Finished reading Tell All by Chuck Palahniuk….I used to call him my favourite author, but when you only like 3 of 10 books by said author, can he really be your favourite? I keep giving him another chance to produce brilliance and it just falls short.
Tell All is about a woman who essentially takes care of an aging movie star. I *think* it takes place in the past…in the golden age of the silver screen. The book is written like a gossip column, with lots of name dropping, text of the names emphasized, and really it’s lots and lots and LOTS of names from the past, most whom I didn’t know. The aging movie star meets a young stud, and the narrator warns her not to “fall” for him because he’s just using her to make a name for himself when she dies. That’s it, mostly.
It’s in 3 acts, and then several chapters in each. Act one could be 2 chapters, but instead is like, 15. It’s extremely boring, repetitive, with no plot. The plot doesn’t kick in until Act 2, with only a little bit of Act 1 intro needed. Then Act 2, which has a plot, is just as repetitive. Act 3 (which I didn’t realize had started), has a minor twist, but one that is not all that shocking or unexpected. Not like the way I was blown away with the twist of Invisible Monsters.
It is not funny, or slightly amusing, or clever. It’s unfortunately not really worth reading. It just annoyed me. I’d recommend passing on it.