The Way Through Doors

Starred review from October 13, 2008
The search for a stranger's history leads down a narrative cul-de-sac in Plimpton Prize–winner Ball's accomplished and clever second novel (after Samedi the Deafness
). When pamphleteer Selah Morse witnesses a taxi run down a young woman, he takes her to the hospital and, in telling the staff that he is her boyfriend and that her name is Mora Klein, is given custody of her. She is amnesiac, and his orders are to reconstruct her memories through story. The book then begins anew, and the narrative folds in upon itself again and again, launching in new directions and each time leaving the earlier story incomplete. Throughout, Morse searches out Mora Klein's identity, picking up other travelers along the way, among them a Coney Island mind reader; a doting husband who may or may not have made a deal with the devil; a love interest for Morse fascinated by the pamphleteer's opus; and a fiddle-playing dog. Though literal-minded readers may struggle to follow Morse's arc as the stories converge and he slips deeper into layers of story, Ball's skill with language and delight in comic absurdity make this an immensely enjoyable, brain-busting experience.

January 1, 2009
Municipal Inspector Selah Morse rushes to the aid of a young woman struck by a taxi. He takes her to a hospital, where he is told her only injury is that she has lost her memory. A doctor tells Selah that he must not let her sleep, and he must help her regain her memory, but neither Selah nor the woman even knows her name. So Selah tells her stories through the long night, in the hope that the stories will trigger her memories. His stories often sound like folktales or fairy tales, and some contain maxims or morals. Some intersect with the Lewis Carrolllike sense that the author creates of a New York City where some people may be ideas instead of corporeal beings. Some of the stories are retold from the perspective of another character. But all deal with facets of being human: love, jealousy, or notions of honor. The Way through Doors is heady stuff. Its charming, lyrical, fanciful, and funny, and it invites a suspension of disbelief that may be a tonic for our parlous times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)