- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Viking USA (Sep 8 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670846767
- ISBN-13: 978-0670846764
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 658 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #338,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Auster ( The Music of Chance ) captivatingly renews a theme central to his acclaimed New York Trilogy and Moon Palace --that of the other, the shadow self whose parallel life somehow jumps the track and threatens the more sober protagonist. After his valued friend and fellow writer Ben Sachs blows himself up with a bomb, Peter Aaron reviews their 15-year bond--including their shared love for Ben's lovely wife--and tries to reconstruct Ben's life. A boyhood experience in the Statue of Liberty haunted Ben until his transformation following a plunge from a fire escape at a drunken Fourth of July party in Brooklyn. After this fall, Ben stopped writing and became the "Phantom of Liberty," detonating Statue of Liberty replicas as a sign to America to "mend its ways." Peter's writing, on the other hand, surges "as though I had caught fire." The novel explores the fictional act: the relation between conflicting stories and kinds of truth; the reading of an address book, a la Sophie Calle, as a fertile text jammed with mysterious characters; role-reversal as self-discovery, practiced by photographer Maria and prostitute Lillian, women friends intimately linked to Peter and Ben. Finally, Peter (and Auster) appropriates the title of Ben's abandoned novel, a title that evokes the biblical sea monster and, thanks to Hobbes, the state, implying that the novel is itself a monster genre that merges diverse humans, their nightmares and passions. 25,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Born on August 6, 1945, Benjamin Sachs describes himself as "America's first Hiroshima baby . . . the original bomb child." Forty-five years later, while the FBI investigates Sachs's mysterious death, Sachs's friend Peter Aaron attempts to explain his even more enigmatic life--the personal and political forces that propelled his progression from Vietnam War protester to successful novelist to bomb-wielding terrorist. Auster's inventive plot, reminiscent at times of works by Paul Theroux, con tains bizarre coincidences which affirm that "everything is connected to everything else" as well as disturbing ambiguities that proclaim the elusiveness of truth. Both suspenseful and meditative, this new novel by the author of The Music of Chance ( LJ 9/1/90) blends a crime story with a thoughtful examination of important psychological and moral questions. For most public libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/ 1/92.
- Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
Six days ago, a man blew himself up by the side of a road in northern Wisconsin. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Six days ago, a man blew himself up by the side of a road in northern Wisconsin. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read,
By
This review is from: Leviathan (Paperback)
I don't know what it is about Auster's writing style, but I enjoy it very much. Having recently finished Leviathan, I confess that this was one book I had a hard time putting down. The book is party mystery novel part romance.The plot focuses on the death of a man and the story of the dead man's life as told by his friend. His friend, coincidental enough, is an author as well. I realize that I'm not doing the book justice. And that's a shame because it really is a good book. Auster does a great job of weaving a story of one man's life and how his life becomes inter-connected to all those around him. At the heart of this novel though is the simple fact that it is a good story. Auster does a good job of weaving a story and keeping the reader interested. At no point in time did I want to put the book down and forget about it. I was drawn in to the characters, the location, and the plot. If you've read other Auster novels, then it is likely you have either read this one already or are about to read it. And if you're new to Aster's books then do yourself a favour and pick this one up.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Totally enjoyable.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Leviathan (Paperback)
LEVIATHAN is an anti-establishment piece done without getting annoying, and without becoming too postmodern or preachy. Auster constructs an artsy but eminently readable intellectual conceit without getting so caught up in his ideas to prevent him from telling a good story. At a mere 272 pages, LEVIATHAN is a quick fun smart diversion. I purchased this book through Amazon.com right after another great purchase, THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez, about an unlucky writer/lost soul addicted to the personals. Both are fun, recommended books. Enjoy!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Contemporary Literature at its Best,
By RV (California, United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Leviathan (Paperback)
Leviathan is the story of Benjamin Sachs, a writer and an ideologist, as told by his long time friend and fellow writer, Peter Aaron. As is revealed in the first few pages of the book, the story follows Sachs from the peak of his success, through a long decline and to his eventual untimely death. Like most of Paul Auster's other novels, "Leviathan" tells an intricate, convoluted and incredibly addictive story. Paul Auster is a master writer. The book is both entertaining and thought provoking. The characters are deep, complex and well crafted. Auster is able to maintain a credible plot even while introducing some tenuous twists into it. Like many of Auster's other novels, "Leviathan" explores the impact of chance and of seemingly random events on the course of human life. Auster's recurring themes: doubt, desperation and the frailty of the human condition are a central topic of this book. This is yet another masterpiece from one of the greatest writers of our time.
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