Man in the Dark

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


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

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.

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

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