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Title details for Man in the Dark by Paul Auster - Available

Man in the Dark

A Novel

by Paul Auster
Paul Auster
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

This program is read by the author.
"Man in the Dark is an undoubted pleasure to read. Auster really does possess the wand of the enchanter." —Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books

From Paul Auster, a "literary original" (Wall Street Journal) comes a novel that forces us to confront the blackness of night even as it celebrates the existence of ordinary joys in a world capable of the most grotesque violence.

Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident at his daughter's house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget: his wife's recent death and the horrific murder of his granddaughter's boyfriend, Titus. The retired book critic imagines a parallel world in which America is not at war with Iraq but with itself. In this other America the twin towers did not fall and the 2000 election results led to secession, as state after state pulled away from the union and a bloody civil war ensued.
As the night progresses, Brill's story grows increasingly intense, and what he is desperately trying to avoid insists on being told.
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 19, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781427205520
      • File size: 132429 KB
      • Duration: 04:35:53

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Auster's appropriately detached narration penetrates the mind of retired book critic August Brill, who is recovering from a recent injury and the loss of his wife. He lives with his newly divorced daughter and his granddaughter, who is grieving the loss of her fiancÄ, brutally murdered in Iraq. Immersed in heartache, especially the Iraq death, which seems pointless to him, Brill copes by creating an alternate reality--a world in which the Twin Towers did not fall and parts of the United States revolted with bloody civil war and secession after the 2000 election of George W. Bush. As part of that reality, an assassination plot develops, involving Brill. Auster's mesmerizing performance captures the listener as he delivers his hypnotic tale of political intrigue. B.J.P. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Auster's appropriately detached narration penetrates the mind of retired book critic August Brill, who is recovering from a recent injury and the loss of his wife. He lives with his newly divorced daughter and his granddaughter, who is grieving the loss of her fiancé, brutally murdered in Iraq. Immersed in heartache, especially the Iraq death, which seems pointless to him, Brill copes by creating an alternate reality--a world in which the Twin Towers did not fall and parts of the United States revolted with bloody civil war and secession after the 2000 election of George W. Bush. As part of that reality, an assassination plot develops, involving Brill. Auster's mesmerizing performance captures the listener as he delivers his hypnotic tale of political intrigue. B.J.P. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 26, 2008
      A retired book critic is targeted by an assassin from an alternate universe in Auster's flawed latest. August Brill lies awake in his daughter's Vermont home, making up stories to fight against insomnia and depression. The stories coalesce around a character, Owen Brick, a professional magician transported to an alternate reality in which the U.S. fell into a civil war after the 2000 election. His mission: to end the war by assassinating August. Back in the real world, August is worried about his 23-year-old granddaughter, who moved back in with her mother after her boyfriend was killed in Iraq. The suspense about whether August's reality and the assassin in his fantasy will collide baits a sharp hook, but about halfway in, the narrative devolves into a long night's tale of the literary New York of yore as August regales his granddaughter with stories. The merging of nostalgia with a Philip K. Dick conceit doesn't wholly succeed, but Auster's juxtaposition of two worlds is compelling and intellectually rigorous in Auster's trademark claustrophobic hall-of-mirrors fashion.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from October 15, 2008
      Suffering from insomnia while struggling to cope with multiple tragedies, 72-year-old August Brill passes the time by creating stories of a parallel world wherein the United States is at war with itself, not Iraq. Postmodernist novelist Auster's merging of the real and imagined worlds is nothing less than brilliant; the book's intriguing twists and turns will mesmerize readers. As with "The Book of Illusions, The Brooklyn Follies", and "Oracle Night", Auster here narrates. With just the right pace and modulation, he reveals events that explain the complex mind of the memorable protagonist. Highly recommended for public libraries. [The Holt hc, too, received a starred review, "LJ" 6/1/08.Ed.]Valerie Piechocki, Prince George's Cty. Memorial Lib, Largo, MD

      Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 29, 2008
      Auster, a man of diverse creative achievements, defies convenient labels with regard to genre and the divisions between literary fiction and the mainstream popular marketplace. Given his experiences with such multimedia endeavors as National Public Radio's Story Project, it's not surprising that Auster has a flair for dramatic narration when performing his own work. As he gives voice to ailing retired book critic August Brill, Auster milks the story-within-a-story structure to full effect. Impatient listeners may wonder exactly where this disparate tale of revisionist history, war, marital disappointments and grief might be headed. But with the nuanced—yet palpable—use of inflection, Auster compels his audience to await the twists and turns. As an invalid with an active imagination and time on his hands, Brill makes his frailties tangible and emotionally compelling without descending into full-blown pathos. A Henry Holt hardcover (Reviews, May 26).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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