titled The Shrift, which were about gay and lesbian youth in Poland.

[1] As a TV presenter of the popular cultural and current affairs programme Na każdy temat (On Every Topic) Szczygieł became the first person to publicly speak the word "orgasm" on air.

His best-selling book Gottland (2006), was described by Adam Michnik, as the first cubistic reportage of the world.

[2][3] His works have been translated into Czech, English, Estonian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

[4] In his 2022 book Fakty muszą zatańczyć (The Facts Must Dance) he came out as a gay man.