About this title: David Zimmer, a literature professor, loses his wife and children in an accident, and afterwards buries his grief by devoting himself to the writing of a book about a silent-film star named Hector Mann. Surprisingly, Mann turns out to be alive, and eager to meet Zimmer and tell the remains of his story, some of which sounds oddly familiar to Zimmer as it echoes the tribulations of his own life. A New York Times Notable Book for 2002.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Board book
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date Published: 2003-01-02
ISBN-13:9780786248681ISBN:0786248688
Description: Good. Fast Shipping! This book is Good Condition. This is a previous library copy; it has the stamps and labels from the library. Spine has some wear. No missing pages. Some wear on edges and on cover. read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. 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. 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
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Picador USA, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780312421816ISBN:0312421818
Description: Very Good. 0-312-42181-8 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall Light shelfwear. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Picador USA
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780312421816ISBN:0312421818
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 321 p. Audience: General/trade. Nice clean tight copy. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc.
Description: Good. B0000AZW76 Good Reading Copy Condition HARDCOVER, **EX-LIBRARY Book, with usual stickers, stamps, though no pocket, with jacket in mylar**---Has shelf wear, shelf rubbing, and has been well used-BARGAIN BOOK! . No marks in the text at all. Ships Quickly-IN STOCK-Satisfaction guaranteed! read more
Description: Auster, Paul., Henry Holt & Co., 2002, c2002, 1st Edition, 1st printing, boards & cloth (hard cover), fine with near fine dj, 321 pp, 8vo, ISBN: 0805054081, 'Six months after losing his wife and two young sons in an airplane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity' read more
"Were it not for the erudite hand of Paul Auster, an author who I generally admire, this book probably would have received one star. However, by pure virtue of being Paul Auster and therefore writing in the style of Paul Auster, this book is spared my total derision and instead promoted to measured satisfaction.
It is hard to say what this book is about, as even the self-referencing title suggests. It's about a man named David Zimmer, whose entire family died in a plane accident. It's about a man named Hector Mann, a silent movie star who mysteriously disappeared. It's about a woman named Alma Grund, who serves as the mediator between the previous two individuals. It's seemingly a book about people and their many different identities. The autobiography of Chateaubriand within the narrative serves as an interesting parallel to the overarching themes of the story. While it's certainly interesting to witness all these different people bend and morph as they attempt to adapt to their environments, the totality of the idea is never fully realized. I can't say much without spoiling key parts of the novel, but I could never truly get a handle on the characters' psychology. To put it a certain way, once I thought I understood Zimmer, the Nietzschean universe throws a fastball and Zimmer transmogrifies into a new human being without any logical change of progression. Ice melting into water, I can understand, but ice immediately sublimating into vapor? That requires a serious explanation that is never received. Don't even get me started on the absurdist paradox that is Frieda Spelling.
All this would be infinitely more bearable if there were a unified narrative to comprehend it in. Instead, we are given a story within a story within a story within a story. The only thread that remains intact throughout the entire novel is that of the story of Hector Mann. The others are merely interspersed in random intervals so that they can say their thing and quickly evaporate. For example, the first chapter is devoted to David Zimmer's family tragedy and his subsequent coping mechanisms. After that chapter, though, we never hear of this again. At least, not directly. While I sense that this is a purposeful direction on Auster's part, seeing as how the book itself resembles a sole entity with multiple different "lives," it is still rather daunting to keep up with.
The only other real complaint I have is the pacing. The first half of the novel drags on for far too long, while the second half of the novel seems to rush through events without rest, though that could mostly be due to the juxtaposition with the first half. It's actually safe to say that the actual story doesn't really begin until page 150 or so. The last chapter, especially, is very head-scratching in its unpalatable excuse for a resolution.
The positives are all due to Auster's style. He is above all an excellent writer, and when he sits down to meditate on the fragility of self or the "Death of the Author," it's all very poignant and refreshing. His decision to remove quotation marks from all dialogue, a choice I found jarring at first, slowly grew on me until I found myself rather enjoying it. His ability to engross me in the minutiae of the novel are all to his credit, and what little I do learn from this novel doesn't go unappreciated.
If you've read a lot of Paul Auster novels, or if you crave a literary experience to share with those around you, you won't be experiencing anything new with this one. However, if you care more for the art of the craft rather than the functionality, this one is definitely worth checking out."
"While reading this subtle mystery novel, I had to keep reminding myself that it is not a non-fiction memoir. As his main character uncovers the secrets of silent film star, Hector Mann, Auster includes frame by frame analysis of movies that only exist in the mind of the author. I found myself Googling Hector Mann to make sure that The Book of Illusions wasn't a fictional account of an actual person. Auster's recreations of the films are so vivid that it is hard to believe that the films don't exist.
Philosophical without being tedious, The Book of Illusions explores the relative importance of creative process and sharing your creative work with the world. There is lots of cool life reflecting art reflecting history reflecting art reflecting life stuff."
"Following the deaths of his wife and two young sons in a plane crash, a literature professor becomes obsessed with the slapstick comedy silent films of a performer who vanished in 1929. He embarks on an ambitious research project and writes the definitive work on the subject of the comedian, Hector Mann. After the book is published, he's contacted by a woman who claims that Hector Mann is still alive and wants a meeting. The book chronicles the professor as he embarks on the journey of discovering the truth behind Hector Mann's disappearance.
Like the other Auster novels I've read, this one is told in retrospect. The professor narrates, dropping foreshadowing clues along the way. You know generally where things are going to end up. However, there are some very good twists in the final few chapters and one stunning revelation. Without giving too much away, you're left wondering just how reliable the narrator is. By the end of the book, his account of what he learned about Hector Mann and his life in the New Mexico desert can't be verified by anyone else. It could very well be an illusion brought on by his grief. The parallel between the professor's life and the life of a character in one of Hector Mann's films only adds to the doubt.
Overall, I really liked this book. The detailed descriptions of Hector Mann's films were very interesting. I tend to like books that feature fictional books and movies and things like that. I did think the pacing was a little slow in the first act but things really pick up in the third act and the book ends well. Once again, Auster follows the pattern of using a protagonist on a quest and moves the story through three distinct phases. In this case we follow the professor through the act of writing the book, what happens once it's published, and what happens when he goes to New Mexico to learn the truth about Hector Mann. However, Auster's novels don't feel formulaic to me and I'm going to come back to him after a little break."
"Oh Mr. Auster, what are we to do with you? This might have been the last book I end up reading by Paul Auster. It's been a nice ride, but I think he's run his course in my literary life. He's not doing anything great with language, though that's not really his "thing" anyway...he's more about playing with narrative and building pseudo-complex plots whose ideas aren't fully realized.
There was a lot in this novel that I found almost laughably cliche, but the bath tub sex scene towards the end stands out in my mind. I think it's best for writers to stay away from sex scenes in 'literary fiction', and if you are going to attempt such a thing, better keep it nice and vague.
The creation of the silent film star Hector Mann is one of the redeeming qualities of this novel."
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