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The Chrysanthemum Palace

The Chrysanthemum Palace
The Chrysanthemum Palace
A Novel  
By Bruce Wagner
This edition: Trade Paperback, 224 pages
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Description

Bertie Krohn, only child of Perry Krohn -- creator of TV's longest running space opera, Starwatch: The Navigators -- 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 movie star. Scions of entertainment greatness, they call themselves the Three Musketeers. As the incestuous clique attempts to scale the peaks claimed by their sacred yet monstrous parents during the filming of a Starwatch episode, Bertie scrupulously chronicles their futile struggles against the ravenous, narcissistic, and addicted Hollywood that claims them.

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Text Excerpt 1

"[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

"Through five novels, [Wagner] has established himself as the leading literary chronicler of the Hollywood scene, spinning dark-hued tales of bizarre L.A. where celebrities, both real and fictitious, collide with a motley parade of wannabes, has-beens and hangers-on."

-- Entertainment Weekly

"Bruce Wagner's new novel, The Chrysanthemum Palace, confirms that he's our sagest, savagest explorer of the hollowed-out heart of Hollywood."

-- ELLE

"Smart, high-gloss slur of fame, drugs and the fateful weight of family."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"[Wagner's] ability to eviscerate the absurdities of Hollywood, while occasionally hinting at it's basic humanity, remains undiminished."

-- New Yorker

"The Chrysanthemum Palace is 'raw and cultured, cultivated and kitschy' and great fun."

-- People Magazine

"Bruce Wagner...may have no equal...his books are an utter joy to visit."

-- Philadelphia Inquirer

"Wagner marries his dagger-sharp, lapidary wit to an emotionally arresting narrative whose phaser is set on scorch...I couldn't read fast enough."

-- New York Times Book Review

"Wagner's insights into what it takes to find and hold one's humanity while in the clutches of Hollywood's mercenary machinery shine like brilliant little gems."

-- Boston Globe
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