{"title":"Bruce Wagner","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBruce Wagner\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts novels that delve into the complexities of contemporary life with sharp wit and incisive insight. His works often explore the darker undercurrents of fame, desire, and human folly, set against the vivid backdrop of modern society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect rich, character-driven stories that balance satire and emotional depth, offering a compelling examination of ambition, loss, and the search for meaning within the glamour and chaos of our times.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"roar-by-bruce-wagner-9781956763225","title":"ROAR","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA new novel by Hollywood's \"master of satire.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe myth of an epic, public life—its triumphs and tragedies—is a particularly American obsession. \u003cem\u003eROAR\u003c\/em\u003e is a metafictional exploration of such a life and attendant fame of an extraordinary, and completely made up, man.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in Nashville in 1940 and adopted by a wealthy San Francisco couple, Roger Orr—\"Roar\"—became an underground stand-up comedian with a cult following while still in his teens, segueing to an acclaimed songwriter in the Sixties. In the decades that followed, his talent spanned the worlds of entertainment, from film directing and books to fine art (paintings, sculpture). His promethean energies expanded to the world of medicine; he became a dermatologist, the first to patent cadaver skin for burn victims. A spiritual seeker who returned to India throughout his life, Roar was also a voracious lover of both men and women.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe journey of Roger Orr was a premonition of the cultural earthquakes to come. It wasn't until his 40s that Roar learned his birth mother was black and it wasn't until his early 60s when he began the hormonal treatment and surgeries that chipped away at the armour covering what he always knew was his true identity: that of a woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRoar's saga is best told by a cacophony of voices—family members, critics, historians, and the famous (Meryl Streep, Amanda Gorman, Dave Chappelle, Andy Warhol)—including some heard from the grave. In \u003cem\u003eROAR\u003c\/em\u003e, Wagner brilliantly paints a vivid picture of one man, our times, and our culture's enduring obsession with fame.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46714308100332,"sku":"9781956763225","price":54.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/19013893482884.jpg?v=1754353389"},{"product_id":"im-losing-you-by-bruce-wagner-9781648210495","title":"I'm Losing You","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn epic novel that brings together a motley crew of characters, including porn stars in love, celebrity chore-whores, plotting dermatologists, masseurs, and shrinks, among many others cast in the debauchery of Hollywood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI'm Losing You\u003c\/em\u003e follows the rich and famous and the down and out as their lives intersect in a series of coincidences. A masterfully told story of decadence that examines the psychological complexities of Hollywood reality and fantasy, soaring far beyond the reaches of Robert Stone's \u003cem\u003eChildren of Light\u003c\/em\u003e and Nathanael West's \u003cem\u003eThe Day of the Locust\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46844078129388,"sku":"9781648210495","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/22923493482774.jpg?v=1758826166"},{"product_id":"the-met-gala-tales-of-saints-and-seekers-by-bruce-wagner-9781648210419","title":"The Met Gala \u0026 Tales of Saints and Seekers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sacred and the profane come together with visceral force in two novellas by Bruce Wagner, \u003ci\u003eThe Met Gala \u0026amp; Tales of Saints and Seekers\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Met Gala\u003c\/i\u003e follows a prominent family of influencers and would-be philanthropic socialites in the Hollywood hills as they spiral ever further away from reality. Candida is a young actress who sleeps with the \"unhoused\"—the ultimate charitable act—and her brother, Charlie, transitioned into womanhood at the age of eleven. Their mother and father have long been divorced but still come together to torment their children, mutilating and destroying friends and enemies along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTales of Saints and Seekers\u003c\/i\u003e is the digestivo, a collection of stories about the journey to enlightenment and the wisdom given by gurus. Where \u003ci\u003eThe Met Gala\u003c\/i\u003e pushes past boundaries and steps over the line, \u003ci\u003eTales of Saints and Seekers\u003c\/i\u003e knows that there is no line at all, only characters who travel on their own path, sometimes straying and other times going completely off the map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWagner is able to hold the dichotomy of the sacred and profane in one book, smearing them together, and ripping them apart. \u003ci\u003eThe Met Gala \u0026amp; Tales of Saints and Seekers\u003c\/i\u003e is an illuminated manuscript of Heaven and Hell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46846551523564,"sku":"9781648210419","price":54.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/22922733482774.jpg?v=1758912020"},{"product_id":"force-majeure-by-bruce-wagner-9781648210532","title":"Force Majeure","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eForce Majeure\u003c\/i\u003e was called a \"smashing debut novel\" by \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e upon its original publication in 1991. It offers a sardonic and absurdly dark, yet hilarious take on the \"business as usual\" of Hollywood's twisted class system, proving Bruce Wagner to be not just an author, but a cultural anthropologist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe perpetually up-and-coming Hollywood screenwriter, Bud Wiggins, drifts aimlessly in and out of the lives of others and from one script idea to another. Moonlighting as a limo driver to pay his bills, he finds himself immersed in a world of vanity and degradation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWagner infuses his novel with familiar archetypical characters of Hollywood—a nihilistic producer, an aging film star, an obnoxious mogul—and exposes the madness that drives them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47455564824812,"sku":"9781648210532","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/81KZ_5J11cL._SL1500.jpg?v=1774783481"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/bruce-wagner.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}