Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Although Wagner is smart enough to keep the enjoyably soapy story short, the inevitable high-drama conclusion does prompt some longing for the apocalyptic surrealism of his earlier fiction. Smart, high-gloss slur of fame, drugs and the fateful weight of family." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Few writers capture the egregious emptiness of Hollywood as well as Wagner....Though his plot is often convoluted and laborious, Wagner's satire is at once biting and broad based, his wit both razor sharp and slyly subtle." Booklist
Review
"A succulent tale of mythic generational battle, where the stakes are high, costing not less than everything." The Oregonian (Portland, OR)
Review
"[A] very funny book. The scenes on the set are marvelous....If The Great Gatsby were set in contemporary Hollywood, it might look a lot like The Chrysanthemum Palace." Carolyn See, The Washington Post
Review
"A cross between People magazine and E! True Hollywood Story, with just a hint of F. Scott Fitzgerald....It is a valiant attempt, but ultimately, alas, the unsympathetic characters and wavering plot focus make Chrysanthemum Palace a bit more Rich Girls than The Great Gatsby." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Mr. Wagner demonstrates...that he can do the lyrical and tender with as much panache as the outrageous and corrosive. Chrysanthemum isn't a major work like [I'll Let You Go]...but it showcases the author's kinder, gentler side while attesting to his ever wicked eye for hypocrisy and self-deception." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Review
"This slender novel lacks the kaleidoscopic frenzy of Wagner's 'cell-phone' trilogy....Still, his ability to eviscerate the absurdities of Hollywood, while occasionally hinting at its basic humanity, remains undiminished." The New Yorker
Review
"The Chrysanthemum Palace has elements of trash and satire, but it happily avoids being too much of either. And it isn't needlessly elegiac, either. This is a very up to the moment Hollywood, where people pitch shows to HBO about themselves and IMDB each other, where Sharon Stone can make a cameo. But for all the name dropping and narcissism, all the pill popping and chaining of Diet Cokes, Wagner evokes his la-la land with a curiously human touch." Anna Godbersen, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
This quintessential L.A. storyteller spins his most ambitious novel to date: a philosophical, heartbreaking tale of three friends lost in a California dream gone mad.
Synopsis
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.
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.
Reading Group Guide
Reading Group Guide for The Chrysanthemum Palace
- Describe Bertie's character. How has his past as the child of a renowned television show creator and producer affected him? What do you think of the relationship he has with his parents, in particular his father? How has this essential relationship shaped his relationships throughout the book? What is your overall opinion of Bertie?
- "It's funny what draws us to people; funny we don't often see the design of it." What draws Bertie to Thad? What about Thad intrigues and confounds Bertie? Do the two men share anything in common? Do you think Bertie comes to understand Thad throughout the story and does he ultimately forgive Thad for his final offense against Clea? What was your initial reaction to Thad and did it change by the end of the novel?
- Discuss Thad's story about the time machine model. What does this story in particular reveal about Thad? Aside from the memory of playing time machine with his deceased brother, what do the time machine and Thad's subsequent belief that he imagined the whole story symbolize?
- Bertie says of his relationship with Clea:
"We were like bystanders you see on television after a suicide bomb attacks, numbly clutching each other in front of splintered buses and orphaned cell phones. I get it. This is how it's always been and always would be between us."
Discuss how this notion is illustrated throughout the book. Why do you think the bond between them was as strong as it was for as long as it was, despite the years of estrangement?
- Throughout the novel, we are given glimpses into the story line of Thad and Clea's episode of "Starwatch: The Navigators." What are the parallels between what is happening on the show and what is actually happening in real life? What effect do you think these similarities ultimately have on Thad?
- Why do you think Morgana and Jack Michelet emotionally and mentally abuse Thad? How much of their inappropriate behavior do you attribute to the loss of their young son? Bertie says of Morgana: "Sudden death expunged her rancor; at last, Thad was brought into protective arms." Do you think Morgana achieves any kind of salvation after Thad's death?
- Discuss the relationship between Miriam and Bertie. What initially brings them together? Do you think his feelings for her are genuine and vice versa?
- The final time Bertie sees Thad he says: "I watched Thad crane his neck to look at the stars, feeling a rush of sympathy and affection for the man. I was suddenly certain of his innocence." What does he mean by this? Do you agree with this perception? How does this last melancholy interaction between Bertie and Thad contradict what Bertie discovers about his death?
- The word denouement is mentioned twice in the story. What was your reaction to the denouement of Bertie, Thad, and Clea's story?
- What do chrysanthemums symbolize in the novel? What does the title mean?