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The Book of Illusions cover

The Book of Illusions

Paul Auster

The Book of Illusions

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Six months after losing his wife and two young sons in an airplane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann. Zimmer's interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight in 1929 and has been presumed dead for sixty years. When the book is published the following year, a letter turns up in Zimmer's mailbox bearing a return address from a small town in New Mexico inviting him to meet Hector. Torn between doubt and belief, Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever.

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Publisher
Picador
Year
2003
ISBN-13
9780312421816
Genre
FictionCrime & Thriller
Topics
Grief and lossIdentity and disappearanceObsession with cinemafilm history

Awards

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