Tell All

March 22, 2010
Palahniuk's rude sendup of name-dropping and the culture of celebrity worship revolves around the fate of Katherine Kenton, a much-married star of stage, screen, and television, living in obscurity and searching for a comeback vehicle. Her story is told by Mazie Coogan—her Thelma Ritterish, straight-shooting confidant and protector—whose warning system sounds when Miss Kathie meets Webster Carlton Westward III, who quickly seduces his way into her Manhattan townhouse. It's soon revealed he's working on a memoir about his affair with Miss Kathie, the last chapter of which ends with her anticipated death, the details of which keep changing. The affair coincides with Miss Kathie's comeback in a bombastic Broadway extravaganza penned by Lillian Hellman (who receives inexplicably savage treatment). Throughout, Palahniuk drops names from the famous to the head-scratchingly obscure, peppers the narrative with neologisms supposedly coined by famous gossip columnists (ex-husbands are “was-bands”), and annoyingly styles the text so that nearly every name, brand name, and fabulous venue appears in bold. Unfortunately, this gossipy fantasia is a one-joke premise that, even at its modest length, wears out its welcome well before Miss Kathie's final fade-out.

June 28, 2010
Palahniuk channels old Hollywood in this homage to Billy Wilder's classic film Sunset Boulevard. Mazie Coogan tends to the needs of Katherine Kenton, a washed-up film star who still believes she lives in the spotlight. When a stranger enters their lives and seduces Miss Kathie, Mazie unravels his secret plot to write a memoir about his dalliance with the star that culminates in Miss Kathie's death. Hilary Huber's pitch and pronunciation are inspired by the great actresses of the 1930s and '40s. Her arch voice recalls the smoky tones of cigarette tapping screen stars, and her raspy narration is chilling. A Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 22).

September 15, 2010

As housekeeper and confidante to has-been movie star Katherine Kenton, Hazie Coogan tends to her employer's every wish and need. So when a tell-all memoir about the aging actress threatens to surface, she goes to extremes to prevent it from seeing the light of day. Though the plot of New York Times best-selling author Palahniuk's (www.chuckpalahniuk.net) latest novel is rather bizarre and unsatisfying, Hillary Huber (The Art of Social War), a relative newbie in the audiobook narrating industry, does a superb job of voicing the Thelma Ritter-esque housekeeper and lending a vintage Hollywood feel to this audio production. Die-hard Palahniuk fans and those with a penchant for old-time Hollywood references will likely want to give this a chance. Others will find it tedious, needlessly redundant, and annoying--certainly, it's no The Fight Club.--Gloria Maxwell, Metropolitan Community Coll.-Penn Valley Lib., Kansas City, MO

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