{"product_id":"9780743243407","title":"The Chrysanthemum Palace","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Chrysanthemum Palace\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Bruce Wagner\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBertie Krohn, only child of Perry Krohn -- creator of TV's longest running space opera, \u003ci\u003eStarwatch: The Navigators\u003c\/i\u003e -- 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 \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Freemantle, emotionally fragile daughter of a legendary movie star.\u003c\/b\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\"[Wagner's] ability to eviscerate the absurdities of Hollywood, while occasionally hinting at its basic humanity, remains undiminished.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The Chrysanthemum Palace\u003c\/i\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eChrysanthemum Palace\u003c\/i\u003e is 'raw and cultured, cultivated and kitschy' and great fun.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- Lee Aitken, \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The Chrysanthemum Palace\u003c\/i\u003e is both tender and tenderhearted. Also, and unexpectedly, this is a very funny book.... If \u003ci\u003eThe Great Gatsby\u003c\/i\u003e were set in contemporary Hollywood, it might look a lot like \u003ci\u003eThe Chrysanthemum Palace.\u003c\/i\u003e These are Americans, ensnared by their fate but gallant and brave to the end.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- Carolyn See, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wagner marries his dagger-sharp, lapidary wit to an emotionally arresting narrative whose phaser is set on scorch.... I couldn't read fast enough.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- Henry Alford, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780743243407\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40591237775566,"sku":"9780743243407","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_3f50b122-24dd-4575-921d-f6457a75e908.jpg?v=1637750290","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780743243407","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}