Product Description

A contemporary novel which tells the story of Marco Stanley Fogg - orphan, child of the 1960s - spanning three generations. The narrative moves from the early years of this century to the first lunar landings, from Manhattan to the landscape of the American West.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35218 in Books
• Published on: 1990-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

A Paul Auster fan
Moon Palace is my favourite Paul Auster book. He has a beautiful style, and his writing is musical. Comparing him to Hesse seems almost right, but his words are not as heavy-sounding as Hesse's. Does the word "metaphysical" fit? A story of coincidences, and, as always, that sense of tragedy and melancholy running through the story. Anyone who's ever spent too much time alone should definitely read this book. Paul Auster is the kind of writer who takes the half-thoughts and idle dreams out of your head and expresses them so much better than you ever could.

Don't read to compare with New York Trilogy
A great many readers problems with this book is that it doesn't continue in the same vein as Auster's undisputed masterpiece, New York Trilogy. Personally, I like to look on the Trilogy as a self contained set of stories and Moon Palace as something far removed.

True, Moon Palace does meander at times but just reading the blurb for the book should be enough to tell you that you're in for an epic tale. One way of looking at it is there's no other writer around who could construct such a tale, covering so many places and involving such a rich variety of characters.

One similarity between this and the NY Trilogy is the wonderful back stories Auster constructs for the characters encountered through the story - without giving too much away, witness the cave story segment for evidence of Auster's genius.

Containing trademark Auster segments dealing with the 'metaphysical' and man's general sense of his immediate environment, Moon Palace could be accused of aiming too high and covering too many bases, and perhaps it does. But then again, who wants to read straight A to B stories? Certainly not me.

One of the authors best books!
I totally disagree with the negative critics of "Moon Palace". The NY trilogy is a great work, however, this is in my opinion a very moving and touching story. "Moon Palace", "Mr. Vertigo" and "The Book of Illusions" are books I will always remember and definitely re-read. Books like "Timbuktu", "The Brooklyn Follies" and "Oracle Night" did not have the same emotional or "metaphysical" impact on me as a reader, but "Moon Palace" certainly did.
Weather you are going to like it or not depend entirely on YOU. Reading the reviews above clearly demonstrates this!

Being a great fan of Paul Auster, I have enjoyed all his books and been very fortunate to read some of them in Danish before they were published in English. Thank you Mr. Auster!!!