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From the deft mind of Chuck Palahniuk comes “Tell-All,” a fascinating tale of twisted, morose characters searching for a meaningful meaninglessness in the midst of Hollywood life.
Chuck Palahniuk is the author of other successful best-sellers “Pygmy,” “Snuff,” “Choke” and “Fight Club” that all depicted a kind of resigned indignation to the insignificance of life, and “Tell-All” is a perfect extension to that disenchanted theme.
Set in the gilded and hollow world of Hollywood, “Tell-All” is the story of an aging famous actress named Katherine Kenton and her beloved housemaid Hazie Coogan.
Kathryn is depicted as the normal modern-day celebrity.
That is, Kathryn has a history of several divorces, drug problems, drinking problems, plastic surgeries, bulimia and an ever constant pressure to groom and maintain a credible and popular public image.
Image is a vital theme in the book, and in fact, the only character perhaps more interested in Kathryn’s image than Kathryn is the homely Hazie who looks at Kathryn as her ‘masterpiece.’ Hazie sees herself as the puppeteer directing Kathryn’s life, and the true reason behind Kathryn’s success.
At first, Hazie appears to be a conventional case of one person living vicariously through another.
However, as the plot is unveiled, the reader is attuned to the more sinister qualities of Hazie.
The style of the novel is unique in that it is written as a movie script with Hazie actively directing the narration throughout the novel.
It has a kind of “Slaughterhouse Five” quality in the way that it jumps from scene to scene, and the modular style of the storytelling gives the sense that the novel never really moves forward in any fashion, but has a quality of standing still while the plot is built above and below it.
There are several scenes in the novel that will likely make any reader laugh out loud at the ridiculous acts that some of the characters perform in a pandorium of paranoia.
The novel is littered with Palahniuk’s usual dark comedy and cynical references that are difficult not to snicker at.
The book is flooded with bold references from everything to actors and actresses to historical figures.
The incessant name-dropping of “Tell-All” emphasizes the importance of not who you are, but who you know that govern the social and political life of Hollywood stars.
Indeed, at the end of the novel, Hazie points out that they are all, “supporting characters in the lives of each other” and that, “none of us seem so very real.”
The name-dropping creates that atmosphere of idealized ‘stars,’ when someone’s name is dropped it is not in a context as to who they actually are or were, but more to a point that their name represents a kind of idealized way of life.
A brand name as it were. It is a fitting message especially given the latest brand name collapse, Tiger Woods.
In fact, the way that Palahniuk utilizes name-dropping in this book is somewhat similar to how the popular TV series Family Guy does it, consistently dropping names to create situational irony that is either thought provoking or funny.
Tell-All is also littered with numerous references to art mimicking life, specifically history, in ridiculous and unrealistic ways.
The book is poignant that though these screen lives start out as only works of art, as idealized fantasies, that they have a way of extending into the real world. Or as Palahniuk succinctly puts it, “Art imitating life, it works both ways.”
Tell-All is a fascinating and complex novel that is both funny and sad, ironic and overt.
Although it may not be as successful a novel as “Fight Club,” “Tell-All” is definitely worth a read.
At a little under 200 pages, it is a fast read that at times drags, but more often than not shines. And any Chuck Palahniuk fan should grab a copy.
