Boy Wonder (novel)
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| Boy Wonder | |
 The first paperback edition of Boy Wonder |
|
| Author | James Robert Baker |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Satire |
| Publisher | New American Library |
| Publication date | 1988 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 470 pages |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-453-00597-7 |
| Preceded by | Fuel Injected Dreams |
| Followed by | Tim And Pete |
Boy Wonder is a novel written by James Robert Baker and was published in 1988. The novel is a form of a mock of oral history of Los Angeles, California in which we hear the life of Hollywood film producer Shark Trager.
The novel is about the people who recount the events in the life of a famous film producer named Gale 'Shark' Trager who has died at the age of 38. After his death, we hear the interviews of people who once knew Trager which included friends, family, aquantences, and enemies of Trager. We are told the story of Shark Trager's rise and fall through interviews we hear throughout the story. Gale Trager was born in a car at a drive-in movie in 1950 in Long Beach, California. When then hear of Trager's troubled childhood because of his bad relationship with his family and rebels in anyway that he can. In his early teen years he stars expirementing with drugs most specifically LSD and amphetamines and called himself a "teen speed freak". Trager eventually realizes drugs are getting in the way of his dream of being a film producer and decides to quit his addiction and goes to UCLA film school. At UCLA, Trager writes screenplays and directs many B-rate movies (which he hated). Because of this he drops out of college and lives in a rundown community in Los Angeles. Trager wants to direct an semi-autobiographical movie about his life but is having trouble doing so. Trager stars taking LSD hoping to hallucinate and get an idea for a movie. After many years of thinking, Trager gets an idea for a movie. The movie is called Boy Wonder and is a semi-autobiographical film about his teenage years as a speed freak. The movie is filmed and Trager rises to fame in Hollywood.
This is considered Baker's most well known work and was better reviewed by literary critics than any other of his novels. This novel was also different than some of Baker's other novels because it was not gay-themed fiction but did have some gay characters in the book.
[edit] References
- Baker, James Robert. Boy Wonder. California: ISBN 0-453-00597-7
