Force Majeure

by Bruce Wagner

Bud Wiggins dreamed of achieving fame as a screenwriter. He almost made it. Instead, he finds himself free-falling through a world of hallucinatory absurdity, low comedy, and epic degradation. A Hollywood bottom-feeder who moonlights as a limo driver to pay the bills, both tormented and vicariously aroused by his contact with the industry's elite, Mr. Wiggins bears poignant, paranoid witness to the horror and hysteria that are by-products of "the Business." His phantasmagoric saga, by turns picaresque, pornographic, and poetic, Force Majeure is the first of a projected quartet called "Scriptures" that will chronicle the misadventures and transcendental fall and rise -- comic, tragic, and tragicosmic -- of Bud Wiggins, Quixote of Babylon.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

468 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Bruce 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.

Reviews

[Leo Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't get through it, unfortunately. Far too meandering.

I always feel that an author's really brave if they have characters do loads of stuff and meet loads of people when I'm not sure whether or not there's a purpose to it. Because great books are portals that transport you, and part of that is to deny or wholly disguise the need to tell a story. Only a writer of maximum confidence and ability can put aside this main task, but when they do I think they do what fiction does best, which is to transport you. And other worlds to be entirely real won't always have something going on in them. The characters will go shopping, hang out, read books... The world and its happenings will seem to exist almost as if they don't know you're watching, almost as if they've been so disguised as real that they don't seem to have been authored by a human. And I did realise in reading this book that this is my favourite thing that fiction does, and does so infrequently partly because of the insane demands on the authors who create these worlds and also because of soulless best seller charts' insatiable hunger for the instantly compelling.

But how do you know when an author in so building as world like this is demonstrating their ability or if they're simply not conscious enough of the demands of good fiction? That is, are they breaking the rules(=principles) because they know the rules or they don't?

So what struck me initially was the amazing density of the world and the writer's prose ability—which was both risk-taking and oddly unskilled. Like in his Dan Brown-esque need to refer to Bud Wiggins as "the tired screenwriter" or something similar, instead of just "he." At first I thought, "is this a joke? A parody?" Apparently not. And ultimately the meandering meandered too far for me to make it through. By halfway it was tedious af.

What we have with this book is the sight of an amazing author oiling the gears of a machine which by "Dead Stars" is operating smoothly and at full pelt. Avoid this one, but snap up later works if you enjoy polarising writers who dive into disappointment, failure, cruelty and the darkest themes there are.

[🐴 🍖]

not sure i can say i *enjoyed* it; i don't think even bud wiggins would spend time w/ bud wiggins if he could help it. but interesting!! came in expecting a locusts-style excoriation of LA but moreso got quite an uncomfy examination of creativity: where it starts & ends, whether it's inherently good, what if any commonality all "creative" ppl share. if it all gets to be too much, try taking a drink every time bud has a screenplay idea he doesn't follow thru on... your worries will soon be a thing of the past

[Johnny Story · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a story about a screenwriter so naturally I rooted for the main character, Bud Wiggins. It starts funny. Plenty happens in the story. But what I feared most would happen, happens. Long tangents into the body of work that the writer is writing, and even a long ass dream sequence. I wondered if the fiction writer was himself a failed screenplay writer. The book is way too long, mainly for the reasons mentioned before. I felt like Bud got shat on for 1000 pages. This isn't the kind of book that needs to be 500 pages. Bruce Wagner is an extremely talented writer who doesn't know how to tell a good story. It's a shame.

[Douglas Cosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - Probably really a better book than I thought it was; however, I found it too "river-of-consciousness" and sprawling with events and characters spilling out only to be later tied together through some serendipitous connection. Bud Wiggins (BW like Bruce Wagner) is a Hollywood writer with a mean, dead dad, and a loopy, reconstructed mom, that makes flaky decision after flaky decision, and constantly re-envisions himself and his next idea as the next new, big thing. He is somewhat connected to the stars and powers that be, but is always pretending to be something he is not. Very well done unpredictable main character, just too much for me to get my arms around. Last lust scene with 10-year-old girl was too bizarre.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

What just happened?

[Kip Conlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book's crazy as hell. I found it again for two bucks in a salvation army, it is the best money I have spent in my life.

[Mike Bahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be impossible to do an actual plot summary. Basically a middling screenwriter hangs out in and around Hollywood (both the physical location and the idea of Hollywood glamor).

Despite this being incredibly long, I only wrote one thing down while reading: I thought the fever dream stuff would be dumb since everything is already half Bud's fantasy, but I think I want it to double down and read about Bud's big glory and ascension more than his close to circling the drain that is the majority of this book.

I feel like I want this to be a good book but I'm missing pieces of knowledge to make it good for me. These are things I'm missing and would be awkward if Wagner tried to dumb things down for me. Like I feel like I don't have enough Hollywood lore to appreciate it. And I've never read Don Quixote, which seems like a major reference.

I think I wanted Bud to either fail harder or win something. Or be a full blown addict. I mean, the middle of the road approach is most realistic, but since I don't have the Hollywood reference (and I'd say I have a decent amount of insider Hollywood bullshit knowledge, or at least did circa 2000) it never quite gets interesting. It's just the precipice of interesting for me, which is true of Bud's life as well.

[Diane G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like a looooong, meandering story, this novel is for you.
While I can appreciate Bruce Wagner's extensive vocabulary and comedic genius, the farcical situations that screenwriter Bud Higgins finds himself in were too disjointed to hold my attention in a good way.
And that ending... oh, my. I have no words.
But who knows? Maybe this will be a sneaker of a novel that has to be digested over a period of time and that I will find myself recalling over the coming years. I kind of doubt it, though.

[Bil Antoniou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sauvage!

[Desmond Ryan]

Never finished…will try again another year

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me two tries to get through this book. The second time around, I kept telling myself that the pretentiousness that oozed out of the pages was on purpose, part of the sleazy characters, and not a result of the author's own obnoxious desire to make everything seem more cultured and more complicated than it actually is. By the end, I decided that both could be true.

If you're a film nerd who enjoys reading convoluted stories full of niche references and odd metaphors, you'll love this book. Personally, I found it difficult to read at times.

I was convinced at first that I was going to give this book one or two stars. But the characters are really well thought-out, including the parts of them that make them infuriating. As the plot develops, the ridiculous coincidences are just believable enough to make the story interesting. And the ending... I'm not sure how to feel about it, but I'll count it as a plus, since I thought about it for days after finishing the book.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, vital, frenetic wackiness! This book is full of crackling humor, killer lines, and loony situations, all riding on an undercurrent of dark bile. This is less a novel than a series of short stories, which I think it may have been at one time, before the author became well-known, and wrote a TV mini-series (the weird and unappealing “Wild Palms”). It follows the adventures of Bud Wiggins, a floundering, would-be Hollywood screenwriter. Bud is a piece of work, but he seems like a reasonable fellow in comparison with the people and situations he comes up against.

This is without question a satirical portrait of Hollywood and its denizens, from the eager up and comers (like Bud) to the established stars, who are usually some combination of corrupt, half-crazy, and pretentious or worse. Meet studio head Joseph Harmon, an industry legend, who is given to picking up strange men and giving them oral sex. Then there is Caitlin Wurtz, super-successful screenwriter of “Banana Republic” starring the monkey Calabash, a total kook who takes a liking to the protagonist. Or tough-guy producer Lou Gottlieb who befriends the writer Perry Bravo (recently released from prison, and apparently based on Jack Henry Abbott), a move that costs him his life. The reader also encounters European art house director Witold Kracz, a mental patient who directs the institution’s therapeutic play (written by Bud).

The book is episodic in structure, and Bud lurches from one weird situation to the next. He lives with his mom, who is given to some very odd behavior, and mostly makes his living driving a limousine, a job which allows him to eavesdrop on agents and producers whom he is hoping will produce work. This is unlikely to happen, because Bud is a pretty bad writer, given to pursuing stupid, unpleasant ideas that give the author another opportunity for some fine satire. A series of girlfriends passes through Bud’s life, each relationship more unstable than the last, although Bud occasionally seems to be moved deeply by them. He thinks back on two men he was close to who both came to sad ends: his father Moe, an entertainment executive, and his buddy Brian, a drug-abusing physician. He daydreams sentimentally of the happy days of his childhood in a neighborhood called The Arbor.

Despite his best efforts, Bud is, in reality, going nowhere fast. He had a brief shot at success early on, but it did not work out, and he keeps trying to get over the walls of the citadel. Success in “Force Majeure” is Fitzgerald’s bitch goddess – she bestows her favors on some, but those blessed are likely to go crazy or suffer some other form of destruction. In the end we see that Bud is more than just unlucky, he is also a jerk who is prone to self-destructive flame-outs (and worse). “Force Majeure” is a bent, wicked, and wickedly funny satire – and I did not even mention a fraction of the crazy tales in here, such as that of supposed rabbi Israel Levi.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have very fond memories of reading this challenging and difficult novel, though I don't remember it very well (it has been nearly a couple of decades). I like novels of Hollywood and this is certainly a doozy. If I recall correctly there is this long hallucinatory section where the central character imagines himself to be Don Quixote? True? Anyway, I was reminded of Force Majeure while reading Charles Bock's Beautiful Children so I thought I'd post a few words of hazily recollected praise.

[Armand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A weird, haunting, cryptic, hilarious and disturbing book that will really get under your
skin. You might find yourself wanting your own copy so you can go back and refernece and decode the mysteries inside. I'd heard a lot about this being a 'writers' book' a classic. In fact, it is incredibly well written, from the same tradition as Bret Easton Ellis's "Less Than Zero" and Joan Didion's "Play It As It Lays". You'll be shocked by the "What the fuck???" ending.

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rarely have a seen an author take such a potentially good novel and slam it head first into ground. It was like he was sitting there at his computer thinking, "You know, writing a good novel is so passé. It's far more modern... no, postmodern to write a really annoying piece of garbage that will make the readers want to feed me feet first into a meat grinder." Dreck!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with one of my favorite authors. It's a disturbing book, and it's not fully realized as are Wagner's other novels. I believe that the individual parts of the novel were originally published separately, and it doesn't seem to be an organic whole. I may have to take it down and reread it soon--all I really remember of it are the creepiest, most grotesque parts.

[Fiasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book, and that's a rarity for me since I don't have the stomach for fiction anymore. Wagner's writing blew me away, and the story....incredible. Just one of those rare books that clicked for me and I couldn't stop reading. Like I said, a rarity.

[Michael Cohen]

Deep Portrait of the struggles of a struggling screenwriter

This book goes deep into its character and Hollywood and keeps winding, twisting, turning, down a tunnel that I was so hopeful would turn out well for the flawed, hard working, and redeemable protagonist.

[Michael Shilling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Quixote as a screenwriter, misadventuring through the LA wilderness.

[J Frank Parnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny as hell

[Sparky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Limited issue paperback was the most evil little collection of short stories I've read since the Pat Hobby Stories. Amazing stuff.

[AL · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty far-out rendering of the classic american hack screenwriter in LA book. you'll laugh and you'll cringe

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The copy I read was actually a limited run of four of the stories that eventually made the novel and I really liked them, very dark as all stories about Hollywood should be.

[Ben Brackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty haunting novel about a man struggling with failure, but no one wants to think they are loser. 5 stars even though it has hacky dream sequences in it.