{"product_id":"the-book-of-illusions-9780312429010","title":"The Book of Illusions","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the internationally bestselling author of \u003ci\u003e4 3 2 1 \u003c\/i\u003eand The New York Trilogy comes \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Illusions\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"an enthralling new summit in Paul Auster's art.\" --Jonathan Lethem\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA man's obsession with a silent-film star sends him on a journey into a shadow world of lies, illusions, and unexpected love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e 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 silent film by 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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-supposedly written by Hector's wife. \"Hector has read your book and would like to meet you. Are you interested in paying us a visit?\" Is the letter a hoax, or is Hector Mann still alive? 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This stunning novel plunges the reader into a universe in which the comic and the tragic, the real and the imagined, the violent and the tender dissolve into one another.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePAUL AUSTER\u003c\/b\u003e is the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eTravels in the Scriptorium\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOracle Night\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMan in the Dark\u003c\/i\u003e, among many other works. \u003ci\u003eI Thought My Father Was God\u003c\/i\u003e, the NPR National Story Project Anthology, which he edited, was also a national bestseller. His work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50609958519058,"sku":"9780312429010","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c18431bc-15e2-4363-aa77-d5c269e36c72.jpg?v=1732331977","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-book-of-illusions-9780312429010","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}