by Bruce Wagner
First published 2004
A superstar actor who practices Buddhism moves through Hollywood after September 11th, his fame and spiritual pursuits creating an uneasy tension in a city still reeling from national trauma. Around him, a young actress celebrates landing her first major role playing a dead body on Six Feet Under, while professional look-alikes earn their living impersonating celebrities at parties and conventions. Wagner weaves these three worlds together, exposing the mental illness and narcissism that flourish alongside desperate ambition in the entertainment industry. The Buddhist star's attempts at enlightenment clash with Hollywood's relentless demands, while the aspiring actress discovers that even playing a corpse comes with its own compromises. The look-alikes exist in a strange mirror world, their identities blurred as they become living shadows of more successful performers. Through these interconnected lives, Wagner reveals how the entertainment capital adapts to a changed America, where the same old hungers persist beneath new anxieties.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: ambition, enlightenment, identity-blurred
Setting: Hollywood
Period: September 11th
349 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: mental-illness