Review by Booklist Review
At his best, Palahniuk punctures our collective psyches with sharp darts of satire, subversion, and surprise. Fight Club (1996) created a mythology from the inner lives of alienated Gen X-ers, and Pygmy (2009) daringly tweaked fears of terrorism and school shootings, heedless of our jangled nerves. In an era of panic about pandemics, Rant (2007) likened celebrity to a plague. Tell-All retreats to the world of golden-age Hollywood, telling the tale of Katherine Kenton, aging star of stage and screen, and Hazie Coogan, Kenton's maid, companion, confidante and unlikely star-maker. Written in a style meant to evoke the boldface breathlessness of celebrity scandal sheets, Tell-All chronicles Kenton's love affair with the inappropriately young Webster Carlton Westward III, a possible gold-digger, and Coogan's increasingly desperate attempts to manage her mistress' life. To be sure, Palahniuk stages some stunning scenes and pens some bawdily hilarious lines. But, unfortunately, other than noting stardom's fleeting fame, he doesn't find much new to say. Readers with long memories will be struck by the way some of the set pieces resemble the scathing satire of a young William S. Burroughs. But Naked Lunch was published in 1959 it's a little late to be dining out on similar fare. Then again, if Lillian Hellman strikes you as a worthy target, then this might be just the meal you're looking for.--Graff, Keir Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Palahniuk channels old Hollywood in this homage to Billy Wilder's classic film Sunset Boulevard. Mazie Coogan tends to the needs of Katherine Kenton, a washed-up film star who still believes she lives in the spotlight. When a stranger enters their lives and seduces Miss Kathie, Mazie unravels his secret plot to write a memoir about his dalliance with the star that culminates in Miss Kathie's death. Hilary Huber's pitch and pronunciation are inspired by the great actresses of the 1930s and '40s. Her arch voice recalls the smoky tones of cigarette tapping screen stars, and her raspy narration is chilling. A Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 22). (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
As housekeeper and confidante to has-been movie star Katherine Kenton, Hazie Coogan tends to her employer's every wish and need. So when a tell-all memoir about the aging actress threatens to surface, she goes to extremes to prevent it from seeing the light of day. Though the plot of New York Times best-selling author Palahniuk's (www.chuckpalahniuk.net) latest novel is rather bizarre and unsatisfying, Hillary Huber (The Art of Social War), a relative newbie in the audiobook narrating industry, does a superb job of voicing the Thelma Ritter-esque housekeeper and lending a vintage Hollywood feel to this audio production. Die-hard Palahniuk fans and those with a penchant for old-time Hollywood references will likely want to give this a chance. Others will find it tedious, needlessly redundant, and annoying-certainly, it's no The Fight Club.-Gloria Maxwell, Metropolitan Community Coll.-Penn Valley Lib., Kansas City, MO (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Beneath the glamour of Hollywood lies an ineffable sadness, a commonplace notion that this occasionally amusing novel both belabors and mocks. As the cult master of high-concept fictional subversion, the prolific Palahniuk (Pygmy, 2009, etc.) has his typical fun here, though the thinness of character and lack of narrative momentum that are part of the plan might try the reader's patience. Within "this silly motion picture we call human history," the tarnished heroine is aging Katherine "Miss Kathie" Kenton, whose riveting violet eyes and multiple marriages might tempt some to recall Elizabeth Taylor. The narrator is Hazie Coogan, who tells the story in terms of acts and scenes, with flashbacks and voice-overs. And who is Hazie? Not exactly a housekeeper or personal assistant to Miss Kathie. Perhaps a confidante or nursemaid. Certainly the second banana. "I was Thelma Ritter before Thelma Ritter was Thelma Ritter," she writes, or rather Palahniuk writes, only in the novel each reference to Thelma Ritter is in boldface. As is every other proper name, most of them recognizable ("Lilly" Hellman, Coco Chanel, Ronald Reagan), and product name. Both the novel's title and the boldface recall the golden age of the gossip columnist, with the author having great sport with the wordplay that once filled the columns of Walter Winchell, Hedda Hopper and the like. Every ex-husband, of whom Miss Kathie has many, is a "was-band," while a book about such a star might be a "bile-ography." As a younger Lothario vies to become the next Mr. Kathie, he is writing a memoir that will be far more marketable after her death. Or is he? Among the meta-fictional challenges the reader must confront within this narrative within a narrative within a narrative is what kind of book is Hazie writing (and we are reading). Meanwhile, the wordplay amuses. Those who aren't sure what they're in for with Palahniuk won't want to start here. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
