The world created in this book is done with such care and is so full of unexpected and tangential details that I found myself wondering if I wasn't perhaps reading a work of historical fiction rather than just a plain old novel. We get long accounts of the book he is writing (about a silent filmmaker who went missing some years prior) and almost forget that there is a narrator involved, that we aren't reading a third-person account of this filmmaker'sA surprising book that is riveting through to the final words. After writing his book, would Zimmer have been so hesitant to follow up on Frieda Spelling's letter? This might have been the last book I end up reading by Paul Auster. How to write a great review Le Livre des illusions (titre original : The Book of Illusions) est un roman de l'Américain Paul Auster publié en 2002. He goes on a destructive binge of drinking and taking pills until he happens to see a documentary in which he is drawn to silent film comedian Hector Mann, who vanished around 1929 after a brief but promising film career. I had forgotten how much I liked it until I saw it sitting there quietly on the shelf, minding it's own business.David Zimmer is a teacher and writer whose wife and two young sons have been killed in an aeroplane crash. Thereafter, he develops a fascination with the actor featured in the old movie, Hector Mann - a minor star of silent comedies who vanished in 1929 and was never seen or heard of again. This book has been on my shelves for a long time, the first Auster I bought. At his lowest ebb, suicidal and alcoholic, David sees a silent film on television and laughs for the first time since the tragedy. Sur un fond de tragédie, le lecteur est entraîné du Vermont au Nouveau-Mexique en passant par l'Europe, New York et la Californie. We’d love your help. [ I had some problems with the plausibility of some of the events. In his own circumstance, Zimmer, a professor at a college in Vermont, gets a phone call one day that his wife and two children have been killed in a plane crash. Sucked sucked sucked sucked sucked. David se laisse entrainer dans un tres long voyage... May 3rd 2003 A few of my favorite things: smart men, secret lives, cinema, facial scars, multi-layered mystery, artistic masterpieces unveiled, itchy sexual tension...I can't love this book any more. However, the story really begins some time after this, when David receives a mysterious letter containing some startling news about Hector.Grief-striken wordsmiths and lovers of silent film trying to piece their lives back togetherA surprising book that is riveting through to the final words. I had forgotten how much I liked it until I saw it sitting there quietly on the shelf, minding it's own business.David Zimmer is a teacher and writer whose wife and two young sons have been killed in an aeroplane crash. He portrays perfectly the lives of people who had frustrating losses but trying to cling to life; who made big mistakes but trying to compensate them with functional and right acts and who lost their ways somehow but trying to make their existence meaningful again and do their best to the end. with nary a chance for you to catch your breath before you are off again. Mr Zimmer, le narrateur, vient de perdre sa femme et ses deux petits garçons dans un accident d'avion. Then one day of mindless television watching something happens...he laughs during a showing of a silent comedy...and becomes interested in the film's star, Hector Mann. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.