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Wild Palms
The year is 2007. Harry Wyckoff is a lawyer who is captured by the secret society called Wild Palms, a cabal made up of soulless fascists and virtual reality visionaries and led by the charismatic senator Anton "Tony" Kreutzer. Kreutzer dreams of controlling the will of his followers (the "New Realists") and the fate of the world with the help of drugs (mimezine), religion (the Synthiotics) and television. Harry Wyckoff must fight to keep his reason and plunges into a nebulous and kaleidoscopic nightmare: his fight can only lead to tragedy ... or transcendence.
"A bullseye full of aggressive and unbridled creativity that elevates television's ability to tell stories to an unknown dimension." USA Today
"Rich and suggestive ... just the names of the characters will one day be a subject for doctoral thesis. Wild Palms is fabulous." The Village Voice
"A bullseye full of aggressive and unbridled creativity that elevates television's ability to tell stories to an unknown dimension." USA Today
"Rich and suggestive ... just the names of the characters will one day be a subject for doctoral thesis. Wild Palms is fabulous." The Village Voice
Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Bruce Wagner
34 books174 followersBruce 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 1, 2019
Mind-bending, edge of your seat, timely - drug-fueled breakdown rampage with an abrupt end - loved every minute.
The dialogue was witty, esoteric, not too over the top.
The narrative hung together beautifully, always a risk in this genre.
Brutal and compelling evocation of the decadence and despair of Hollywood.
The dialogue was witty, esoteric, not too over the top.
The narrative hung together beautifully, always a risk in this genre.
Brutal and compelling evocation of the decadence and despair of Hollywood.
September 30, 2022
Bruce Wagner's original comic book serial is far superior to the muddled Oliver Stone miniseries it inspired. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
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September 21, 2022This graphic novel is what would happen if Philip K Dick lived to see Blade Runner. It rules.
November 2, 2016
Somehow it's even nuttier than the TV series, more focused on Harry's breakdown than the VR/TV/Celebrity/Religion/Drug themes. It even manages to explicitly reference its own TV adaptation.
October 6, 2021
This does not say anything to anybody anymore, if it ever did. The artwork is quite interesting, though.
May 14, 2024
3.5.
Hollywood fever dream.
Hollywood fever dream.
May 9, 2008
Awesome, but nuts and too subtle... unlike the TV series, which was too much about the drugs + VR instead of Harry's breakdown. Wagner's ideas are tremendous and his dialogue sparks with genius, but for some reason it falls short. Still one of my favourite stories. It says a lot about me that over the last few years I now identify less with Harry Wyckoff and more with Tony Kreutzer.
The art is perfect.
The art is perfect.
June 28, 2013
Even if he wasn't an amazing novelist, Wagner would be a God for the screenplay to this mid-90's mini-series. Decades ahead of it's time.
June 21, 2015
Lots of dark, funny stuff here, although an editor would have really helped things. A great start, the plot is abandoned in the middle to return by the finish.
April 15, 2019
Libros de Co y Co, #10.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews