Bruce Wagner

A new novel by Hollywood's "master of satire." The myth of an epic, public life—its triumphs and tragedies—is a particularly American obsession. ROAR is a metafictional exploration of such a life and attendant fame of an extraordinary, and completely made up, man. Born in Nashville in 1940 and adopted by a wealthy San Francisco couple, Roger Orr—"Roar"—became an underground stand-up...

An 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. I'm Losing You 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...

The sacred and the profane come together with visceral force in two novellas by Bruce Wagner, The Met Gala & Tales of Saints and Seekers. The Met Gala 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...

Force Majeure was called a "smashing debut novel" by Kirkus Reviews 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. The perpetually up-and-coming Hollywood screenwriter, Bud Wiggins, drifts aimlessly in...