Rating: 
Summary: Where have I been all his life?
Review: After reading the first of Bruce Wagner's Hollywood trilogy, I was reluctant to close "I'm Losing You" and tell myself it was really over. As multilayered as a Napoleon, this novel is strong, flaky, and sweet in unexpected places.Wagner is not an easy read, but he's a major literary force to be reckoned with. I look forward to reckoning with him in the future--say, ten minutes from now.
Rating:
Summary: Where have I been all his life?
Review: After reading the first of Bruce Wagner's Hollywood trilogy, I was reluctant to close "I'm Losing You" and tell myself it was really over. As multilayered as a Napoleon, this novel is strong, flaky, and sweet in unexpected places. Wagner is not an easy read, but he's a major literary force to be reckoned with. I look forward to reckoning with him in the future--say, ten minutes from now.
Rating:
Summary: Where have I been all his life?
Review: After reading the first of Bruce Wagner's Hollywood trilogy, I was reluctant to close "I'm Losing You" and tell myself it was really over. As multilayered as a Napoleon, this novel is strong, flaky, and sweet in unexpected places. Wagner is not an easy read, but he's a major literary force to be reckoned with. I look forward to reckoning with him in the future--say, ten minutes from now.
Rating:
Summary: a staggering work by an intellectual giant
Review: bruce wagner is a genius and this book will rip your heart out of your chest, stomp on it, then give it a sweet little peck on the cheek before sending it on its way. read it!
Rating:
Summary: a staggering work by an intellectual giant
Review: bruce wagner is a genius and this book will rip your heart out of your chest, stomp on it, then give it a sweet little peck on the cheek before sending it on its way. read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Intermittently powerful ... utterly repellent
Review: From the raves garnered for this book and his latest release, "I'll Let You Go", I was intent from the first page on really liking this book. I came away disturbed and baffled more than anything else ... and slightly nauseous. Wagner certainly is a prodigious talent. His dialogue flies off the page, and his characters, though a rather unlikeable lot, manage to convey a certain pathos that is truly revealing. I might even venture to say I was surprisingly moved by the ending. Unfortunately, though, Wagner comes off as a more impressive stylist than storyteller. As a result, the narrative tends to drift and gets lost amid virtuoustic and occasionally tangential verbiage. One particular complaint is that I often lost track of the characters themselves and how they were inter-related. This is not - and I repeat NOT - a novel for everyone. It requires a strong stomach and an open mind. Some of Wagner's descriptions border on the pornographic, and occasionally seem to push the envelope just for the sake of shock value. Still, there is quite a bit to admire here, and if one can get past the fact that these characters are - for the most part - utterly unredeemable, and the plot a bit unfocused, you are in for quite a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary but worthy
Review: I like reading novels of Hollywood and this book was recommended. But about 60 pages in this I had to put it down and move to another book. This is not a light novel to read at the beach without full attention. Each sentence is written in complex structure like reading a college textbook. That's OK if there is enjoyment. But 60 pages in I couldn't find the entertainment or characters to attach to. It's rare I can't finish a book. Check my 250 reviews and you'll see it's only happened one other time. And I'm not a skimmer. I read completely what I write about. But this book was not worth further time commitment. Maybe this book was worth the commitment and I just didn't get it. But don't say you weren't forewarned.
Rating: 
Summary: Dense
Review: I like reading novels of Hollywood and this book was recommended. But about 60 pages in this I had to put it down and move to another book. This is not a light novel to read at the beach without full attention. Each sentence is written in complex structure like reading a college textbook. That's OK if there is enjoyment. But 60 pages in I couldn't find the entertainment or characters to attach to. It's rare I can't finish a book. Check my 250 reviews and you'll see it's only happened one other time. And I'm not a skimmer. I read completely what I write about. But this book was not worth further time commitment. Maybe this book was worth the commitment and I just didn't get it. But don't say you weren't forewarned.
Rating:
Summary: Great hollywood novel w/black humor, inventive narration
Review: It's a novel set in present day Hollywood, but instead of focusing on Hollywood stars, Wagner looks at the hangers-on types, the agents, lawyers, doctors, massage therapists, etc. It's definitely black humor, as a lot of unfortunate things happen to the characters, but it's definitely worth reading. The multiple pov is quite interesting. In the first section, Wagner focuses on 4 or 5 characters, and quickly switches the POV between each one in a rapid succession. One character is an exterminator, the other an agent, the next one an aging starlet, and the next a dermatologist. My favorite is the exterminator, the Dead Pet Detective, who longs to write scripts for a Star Trek like TV show called "Blue Matrix". His mother is a psychologist, Calliope, who only treats celebrities, one of whom is a Blue Matrix star. The second section is even more interesting: it's told from multiple narrators, each of whom are women. A different set of characters who you saw through a different perspective earlier. One is a screenwriter writing e-mail to her lesbian lover, another is a producer dictating into a microphone (much like Julia Philips in You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again), still another is a massage therapist writing in her diary titled "The Thief of Energy". These characters have an effect on each other's lives which is not immediately apparent until the end when things all come together.
Rating:
Summary: Great hollywood novel w/black humor, inventive narration
Review: It's a novel set in present day Hollywood, but instead of focusing on Hollywood stars, Wagner looks at the hangers-on types, the agents, lawyers, doctors, massage therapists, etc. It's definitely black humor, as a lot of unfortunate things happen to the characters, but it's definitely worth reading. The multiple pov is quite interesting. In the first section, Wagner focuses on 4 or 5 characters, and quickly switches the POV between each one in a rapid succession. One character is an exterminator, the other an agent, the next one an aging starlet, and the next a dermatologist. My favorite is the exterminator, the Dead Pet Detective, who longs to write scripts for a Star Trek like TV show called "Blue Matrix". His mother is a psychologist, Calliope, who only treats celebrities, one of whom is a Blue Matrix star. The second section is even more interesting: it's told from multiple narrators, each of whom are women. A different set of characters who you saw through a different perspective earlier. One is a screenwriter writing e-mail to her lesbian lover, another is a producer dictating into a microphone (much like Julia Philips in You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again), still another is a massage therapist writing in her diary titled "The Thief of Energy". These characters have an effect on each other's lives which is not immediately apparent until the end when things all come together.
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