Tell-All

Chuck Palahniuk

May 2010 · Sold by Anchor

About this ebook

The hyperactive love child of Page Six and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? caught in a tawdry love triangle with The Fan. Even Kitty Kelly will blush.

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.

Ratings and reviews

A fast read examining the twisted reality tunnel of Hollywood stardom. A smirking study into the psychology of celebrity life, name/brand dropping and (in my opinion) those who consume this culture. A number of ideas are played with in Palahniuk's signiture style I find so satisfying. Oh, some phrase worthy porn writing that made my loins shake with laughter. Pertinent in our celebrity soaked culture.

Palahniuk does it again!! Tell-All is witty and entertaining! Yes, one can do a little foreshadowing in this book, but there are times when he throws in some tricks to through you off. Overall, I love this book, but it's Palahniuk, so who wouldn't love it?

Better than I'd hoped it would be. He is a master of disgusting description coupled with page turning story depth.

About the author

CHUCK PALAHNIUK’s bestselling books are Pygmy, Snuff, Rant, Haunted, Lullaby, Fight Club, Diary, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, and Choke. He is also the author of a nonfiction profile, Portland Fugitives and Refugees, published as part of the Crown Journeys series, and the nonfiction collection Stranger Than Fiction. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.