About this title: Jonathan Lethem plays with memory, time and character in this picaresque novel about a man called Chaos, stricken with amnesia in Hatfork, Wyoming, who discovers that his name is really Everett Moon and that he is from San Francisco. In this near-future, however, San Francisco has become a "city of erasures," perpetually foggy, where the names of ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First edition. UK 1st thus. ISBN: 0571225306
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780151000913ISBN:0151000913
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Softcover, DIFFEERENT COVER, spine creased, tipped, but--NO stains, tears, writing, in tight & clean book. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 247 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Tor ed
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780312862206ISBN:0312862202
Description: Good with no dust jacket. 0312862202. Good. No dust jacket as issued. Good binding pages curled, cover creased, light shelf wear; Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 256 p. Audience: General/trade. Great Value. Prompt delivery with tracking. Satisfaction guaranteed. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780312862206ISBN:0312862202
Description: Very Good. Paperback With Shelf Wear To The Edges & Corners Of The Cover. Clean Pages. Great Customer Service. We Stand Behind All Of Our Products. read more
Description: Good. 2004-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & Company
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780151000913ISBN:0151000913
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 247 p. Audience: General/trade. "Once again Johnathan Lethem displays his particular gift for lifting the rock and finding something beautiful underneath. " read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: St Martins Press, Gordonsville, Virginia, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780312862206ISBN:0312862202
Description: Very Good- As issued No Jacket. Slight spine lean, corner bumps, corner crease front cover, date stamp to bottom edge of book, and other light shopwear. Odd, but a good read. Second of Lethem's books that I have read and will read more. read more
"Something has happened to the world, but nobody knows what. Everyone seems to have amnesia and people are controlling each other through dreams and new rules for society. Lethem brings his unique perspective and cleverness to a strange but non-depressing post-apocalyptic world."
"Excellent and bizarre. An update of/tribute to the late-60s Philip K. Dick ouvre, which in this case goes beyond rugpulling and chairkicking, and basically removes all sense of grounded reality whatsoever: in the end there IS no answer, no punchline to the joke, no hidden truth, just a hope for adaptation to the chaos. Somehow it still works as a quick fun read, mostly through the strength of the sci-fi/roadtrip pacing and a winning prose manner."
"It is always difficult to read an early book by a writer without being influenced by the quality of the later works. That said, this is an early work in many ways, yet well worth reading. The dream-like plot reminded me of Steve Erickson's novels, as well as the laisse-faire approach to plot. Now, I have never minded Erickson's handling of plot because the logic of his narratives seems more archetypal. In Amnesia Moon, the plot seems to reach a moment where resolution is possible, and then falls apart. I doubt I would have minded if I weren't so interested in the resolution in general. Of course, Lethem is very good indeed and the images and scenes are indelible. The post-apocalyptic landscape and the sheer creativity of the premise should not be missed by Lethem fans."
"In a line: not as inventive as it thinks it is, but definitively strange. Or: Cloud-Atlas lite. Or: Nightmare Invisible Cities.
Certainly the general concept of Amnesia Moon is solid; I'm all for multi-hued-dynamic-post-apocalyptic-landscapes, but at many points the novel begins to feel just a little too smugly pleased with its own surrealism. While reading I was driven by a great sense of unease. Not unease like "The Road," where I was perpetually worried for the main-characters, but unease where I constantly wondered what was going on and why I should care.
Many details and smaller ideas are great, but the over-arching science/fantasy feels a little weak. It's not quite "all a dream," but it's pretty close, and one of the later revelations, "FSR," is something only a a precocious fifth grader (who hasn't yet read a "Brief History of Time") would find to be original/worthwhile. There are many mini-homages to Philip K. Dick, and in many respects I wish Lethem had worked the best ideas into short stories and left the rest, like a hitchhiker who's look you don't quite trust, by the side of the road.
I'm giving this two stars, if I could give it another half, I might; I'd be willing to read another book by Lethem, but it'll probably be from the library, rather than bought."
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