Moon Palace

Title: Moon Palace

Author: Paul Auster

Number of pages: 298

Started: 31 March 2009

Finished: 4 April 2009

Opening words:

It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. I was very young back then, but did not believe there would ever be a future. I wanted to live dangerously, to push myself as far as I could go, and then see what happened when I got there.


Plot summary:

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.

Here is a slightly odd (obsessive?) website about subjects connected with Moon Palace.

What I thought:

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Paul Auster. There is something about his books that really draw me in and really speak to me. This book was no exception. It was a well written engaging book. It was the story of MS Fogg, but was made up of a series of stories of various characters’ lives that he came into contact with, which then made up the whole.

Fogg is an aimless and drifting man who seems to stumble his way through life, starting over again and again. I thought this was a great book, really readable, very well written and a good story. If you think about the plot as a whole there is a sense that it isn’t entirely credible, but that isn’t really relevant and actually shows the parallels of the characters’ lives.

A really great book and author.