Chuck Palahniuk

First things first.  How on earth do you pronounce author Chuck Palahniuk’s name?   It took my attendance at the Philadelphia stop of his Pygmy tour on 5/8/2009 to finally nail the proper pronunciation…that is, Pal-a-NICK.  For those of you lucky enough to be members of the Cult like myself, you’re probably tired of the trendy fans who announce, “Oh, I love Chuck Palahniuk!  I read Fight Club!” 

“Have you read anything else?” 

“Uh…no.”

What these readers may not realize is that Palahniuk is, currently, one of the most prolific writers of literary fiction of our generation, writing 13 novels in fourteen years. His lightening-fast pace of one novel per year has set up the 2011 release of his work-in-progress, Damned, not available until spring of next year.  More importantly, however, is his latest work Tell All, which was released in hardcover on May 4th, 2010. 

I am Jack’s Most Recent Publication

Tell-All is set in old Hollywood, the environment in which Joan Crawford was Queen and no one knew yet that she was abusing her children.  Palahniuk delves into an amazing amount of detail regarding the 50’s film era and the movers and shakers, both well-known and obscure, who defined the period.  The novel presents classic film royalty through a style that captures the glitz, glamour, and shallow social aspirations at the top of the Hollywood hierarchy.  The celebrity worship from which our culture suffers is mirrored in the atmosphere Palahniuk pens, where power is determined by money, status, and mutually beneficial friendships.

Narrated by Hazie Coogan, assistant and all-around caretaker of the main character, Tell-All features the life and times of Katherine Kenton, passé star of stage and screen, searching for her next big break.  Typical Palahniuk commotion ensues, exacerbated by the arrival of male protagonist, Webster Carlton Westward III.  While a love interest doesn’t actually qualify as that dramatic a literary turn, the Palahniuk twist we all expect involves Westward’s memoir-in-process, chronicling his affair with Kenton and describing her apparent upcoming demise.  The novel follows Coogan’s efforts to save Kenton from her lavish comeback, her myriad of fans, and herself, embodying Palahniuk’s humor and wicked satire.

I am Jack’s Self-Indulgent Writing Style   

Unfortunately for Palahniuk, the consensus on this one appears to be more negative than his previous works.  From Publishers Weekly:  “Unfortunately, this gossipy fantasia is a one-joke premise that, even at its modest length, wears out its welcome.”  Ouch.  Let’s try another one.  From the Library Journal:   “Palahniuk still has considerable linguistic firepower and satirical humor, but here he puts it in service of a repetitive, predictable story, never fulfilling the promise of a great premise.”  Well.  That certainly rained on my parade a little bit.  Maybe one more, from the Los Angeles Times:  “Instead of a blockbuster, Tell-All is a bomb…a giant gasbag of a book, an unwieldy genre mish-mash, more confusing than entertaining.”  Hmmm…I’m sensing a theme.

At the end of the day, it’s up to the Palahniuk fan to decide for himself or herself the novel’s success.  It can be argued that the author has delivered such amazing work, it’s worth the expenditure of time and energy to get through his latest.  I imagine it would probably be the same as watching Samuel L. Jackson star in Snakes on a Plane…not his finest hour, but still an opportunity to see a great artist perform his craft.  Diehard readers are sure to find something to appreciate from their literary messiah in this work, and for the rest of you…at least there’ll be some shock value.  Happy Reading!