"The New York Times Book Review" has compared Bruce Wagner's prose to 'some unholy combination of Rick Moody, Anthony Lane, and the gossip columnist Richard Johnson.' Now, this quintessential L.A. storyteller spins his most ambitious and moving novel to date: a philosophical, heartbreaking tale of three friends lost in a California dream gone mad. "The Chrysanthemum Palace" introduces one Bertie Krohn, the only child of Perry Krohn, creator of TV's longest running space opera, Starwatch. Bertie recounts the story of the last months in the lives of his two friends: Thad Michelet, author, actor, and son of a literary titan; and Clea Freemantle, emotionally fragile daughter of a legendary film star. Scions of entertainment greatness, they call themselves the Three Musketeers. As they attempt to scale the peaks claimed by their sacred yet monstrous parents, Bertie chronicles their peculiar predicaments - as well as their futile struggle against the ravenous, narcissistic and addicted Hollywood that claims them. Convulsive and poignant, "The Chrysanthemum Palace" is a tragic tale of friendship and fate writ large - a tour de force by a brilliant writer whose storytelling delivers devastating emotional impact.

About the Author
Bruce Wagner is the author of The Chrysanthemum Palace (a PEN Faulkner fiction award finalist); Still Holding; I'll Let You Go (a PEN USA fiction award finalist); I'm Losing You; and Force Majeure. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews
"[Wagner's] ability to eviscerate the absurdities of Hollywood, while occasionally hinting at its basic humanity, remains undiminished."
-- The New Yorker
"The Chrysanthemum Palace is full of daring language that veers between being wickedly funny and just plain wicked. Nobody writes more knowingly about Hollywood than Wagner....Like Thad, its most magnetic character, Chrysanthemum Palace is 'raw and cultured, cultivated and kitschy' and great fun."
-- Lee Aitken, People
"The Chrysanthemum Palace is both tender and tenderhearted. Also, and unexpectedly, this is a very funny book.... If The Great Gatsby were set in contemporary Hollywood, it might look a lot like The Chrysanthemum Palace. These are Americans, ensnared by their fate but gallant and brave to the end."
-- Carolyn See, The Washington Post
"Wagner marries his dagger-sharp, lapidary wit to an emotionally arresting narrative whose phaser is set on scorch.... I couldn't read fast enough."
-- Henry Alford, The New York Times Book Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780743243407
Author Bruce Wagner
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Simon & Schuster Ltd
Publisher Simon & Schuster Ltd
Weight(grams) 243g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 15mm