Amnesia Moon

by Jonathan Lethem Narrated by Scott Sowers

Overview

Often favorably compared to contemporaries Michael Chabon and Lev Grossman, New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Lethem won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In his post-apocalyptic novel Amnesia Moon, he introduces a young man named Chaos who can seemingly remake reality in his dreams. Setting off on a grand adventure, Chaos attempts to learn the secrets behind the world's destruction. "Lethem tempers a liberal dose of quirky surrealism with interesting, believable characterizations and a compelling, imaginative story line."-Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Lethem's post-apocalyptic vision reflects American culture as if in a funhouse mirror in this strong follow-up to Gun, with Occasional Music. Televangelists have become actual robots, dog food is the cuisine of choice and the soap operas star government figures-all making for a confusing world for Everett, aka Chaos, who lives in a movie-projection room in Wyoming, drinking a liquor ``that amounted to rubbing alcohol.'' Fleeing his projection booth with Melinda, who's ``covered with fine, silky hair from head to foot,'' Chaos discovers that he is a ``dreamer,'' one whose dreams can remake reality. As Chaos and Melinda travel through the U.S., they find that, while each town has been affected differently by the mysterious source of the apocalypse, none can fill in their incomplete memories or answer their questions. Alighting in Vacaville, where everything is determined by ``luck tests,'' Chaos and Melinda settle into family life with a woman and her two children. But figures from his past, including some who appear only under the influence of intravenously administered drugs, draw Chaos into discovering that past-and into making more active use of his dream powers. The author draws each stop on Chaos's journey with care, including a supremely decadent San Francisco and a Los Angeles overrun with aliens, bringing to life all the horror and confusion inherent in his future world. At its heart, this novel remains a simple story-the search for identity, the search for family-but Lethem uses it successfully as a springboard for both a commentary on American culture and a convincing portrait of his main character. Author tour. (Sept.)

Library Journal

A young man named Chaos sets out on a journey across a shattered America to search for the truth that lies behind his fragmented dreams. From Hatfork, Wyoming, a desert town populated by genetic mutants, to the Strip, where perpetual fast food establishments exist in a cultural vacuum, Chaos begins to piece together a history of the breakdown of reality. The author of Gun, with Occasional Music (LJ 2/15/94) embues his second novel with a breathtaking vision of a world in flux. Lethem's prose is as flexible and memorable as the evocative story he tells. Most libraries will want this foray into speculative fiction for their sf collections.

From the Publisher

"A hip, updated conflation of Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog and Jim Thompson's The Alcoholics. Jonathan Lethem escorts us down an impossibly post-terminal Route 66, kicking and screaming and loving every minute of it." — Barry Gifford, author of Wild at Heart

"An author to be reckoned with . . . A social critic, a sardonic satirist like the Walker Percy of Love in the Ruins. But with Amnesia Moon, Lethem slips out of the shadow of his predecessors to deliver a droll, downbeat vision that is both original and persuasive." — Newsweek

SEPTEMBER 2012 - AudioFile

Chaos has survived an apocalypse and now spends his days eating canned food in an abandoned movie theater. But isn't there more out there? Did the atom bomb destroy hope along with civilization? This compelling science fiction adventure is a true romp from start to finish, and narrator Scott Sowers takes full advantage of his new playground. Sowers's gritty tone is perfectly suited to this tale of Armageddon and has a certain weight and wisdom. Sowers's characters are over the top, particularly the messianic Kellogg. Luckily, they fit the story and seem at home in the otherworldly universe Lethem has skillfully crafted. An enjoyable listen that offers plenty of bang for the buck. L.B. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170831753
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	07/29/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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