The hyperactive love child of Page Six and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? caught in a tawdry love triangle with The Fan. E...
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Jun 21, 2010
Kemper
rated it: 
Say what you will about Chuck Palahniuk, no one can claim that he’s scared of experimenting with different ways to tell a story.
In Rant, we got multiple character viewpoints as though they were reminiscences for a documentary. Haunted had a variety of characters telling fictional sort stories. Pygmy was written completely in the mutated broken English of the main character. And now in Tell-All Palahniuk is again playing with how the story is told. It’s like a hybrid between a scr More...
In Rant, we got multiple character viewpoints as though they were reminiscences for a documentary. Haunted had a variety of characters telling fictional sort stories. Pygmy was written completely in the mutated broken English of the main character. And now in Tell-All Palahniuk is again playing with how the story is told. It’s like a hybrid between a scr More...
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Jan 17, 2011
Tina Rae
rated it: 
Oh man. I am in love. I know I say this with almost every Palahniuk book I read but I definitely mean it this time: THIS is my favorite Chuck book. No doubt about it. It is literally everything that I want from a book. It has the best characters I've ever read (Chuck wasn't kidding when he said in an interview that he loves Hazie. I know she's my favorite character. She seems like she's the good one and she's only doing things to help others but she's really not. She's cunning and devious and so
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Jun 24, 2010
Jacob
rated it: 
What's this? A fictional biography of a real-life celebrity (Lillian Hellman), reimagining her as a larger-than-life/legendary character? And it's by Chuck Palahniuk? And it's the length of an average novel? Oh, my! What could go wrong?
Oh, hell, I think I just jinxed it.
But wait! It’s really just a tired, by-the-numbers Palahniuk novel, starring a bunch of tired, by-the-numbers Stock Palahniuk Characters, and lazily disguised as The Ultimate Hollywood Novel By Chu More...
Oh, hell, I think I just jinxed it.
But wait! It’s really just a tired, by-the-numbers Palahniuk novel, starring a bunch of tired, by-the-numbers Stock Palahniuk Characters, and lazily disguised as The Ultimate Hollywood Novel By Chu More...
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May 28, 2010
Pete
rated it: 
Okay, not my favorite Chuck Palahniuk book. I'm a pretty big fan, read ALL of his books and have seen him speak twice, which is a blast if you ever get the chance.
Like always, he delivers in terms of a quick read, some social commentary, and a little bit of humor thrown in the mix (see: anything attributed to Walter Winchell in this book).
That said, the story is so-so. The book really hits its stride about a hundred pages in, which is over halfway.
If you'r More...
Like always, he delivers in terms of a quick read, some social commentary, and a little bit of humor thrown in the mix (see: anything attributed to Walter Winchell in this book).
That said, the story is so-so. The book really hits its stride about a hundred pages in, which is over halfway.
If you'r More...
Nov 17, 2010
Julie
rated it: 
After the disappointment of Pygmy, I was pleased to find Tell-All a coherent and entertaining novel. Chuck’s novels have progressively become more stylized, from the perspective changes of Snuff to the inarticulate voice of Pygmy. Tell-All is no exception with its scene-by-scene narrative complete with set up shots, voiceovers and flashbacks. As told by Hazie, she narrates her relationship with Liz Taylor-esque Hollywood diva Katherine Kenton, which includes multiple marriages, addictions, su
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Feb 09, 2012
It was inevitable that Chuck Palahniuk, who's last handful of novels have become increasingly reliant on attitude alone, would write a complete failure (he's been skirting the line since 'Haunted' which ended with Palahniuk's best writing, a hopeful sign that he'd be more along the lines of Vonnegut rather than a lazy, smarmier Jacqueline Susann (whom he name-drops, of course, in his latest)) and 'Tell-All' is the worst work yet of writer spiraling into irrelevance. [return][return]The story of
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Feb 20, 2012
Bob
rated it:
Parts of this book made me laugh out loud, which is a rare thing for me.
I stayed up late reading the book.
Chuck Palahniuk appears to be a man of bold, deep curiosity. I saw the movie "Fight Club," based on a novel of his, and now I've read this. In both he seems to give the viewer or reader plenty of warning that things are not as they appear. In both works, they are not. In neither one did he lull me into thinking that things were as they appeared, which weakens the surprise More...
I stayed up late reading the book.
Chuck Palahniuk appears to be a man of bold, deep curiosity. I saw the movie "Fight Club," based on a novel of his, and now I've read this. In both he seems to give the viewer or reader plenty of warning that things are not as they appear. In both works, they are not. In neither one did he lull me into thinking that things were as they appeared, which weakens the surprise More...
Dec 06, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
Palahniuk's 'Tell-All' wasn't nearly as bad as some reviews had suggested. I am by no means recommending it to any friends but I wouldn't label it as awful either.
I had very much enjoyed several of his previous novel's and am not sure whether I have simply grown tired of his quirky traits or that he has lost motivation to create enthralling stories. It took no more than the first chapter for me to grow annoyed with the tourettes syndrome of celebrity names. In order to h More...
I had very much enjoyed several of his previous novel's and am not sure whether I have simply grown tired of his quirky traits or that he has lost motivation to create enthralling stories. It took no more than the first chapter for me to grow annoyed with the tourettes syndrome of celebrity names. In order to h More...
Nov 14, 2011
Elmwoodblues
rated it:
So, living on the East Coast and in a busy area, I can and do indulge my love of shellfish: mussels every way imaginable, lobster and paella at great Portuguese places, Manila and Little neck clams, crabs fresh from my uncle's dock at the Jersey shore. The one thing I've waited on? Oysters.
Last month, on a trip to Prince Edward Island, I had my first intro to the fabled delicacy: I waited to get the best, the Malpeque, and I got it raw. I wanted to be transported. I wanted More...
Last month, on a trip to Prince Edward Island, I had my first intro to the fabled delicacy: I waited to get the best, the Malpeque, and I got it raw. I wanted to be transported. I wanted More...
Jul 28, 2011
Beneath the thin gold leaf of a lifetime’s achievement,
A cheap tin form stands, bearing its gilded skin.
Careful not to let tarnish come to its shine
Or to polish through to the dullness within;
The image of the statuette must be guarded.
For what will Kenton’s life be remembered?
Who she was, or what she did,
Or who she was presented to be?
Perched on the pedestal our expectations,
Collecting dust, the legacy.
Who will tell her story,
And whom will we see?
Gold or Tin?
Kenton’s legacy.
Katharine Kenton is i More...
A cheap tin form stands, bearing its gilded skin.
Careful not to let tarnish come to its shine
Or to polish through to the dullness within;
The image of the statuette must be guarded.
For what will Kenton’s life be remembered?
Who she was, or what she did,
Or who she was presented to be?
Perched on the pedestal our expectations,
Collecting dust, the legacy.
Who will tell her story,
And whom will we see?
Gold or Tin?
Kenton’s legacy.
Katharine Kenton is i More...
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Jul 01, 2011
Zack
rated it:
this kinda reads like a sequel to INVISIBLE MONSTERS. maybe a prequel. about halfway through, i was reading Hazie as Manus' mother. i'm not saying it was WRITTEN like that, but the two novels share similar themes of fame, beauty and sabotage to such an extent that it'd be hard to say chuck.p didn't have a flashback or two during the writing.
all in all, i liked it. it actually gets to be a fun experiment in reading while waiting for that classic palahniuk twist. and while i don't want to g More...
all in all, i liked it. it actually gets to be a fun experiment in reading while waiting for that classic palahniuk twist. and while i don't want to g More...
Dec 13, 2010
Liz
rated it:
Pahlahniuk has a dirty finger on the pulse of our celebrity-obsessed culture with this slim tome, which details the formerly-illustrious career and (numerous) loves of screen Katherine Kenton. As told by her friend and confidante Hazie Coogan, the book is framed by Lillian Hellman's (fictional) magnum opus in which the author of "Little Foxes" and other seminal works does her best to kick Nazi ass, thwart Lee Harvey Oswald, and defeat the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. As Miss Kathie inches
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Nov 25, 2010
Chibineko
rated it:
I've been a fan of Palahniuk's work for a while, so I know how strange his work can get. This book really is no exception.
Tell-All is told from the viewpoint of Hazie Coogan, a woman who has been taking care of actress Katherine "Miss Kathie" Kenton for ages. She's faithfully cleaned every spot in the house, watched every would be lover, polished every flaw in Miss Kathie's appearance. When a new man steps up to claim Kenton's love, Hazie just knows that he's out to use the More...
Tell-All is told from the viewpoint of Hazie Coogan, a woman who has been taking care of actress Katherine "Miss Kathie" Kenton for ages. She's faithfully cleaned every spot in the house, watched every would be lover, polished every flaw in Miss Kathie's appearance. When a new man steps up to claim Kenton's love, Hazie just knows that he's out to use the More...
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Aug 07, 2010
Eric
rated it:
What I like about CP is how he is willing to experiment with different ways of telling a story. Rant is an example of a successful experiment. Tell All is an example of an unsuccessful experiment.
One major problem with the book is voice. The first person protagonist is just not fun to read. It is possible to write unlikable people as good narrators, and CP has done it before; he did this especially well in Choke. In this case, the voice was annoying, grating, nearly unreadable More...
One major problem with the book is voice. The first person protagonist is just not fun to read. It is possible to write unlikable people as good narrators, and CP has done it before; he did this especially well in Choke. In this case, the voice was annoying, grating, nearly unreadable More...
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(4 people liked it)
Jun 12, 2010
Patrick
rated it:
I have been a fan of Chuck Palahniuk from the first book, Fight Club to his present novel. In his next comedic gore and gross gem is a nasty bit of Hollywood tale told in snippets and snappets of technical film terms, insisting on being the director of our vision of this novelette.
Twisted and plot twisted, it is about a maid who narrates as a voice over, the hilarity of a film star self absorbed to portray the female version of every history greats from Napoleon t More...
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Jun 04, 2010
Gail
rated it:
While voice performer Hillary Huber records for a number of major publishers this listener is delighted that Blackstone signed her on for TELL-ALL. She delivers a controlled, easy listening narration - "controlled" is not easy to do when the author is Chuck Palahniuk Those who have read or heard his previous works (Pygmy, Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, to mention a few) know he's one of the most inventive authors working today - unpredictable, ambitious in subject matter, funny, More...
May 13, 2010
Jeff
rated it:
Chuck's new book follows in the overly stylized vein used in Pygmy and Rant. I have to admit that while I love Chuck, I wasn't crazy about either Pygmy or Rant. Luckily, the uber-stylization works for not against Tell-All. I found this send-up of Hollywood insider biographies to be very funny, exceedingly clever, and downright witty. Sure it was overly repetitive at some points, but it was a fun ride nonetheless.
I'm curious to see how Tell-All goes over with typical Chuck fans. As a More...
I'm curious to see how Tell-All goes over with typical Chuck fans. As a More...
May 12, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
My thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for sending this book. I am a huge and long-term fan of Palahniuk's books so I was eager to get into this one. Although a bit slow at the beginning, it turned out to be an awesome satire well worth sticking around for. One of the biggest criticisms I've read about this book is that this is not the same Palahniuk who wrote Fight Club (which is one of the best books I've ever read, quite frankly), but I tend to get a bit tired of hearing this sort of thing.
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May 11, 2010
Brandon
rated it:
You can think of this as a vintage Hollywood version of "Glamorama" by Bret Easton Ellis. It's a constant barrage of celebrity name-dropping (and in bold print, no less) with a slew of camera directions and editing room speak. Instead of Christian Bale we get Mickey Rooney. Kate Moss is replaced with women like Monroe, Garbo, and Joan Crawford. So if you enjoyed that aspect of machine gun pop-culture in "Glamorama," then "Tell All" delivers the same thing in a n
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May 03, 2010
Imogen
rated it:
Sigh. Oh Chuck. You're just convinced that you've found the magic formula, and you can churn out a book every year or two indefinitely, aren't you? I mean, this isn't as bad as Pygmy, or even Snuff, but it's on the same level as them. Ugh. First, it is barely a book; if we acknowledge that every new chapter has half a blank page to mark it, this is like a 150-page book. Second, why is the repetetive verbal tick in this book (they are in all of your books, Chuck) some random three-animal-noise bl
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(10 people liked it)
Apr 21, 2010
Kasa
rated it:
Hollywood is a cheap target for satire, and it has been done to death far better than this on numerous occasions. Palahnluk picks usual topics to skewer in his own way, but it is unclear why he chose this one and why he chose the method that he did. Told by a "Thelma Ritter like caretaker," Tell-All relates the story of Kathy Kenton, a film icon looking for a comeback and for true love. Kenton is an amalgamation of recognizable stars of Hollywood's earlier years, but anachronistic pair
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Aug 04, 2011
Jason
rated it:
Ok. So I finished this book this morning and I really don't know what to say other than I feel very empty.
The first act of this novel was absolutely boring, pointless and overall crap. The name drops are so overused that I zoned out over and over again, hoping there was a point to the madness. There was no point. It's invisible monsters part two with shitty characters and no plot.
The story really picks up at the start of act two. Unfortunately, it took more than half of th More...
The first act of this novel was absolutely boring, pointless and overall crap. The name drops are so overused that I zoned out over and over again, hoping there was a point to the madness. There was no point. It's invisible monsters part two with shitty characters and no plot.
The story really picks up at the start of act two. Unfortunately, it took more than half of th More...
Jun 28, 2011
the jacket says this is a return to "classic palahniuk". if only we could all return to a time ten years ago, when books like invisible monsters were shockingly new and seductive. instead i'm wary of ten years of palahniuk books, all written with the same tricks and tropes and triplicates. in tell-all, the mystery isn't even layered into the story, a perfunctory knowledge of palahniuk's work would be all that's necessary to "solve" any sort of threaded whodunit. barely a
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Jun 24, 2010
Greg
rated it:
This guy wrote a review of this book that is wrong.
This is not a good novel. I don't even know where to start on it.
I imagine this conversation happening between CP and his editor:
CP: Did you get my new novel?
ED: Novel? I got your short story.
CP: Oh, you kidder. Seriously, what do you think?
ED: Chuck, you can't release this as a novel. It's 150 pages, but the plot only takes up about 15 of those pages. This is More...
This is not a good novel. I don't even know where to start on it.
I imagine this conversation happening between CP and his editor:
CP: Did you get my new novel?
ED: Novel? I got your short story.
CP: Oh, you kidder. Seriously, what do you think?
ED: Chuck, you can't release this as a novel. It's 150 pages, but the plot only takes up about 15 of those pages. This is More...
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May 24, 2010
Josh
rated it:
Again, Palahniuk decides he needs some sort of gimmick with which to base his novel around. Following the disappointment of "Pygmy" (which I didn't (or more aptly, couldn't) read. Which, may attest for why I think this one is so poorly written. I've seen several reviews claim it's a "relief" to see this novel after "Pygmy", but one would hope an author doesn't depend on the shortcomings of one book to champion another.), this just seems like another novel in a se
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Nov 03, 2011
Scott
rated it:
Tell-All is about a nearly forgotten Hollywood starlet, her personal assistant, and a younger man who seemingly pretends to love her in order to write a "tell-all" book about their relationship, right up until the moment he kills her. It is a book that really evokes two strong reactions from me.
The first reaction is one of appreciation and commendation. Tell-All is a radical departure from Palahniuk's past work, and I appreciate authors who strive to do something different, e More...
The first reaction is one of appreciation and commendation. Tell-All is a radical departure from Palahniuk's past work, and I appreciate authors who strive to do something different, e More...
Feb 20, 2012
Allen Grace
rated it:
3 out of five stars
This is the first novel I had read under Chuck Palahniuk's wing. It's a slow-paced story, not the kind of page-turner feeling you get while getting your hands on while sifting through the pages of the paperback novel. It consists of 179 pages, so you can read it in a day, or a pretty few hours or so.
The setting was the time where second world war phenomena happened. I pictured out and took a glimpse of what theater backdrop looks like during the nifty-f More...
This is the first novel I had read under Chuck Palahniuk's wing. It's a slow-paced story, not the kind of page-turner feeling you get while getting your hands on while sifting through the pages of the paperback novel. It consists of 179 pages, so you can read it in a day, or a pretty few hours or so.
The setting was the time where second world war phenomena happened. I pictured out and took a glimpse of what theater backdrop looks like during the nifty-f More...
Jun 14, 2011
Lili
rated it:
Even before Disc 1 (of 5) had finished, I felt like this story should not continue. But three CDs had already been loaded into the stereo and it wasn't so awful that it required an immediate termination. I fell asleep around the middle of Disc 2, and this morning I pulled all the discs so that it can go back to the library later today.
"Tell All" has now replaced Snuff as my least favorite book by Chuck Palahniuk. My first turn off was the narrator's voice and accent; it More...
"Tell All" has now replaced Snuff as my least favorite book by Chuck Palahniuk. My first turn off was the narrator's voice and accent; it More...
May 04, 2011
James
rated it:
a cool plot idea, wrapped in a cutesy but cumbersome script-like prose - appropriate given the hollywood context of the story but honestly a bit annoying to plod through. the entire first half the of the book was difficult to focus on, with its cyclic repetition of phrases and passages on top of an annoying bombardment of bold-face names of the rich and famous. on character within the story is oft derided for her name-dropping tourette's, and i'm curious why the author (deliberately?) decided to
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Jul 21, 2010
AG
rated it:
First let's talk about the amazing jacket, with its candy-colored ransom note typography, high-gloss finish, and spot glitter overlay. (Oh Rodrigo Corral, how I adore your subtly clever, incredibly diverse, and always fun designs -- you're the anti-overserious Chip Kidd.) The look is straightforward but still over-the-top, simple but still maximalist -- a difficult stylistic balance Chuck Palahniuk clearly hoped to achieve between the covers....But failed mostly in executing.
The prem More...
The prem More...
