[ book tip by Emily Bullock ] I was actually a little disappointed with this novel but I still feel compelled to write this review as I really enjoyed Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy and I feel confident that I can recapture that buzz. That’s not to say that this is a bad book but I was searching for greatness. Because of the nature of the book, which centre on an obsession with films and their maker, there is a lot of telling the reader what is happening that can at times border on a lecture. But there is always warmth and plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader gripped. The first person narrator, David Zimmer, is lost in alcoholic grief after the death of his wife and sons in a plane crash. But one night he stumbles on a lost film by the great silent comedian Hector Mann. David’s growing obsession with the man leads him on a journey of mystery, and a quest for the discovery of the real Mann.

David pursues archive footage of Mann across the world and back to America, it is an obsession that leads him back to life. It is a world of illusion and lies that David finds himself in but it also sets him on the path to wisdom. If he cannot accept the death of his family he at least becomes able to live with the tragedy. David and Hector Mann’s lives finally cross paths. This is an interesting tale of art and illusion.

[ book info ] Auster, Paul: The Book of Illusions. (Book language: English) faber and faber, London, 2003 (2002). ISBN: 0-571-21218-2.