Review of "Tell All" - SPOILERS!!!
Okay, I must first admit that I just love Chuck. No matter what he publishes, I'll always relish in the fact that it came from Chuck. That being said... I liked Tell All. But I'd be foolish not to admit that it is simply the clean version of Snuff. Same basic plot. Aging starlet/porn queen needs to make a comeback. A close personal assistant helping out as much as she can while we prattle through funny one liners about the industry she works in, naming of old actors/directors/writers/performers/or funny porn titles. We suspect a close male companion of plotting her demise, only to find that it is in fact the assistant. Again, I love Chuck, so all the prattle along the way, witty one liners, acute social observations and virtual philosophy of life is entertaining and enjoyable. But the style and plot line are EXTREMELY similar to Snuff, just with a starlet from "normal" films. As with Snuff and Pygmy, the whole "surprised ending" is getting easier and easier to spot, and (I'm guesssing) harded and harded for Chuck to come up with. I'm still thoroughly excited for Damned, and I would love to see that potential/rumored sequel to Rant (a story and style that I thoroughly loved and honestly consider to be one of Chuck's best - tied with Survivor). This is just my opinion though. Let's hear what others thought....
wonder who will water all the children of the garden when they sigh about the barren lack of rain and droop so hungry 'neath the sky?
Well said, Rambozo. I felt exactly the same way. Not his best work by a long shot, but definitely a good little read.
To detractors of this book : If you were in a house alone with your mother as she slowly died of cancer over the course of a year, listening to little else other than her respirator, well, I challenge you to write a better book than Tell-All, because that's what Chuck was going through when he wrote it.
Thank you for pointing out the similarities to Snuff! I LOVED Snuff when i read it. I literally couldn't put it down, it was witty, entertaining and the story actually kept me wanting to read more. Tell-all, on the other hand, just isn't doing it for me. I'm simply just having so much trouble getting through the first act even. Like you said, it seems to be a loosely woven string of one liners and references. It's just been too repetetive so the story isn't really shining through. Even with that, i could already tell that the assistant has some dubious motives.
I don't know, i'm just hoping it grabs me a little more in the 2nd act, but i'll definitely finish it.
Just finished it and I like it. I got really invested in the Hazie character after the part where she's made to wear the maid uniform. Before that part, I wasn't too thrilled about the book, the premise, the constant name-dropping, but for some reason after that it became more bearable and she became more admirable to me. I didn't laugh out loud at anything, but the book was humorous. I started around 9:00 this morning and read it straight through so obviously I liked it. I don't think it's his best work, and it's not holding me hostage in wonder and delight like Rant did, but it was pretty good. A nice, light, summery kind of beach book but much better than what I imagine most beach books are like. I liked the ending, thought the story built nicely throughout the book, and probably will read it again after it's had a little time to digest to really figure out what it means to me and what I really think of it.