Book Review: Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk

Photo taken from Goodreads

Book Info

   

Title:  Tell-All

Author:  Chuck Palahniuk
Publisher:  Anchor

Language: English

Format:  Paperback

Pages:  192 pages

ISBN - 10:  0307389820

ISBN - 13:  978-0307389824

Source:  Purchased, National Book Store

Buy this book on Amazon 

Summary

From Goodreads: 

"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. "

Review

If you are a big fan of Old Hollywood movies, Old Hollywood stars like Rita Hayworth, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and others, you best read this book as it incorporates into its fictional world the likes of Lillian Hellman, Hedda Hopper, and Walter Winchell.

Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk relates the story of fading Hollywood star Katherine Kenton and how Hazie Coogan, her personal assistant discovers a murder plot by the latter's newest beau Webster Carlton Westward III through his celebrity tell-all book about Katherine, which documents how Katherine Kenton dies.  This morbid story of celebrity narcissism is told through Hazie's eyes in a very unique way:  Its narration is aided by this 'camera' that 'shows' the reader what he/she needs - or does not need - to witness.  It's like watching a movie on paper.

At first, this peculiar way of narration sort of muddles the reader's thoughts and distracts them from fully getting absorbed in the story, but as the plot progresses and the excitement builds, this unusual method even helps in fully understanding not only what is shown and explained, but what is implied and hidden.

The ways that Hazie and Katherine did to deflect the threatening ways in which the latter would be killed were so hilarious and downright ridiculous, and the excerpts from the fictional memoir so outrageously sexual and disgusting it's funny.  This book is filled with astounding amounts of humor without even intending to.

Like Old Hollywood stars' hidden scandals and tightly-kept secrets, this story is not all that it seems.  The discerning reader would be quick to point out inconsistencies in this book - which are not of an editorial nature, but which would help in understanding the direction that the plot would be taking towards the end.  A predictably-unpredictably ending would surely leave the reader "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" as sung by Helen O'Connell backed by the Jimmy Dorsey band.  If you've read this book, you perfectly know what I am talking about.

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.

Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions.  

My Book Suggestions for Some Famous Personalities

 Audrey Hepburn - Grace by Elizabeth Scott

Pres. Barack Obama - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Taylor Swift - Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

William Shakespeare - Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Elvis Presley - Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

 Do you agree with my recommendations, or do you have any other suggestions of your own?

 

Book Review: True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglas

Photo taken from Goodreads

 Book Info

Title:  True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet

Author:  Lola Douglas 

Publisher:  Razorbill

Language: English

Format:  Hardcover

Pages:  272 pages

ISBN-10:  1595140352

ISBN-13:  978-1595140357

Source:  Purchased, Buy the Books

Buy this book on Amazon

Summary

From Goodreads: 

"Fresh out of rehab, teen star Morgan Carter is taking a step out of the spotlight. She just doesn't realize how big a step. Morgan's mom sends her to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, to recover. Even with a makeunder, an assumed name, and a fake identity, Middle America is going to mean a serious lifestyle adjustment for this Hollywood starlet. "

Review

Had I known this would have a sequel I would have bought them together!

So.  Hollywood starlet Morgan Carter is the total party girl.  Along with her best friend Marissa Dahl, she drinks and dances like there is no tomorrow.  However, after an almost-fatal incident in one of the clubs, Morgan was placed in rehab and subsequently sent to live in a small town under the guise of Claudia Miller, seventeen-year-old high school student.  The plan was to live in hiding for a year, write everything that happens to her in a journal, and write a tell-all book to make the perfect comeback.

This book is such as smash that if I was only allowed to bring one thing in a deserted island, I would bring this book and never mind the comfort that sunscreen, my laptop, my iPod, my e-reader, or another person could give me.  Okay, so I might be exaggerating a bit if this book is the only thing I would need, but if asked to pick one book I would pick this.  This book is perfect for just lying around (under the sun? Under the stars? Take your pick) and helping pass the time.  BUT that does not mean that this is just another of those light-reading young adult books that you can finish and forget about within a minute of reading it.  This book may not be listed under the 'ground-breaking, emotional, and heavily intelligent novels' either but to read this story, it gives the reader a good laugh, a good story to share, a good kick in the butt (everyone could relate to what Morgan/Claudia went through), and a good lesson to ponder and practice.

I am all praises for the author's crafting of Morgan's/Claudia's character.  She was the stereotypical shallow teenager in the beginning of the story but you sense the underlying insecurities and longing that every teenager also feels.  Underneath all her wealth and fame, she was just a regular teenager longing for her mother's affection, a father's guidance, and normal friends who would laugh and cry with her and with whom she could share some silly and some profound experiences apart from doing drugs and alcohol.  Her voice in the beginning was whiny and diva-ish, but progressing through the story, her voice changes to that of a regular angst-filled teen whose main concerns were getting all the homework done.  But don't get the idea that a major change would take place in her character just so the author could point out that this is a coming-of-age book.  Morgan/Claudia still retains some of her diva personality and learns to put it to good use. She was also able to use her experience in the movie industry in order to help her friends, complete projects, and use as topics for her homework.  

But Morgan/Claudia aside, I thought the other characters were great too.  They exhibited a very likable and realistic personality, even those stereotypical characters like most of the antagonists.  Anyway, that's what we love to hate about villains anyway, right?  That they are cast from the same stone - which the reader only sees and not the characters themselves which makes it more interesting, because in this story, I kind of predicted some of the events already and who would be the biggest villains and although I already guessed them, I was still blown away at how things turned out.

With regard to the story, it was just a simple story but what made it interesting was that the author made the plot a bit different from what we are used to .  There were some unexpected surprises here and there which made a more exciting read and kept me turning the pages until I found that I have come to the end.  It was simply, yet tastefully, smartly, and cleverly written that when I finished, my first impulse was to clap for the author.  The second was to go scurry off and find Book Two.

And that is why I hate books with sequels.  Most of the time, they're so brilliant and I can't find the next book fast enough.

I'll be sure to update you once I've gotten a copy of More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet.  It's going to be fun!

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice 

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.  
 
Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions.