The Chrysanthemum Palace: A Novel

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.