179 pages
English language
Published Sept. 21, 2010 by Doubleday.
Soaked, nay, marinated in the world of vintage Hollywood, Tell-All is a Sunset Boulevard–inflected homage to Old Hollywood when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford ruled the roost; a veritable Tourette’s syndrome of rat-tat-tat name-dropping, from the A-list to the Z-list; and a merciless send-up of Lillian Hellman’s habit of butchering the truth that will have Mary McCarthy cheering from the beyond.
Our Thelma Ritter–ish narrator is Hazie Coogan, who for decades has tended to the outsized needs of Katherine “Miss Kathie” Kenton—veteran of multiple marriages, career comebacks, and cosmetic surgeries. But danger arrives with gentleman caller Webster Carlton Westward III, who worms his way into Miss Kathie’s heart (and boudoir). Hazie discovers that this bounder has already written a celebrity tell-all memoir foretelling Miss Kathie’s death in a forthcoming Lillian Hellman–penned musical extravaganza; as the body count mounts, Hazie must execute a plan to save Katherine Kenton for her fans—and …
Soaked, nay, marinated in the world of vintage Hollywood, Tell-All is a Sunset Boulevard–inflected homage to Old Hollywood when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford ruled the roost; a veritable Tourette’s syndrome of rat-tat-tat name-dropping, from the A-list to the Z-list; and a merciless send-up of Lillian Hellman’s habit of butchering the truth that will have Mary McCarthy cheering from the beyond.
Our Thelma Ritter–ish narrator is Hazie Coogan, who for decades has tended to the outsized needs of Katherine “Miss Kathie” Kenton—veteran of multiple marriages, career comebacks, and cosmetic surgeries. But danger arrives with gentleman caller Webster Carlton Westward III, who worms his way into Miss Kathie’s heart (and boudoir). Hazie discovers that this bounder has already written a celebrity tell-all memoir foretelling Miss Kathie’s death in a forthcoming Lillian Hellman–penned musical extravaganza; as the body count mounts, Hazie must execute a plan to save Katherine Kenton for her fans—and for posterity.
Tell-All is funny, subversive, and fascinatingly clever. It’s wild, it’s wicked, it’s bold-faced—it’s vintage Chuck.
Too many references to local stars and a screenplay narrative style makes this one of my least favourite Chuck Palahniuk books.
La carriera altalenante di Palahniuk segna un'altra tacca tra la carne e il pesce. In questo libro troverete tutto il Chuck che conoscete o meglio che già conoscete. Ed è proprio questo il problema! Infatti il suo inconfondibile stile c'è tutto, ma ci sono anche troppi suoi cliche. Ma il maggior difetto è la trama, puramente Palahniukiana, ma incredibilmente prevedibile. Anche i lettori meno svegli capiranno tutto ben prima della metà del libro. Io non ci volevo credere e infatti mi aspettavo un colpo a sorpresa che giocava sulla facile prevedibilità del finale. Nada.
Il libro in sè, se vi piace Palahniuk, non è neanche uno dei suoi peggiori, però questi difetti ne inficiano davvero la lettura. E dato che ormai siamo a parlare dei difetti, anche l'onnipresente uso dei grassetti non mi pare una trovata geniale. Cosa si salva? I particolari, la crudezza e il fattore Palahniuk.
