Items related to The Book of Illusions
One crease along spine, small dog ears to front cover. Spine is tight, covers clean, text is unmarked. 1st ed., 1st printing.
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Vermont professor David Zimmer is a broken man. The protagonist of Paul Auster's 10th novel, The Book of Illusions, hits a period in which life seemed to be working aggressively against him. After his wife and sons are killed in an airplane crash, Zimmer becomes an alcoholic recluse, fond of emptying his bottle of sleeping pills into his palm, contemplating his next move. But one night, while watching a television documentary, Zimmer's attention is caught by the silent-film comedian Hector Mann, who had disappeared without a trace in 1929 and who was considered long-dead. Soon, Zimmer begins work on a book about Mann's newly discovered films (copies of which had been sent, anonymously, to film archives around the world). The spirit of Hector Mann keeps David Zimmer alive for a year. When a letter arrives from someone claiming to be Hector Mann's wife, announcing that Mann had read Zimmer's book and would like to meet him, it is as if fate has tossed Zimmer from one hand to the other: from grief and loss to desire and confusion.
About the Author:
Although film images are technically "illusions," this deft and layered novel is not so much about conscious illusion or trickery as about the traces we leave behind us: words, images, memories. Children are one obvious trace, but in this book, they are not allowed to carry their parents forward. They die early: Hector Mann losing his 3-year-old son to a bee sting just as David Zimmer has lost his two sons in the crash. The second half of The Book of Illusions is given over to a love affair, and to Zimmer's attempt to save something of Hector Mann, and of the others he has loved. In the end, what really survives of us on earth--what flickering immortality we are permitted--is left to the reader to surmise. --Regina Marler
Paul Auster was born in Newark, New Jersey in the United States in 1947. He graduated from Columbia University with an MA degree. After returning to New York from Paris in 1974, he began his writing career. Throughout the 1970s he wrote mainly poetry and essays which appeared in various magazines including the New York Review of Books. During the 1980s he concentrated on prose writing. He is the author of nine novels, including The New York Trilogy, In the Country of Last Things, The Invention of Solitude, Moon Palace, The Music of Chance, Leviathan, Mr Vertigo and Timbuktu. He also edited the best-selling True Tales of American Life, the NPR National Story Project anthology. He is married with two children and lives in Brooklyn.
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- PublisherFaber & Faber
- Publication date2003
- ISBN 10 0571212182
- ISBN 13 9780571212187
- BindingPaperback
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Book of Illusions This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780571212187
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The Book of Illusions
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. All orders are dispatched the following working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we have over 500,000 books in stock. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied. Seller Inventory # mon0004386297
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780571212187
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Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. Seller Inventory # wbs2493582653
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. . ALL ITEMS ARE DISPATCHED FROM THE UK WITHIN 48 HOURS ( BOOKS ORDERED OVER THE WEEKEND DISPATCHED ON MONDAY) ALL OVERSEAS ORDERS SENT BY TRACKABLE AIR MAIL. IF YOU ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE THE UK PLEASE ASK US FOR A POSTAGE QUOTE FOR MULTI VOLUME SETS BEFORE ORDERING. Seller Inventory # mon0000685074
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Book Description Condition: Very Good. Book is in Used-VeryGood condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain very limited notes and highlighting. 0.53. Seller Inventory # 0571212182-2-3
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. This novel plunges the reader into a universe in which the comic and the tragic and the real and the imagined dissolve into one another. One man's obsession with the mysterious life of a silent film star takes him on a journey into a shadow world of lies, illusions and unexpected love. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine. Seller Inventory # GOR001144814
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. Shelf wear to cover/ closed edge, including creasing and marking; foxinfg to closed edge Shipped from the UK within 2 business days of order being placed. Seller Inventory # mon0000196257
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Acceptable. Tanning to page edges, foxing to closed edge; creasing to cover; reading crease lines on the spine. Shipped from the UK within 2 business days of order being placed. Seller Inventory # mon0000223180
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Fair. Published in London by Faber and Faber in 2002. Signed by the author. This is an Uncorrected Proof Copy. Book fine except for slight wearing on corners. No DJ. Price on back cover reads "¿16.99". Seller Inventory # 004424
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