"Moonglow" by Michael Chabon

Moonglow by Michael Chabon

"Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession of a man the narrator refers to only as "my grandfather." It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and marriage and desire, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact--and the creative power--of keeping secrets and telling lies."--Dust jacket.

"a fictionalized memoir of his maternal grandfather, based on his deathbed confessions under the influence of powerful painkillers in Chabon's mother's California home in 1989." --Wikipedia

Born -- May 24, 1963 (age 58) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Pen names -- Leon Chaim Bach, Malachi B. Cohen, August Van Zorn
Occupation -- Novelist screenwriter columnist short story writer
Education -- Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh (BA), University of California, Irvine (MFA)
Notable works -- Wonder Boys (1995), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000), The Yiddish Policemen's Union (2007), Telegraph Avenue (2012), Moonglow: A Novel (2016)
Notable awards -- 1999 O. Henry Award, 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2007 Nebula Award for Best Novel, 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2008 Sidewise Award for Alternate History

Not starting until February, but I (obviously) have my copy!

Please remember to use the "Spoiler" tags if giving away details in case some us are not that far in the book. Can't wait!

Four more times we wake up, yippee - then it's february!

: )

Of course, I am in, Kim. Thanks for setting up a thread. I will not be able to start this until about the third week in February.

Added this thread to the group wiki. Plus, I may join in!

I put my star on this one. Now I have to find the book and get to readin'.

>6 msf59: Start whenever it works for you!

>7 drneutron: You're the best! And you should definitely join in. Not that I am biased or anything. ; )

>8 benitastrnad: Yay! I have to finish up a book or two before I dive in. But soon!

I am in for this one as well.

I'd love to read this--I just have to decide whether I can wedge it in in February. So many books!

I found my copy of the book and have it ready to go as soon as I finish the book I am reading. I have read other Chabon books and enjoyed them so figure that this one will be another good book.

>10 alcottacre: Yay!! Hope you like this one a bit more. ; )

>11 AnneDC: That's a nice problem to have. Hope you can find the time. I know Mark isn't starting it until the end of February so...

>12 benitastrnad: Excellent! Glad you are on board and to hear Chabon has been a consistent good read.

To anyone who takes part in the monthly TIOLI challenges, I was able to add Moonglow to challenge #13 since this makes the 7th book by Michael Chabon that I have read. Even if you have not read more than 4 of his books as the challenge states, you can add it as a shared read if you care to take part. Thanks!

>14 alcottacre:
I don't do the TIOLI challenges but was surprised to see that I have read 4 books by Chabon. I have read Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Yiddish Policeman's Union, Summerland and to my surprise Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson showed up on my LT list. Chabon wrote the introduction to the reissue of that book. I don't recall that I even noticed that it was written by Chabon. I do remember that Long Ships was a book I got as part of the 75'ers LT Christmas Gift Swap, so I looked and in my notes I got it in the Christmas Swap in 2012.

>15 benitastrnad: Yeah, I was surpised at how many of Chabon's books I had read. He is one of my LT discoveries.

I read Long Ships several years ago, but I do not recall that the copy I read was a reissue.

I am a little over 100 pages into the book and enjoying it quite a bit. Trivia note - on page 91 of my edition, there is a footnote about "the Martin company." The Martin company became Martin-Marietta, a place where my father worked for several years when I was growing up in Florida.

>17 alcottacre: Oh, that's interesting.
I like the book so far too and I think it will stay that way.

>18 SirThomas: I hope it does stay that way, for both of us!

>17 alcottacre: I love those book to real life connections!

I haven't started this yet and won't until probably next week, but I'm looking forward to it.

I started the book today but have only listened to a few pages. Our public library had the recorded copy so I thought I could get through this one faster if I listened as well as read.

I need to finish up my book for my class on Wednesday first then I am in! I have only read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay so far. : )

>17 alcottacre: Love the personal connection.

>20 AnneDC: >22 Berly: Yeah, I love when those kind of things creep up in the books I am reading.

Okay, I am opening the book!! : )

So far, the grandfather is a stubborn little guy with a heart. A parents nightmare! LOL. And I love how the chapter numbers are made out of matchsticks. No idea why yet....

>25 Berly: One of the things that I really like about the book is that Chabon constantly addresses his grandfather and grandmother as such. He does not address them by their given names which, to me, is appropriate. I never called my grandparents Joe, Ruth, Walter, or Micky. They were "Grandma" and "Grandpa" to me.

>26 alcottacre:
Same in my family. It was Grandpa Strnad and Grandma Rundus to me.

I had two Grandmas and a Granddad and a Grandpa. I know their given names but never called them that. : ) Funny story -- my mom didn't want to have the same name as my MIL so she went with Nana, thinking it would be different from Grandma and then my MIL wound up being Nama. So much for her plan. LOL

We always called our grandparents by their grandparent names (Mimi, Poppop, Nana, and Pawpaw) and would have never dreamed of using their given names either to them or when referring to them. I remember being taken aback recently when one of my cousins commented on a Facebook photo that included our grandfather "Look--there's Harry." He had died many years ago, but still, I thought, "What? Who said you could call him Harry? "

I have now cracked open this book and read two chapters.

>27 benitastrnad: >28 Berly: I knew my grandparents' names when I was growing up too, Kim, but like Benita, I never called them by their names.

>29 AnneDC: Even though my grandparents have been gone for many years now, I would never think of calling them by their given names. It just would not seem right to me!

>29 AnneDC:
I would never have dreamed of using those words for a grandparent. Just as I never would have thought it polite to call somebody Miss Nancy. It was always Miss Lambert and Mrs. Tryzicky. Never would have used first names to address any adult or those shortened pet names for grandparents or other relatives. The closest we ever came to calling somebody by a nickname was Uncle Lud and his real name was Ludwig. Even Uncle Victor was Victor not Vic.

I have been listening to this book - the recorded version on CD, while I have been driving around town. Yesterday as I reviewed some of the comments here I noticed something about footnotes. I also have the printed hardback version of the book on my bedside table as I plan to both read and listen to the book. (I haven't been paying much attention to the hardcopy as I am still reading another chunkster of a novel for a real life book club so have been solely relying on the recorded version.) I got the book and looked at it and to my chagrin discovered that there are indeed footnotes. These footnotes are NOT in the recorded version of the book. I HATE it when that happens. I have listened to several books with footnotes and most of the time the footnotes are noted as such and are read in the course of the story. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and listened to a good portion of it, and if you have read that book, you know that there are extensive footnotes in it. The recorded version of the book contained the footnotes, so I know that it can be done, and has been done in the past. I just have to wonder why this recorded version of Moonglow did not include the footnotes?

>32 benitastrnad: I love footnotes in a book and would be very disheartened to learn that they are not included on the audio version. I am sorry that you discovered this too late, Benita.

I will probably be finishing the book up either tomorrow or the following day - depending on how much sleep I need tomorrow, but this book has been much more to my taste than last month's book was!

I am on chapter 8. I can't believe that you have finished it so soon. It is a good book and I find myself laughing in spots.

Last night I picked up the hard copy of this book and started to read it - instead of listening to it. The first thing that struck me was the feel of the dust jacket. It feels like paper, sort of rough, but still smooth. Most of the dust jackets I have on hardback books have a smooth finish and this one just feels different. Does anybody but me pay attention to this kind of thing?

When I opened it up I immediately noticed that the endpapers were also made out of a rough textured paper and that they had a picture in them. Mine is in black and white and it is a moon in space. I love it and because I am 100 pages into the book I understand why that particular picture is on the endpapers.

I love reading real paper books, and as I looked at the picture and felt the front cover I wondered how people read only digital copies. I know there are lots of reasons to read digital copies, or listen to the recorded version, but the thought occurred to me that there is so much more to a hardcopy of a book than just the words, or the story. As the French philosopher said, the covers of a book are a threshold into that book and in this case it is so true.

So my next question is, why the matches on my dust jacket? And why 5 of them? I suppose that I will find the answer inside the pages of the book, but now the cover art has intrigued me.

>36 benitastrnad: I pay attention to that kind of stuff, Benita. Carrie and I were just having a discussion on her thread about the paper quality of a book we are reading, Homo Deus.

My copy of the book does not have matches on the dust jacket. It does not even have a dust jacket as it is not hardcover. It does, however, have a picture of a lighter with a crescent moon just above it.

I suspect that the matches are a symbol for something, but I haven't figured it out yet. On your cover I totally get about the lighter and the resent moon. I am now on chapter 20 and Grandpa is at Nordhausen. I have lots to say on the subject of Werner Von Braun (since I live here in Alabama) but I want to wait a bit and see where this story is going. I suspect that it is about to take a dark turn as there is nothing good about Nordhausen.

I'm joining this as a re-read. I first read it in September 2017, longer ago than I thought. I've read a lot of Chabon, and I haven't been disappointed by anything he's written. I remember sections of this book quite well, but as I read the posts, I realized there's significant blanks in my recall. The most serious...heh heh...was where I stashed the book. I just found it...yay...and I am ready to read. I've got several books going, but I'll get back to them.

I enjoyed reading it very much, it was exciting and very well written, with a lot of wit and esprit.
>25 Berly: a stubborn little guy with a heart - that hits the spot very well.
>26 alcottacre: I didn't even call my parents / in-laws by their first names, but times are changing.
Probably I'm just old...

I am finding all the trivia about the space race to be of interest. I live in Alabama where Von Braun is celebrated as a great hero. I couldn't believe it when I saw that our Alabama Library Conference was going to be held in the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Al. Clearly, the people who named that place had no idea of Von Braun's history so I totally understand "Grandpa's" aversion to Von Braun and his disdain of that former Nazi's accomplishments. I also totally understand how he was able to seperate the space missions from Von Braun in some ways and not in others. I have never attended another Alabama Library Conference in Huntsville for that reason.

Does anybody know if this novel is autobiographical? It seems that way, but there are parts of it that don't match up with Chabon's real life.

>42 benitastrnad: Sure, it's autobiographical. But tongue in cheek. It's Chabon enjoying himself. Note the "Author's Note":

In preparing this memoir, I have stuck to the facts except when facts refuse to conform with memory, narrative purpose, or the truth as I prefer to understand it. Wherever liberties have been taken with names, dates, places, events, and conversations, or with the identities, motivations, and interrelationships of family members and historical personages, the reader is assured they have been taken with due abandon.

>43 weird_O:
Thanks. I looked up Michael Chabon in my favorite reference source (librarians love it! Right?) Wikipedia and in the entry for him it says that Moonglow is a quasi-metafictional memoir. That led me down a rabbit hole because what is metafiction?

Metafiction - according to Wikipedia is defined as -
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasizes its own constructedness in a way that continually reminds the audience to be aware they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story-telling, and works of metafiction directly or indirectly draw attention to their status as artifacts. Metafiction is frequently used as a form of parody or a tool to undermine literary conventions and explore the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art.

OK. So I am still going to ask my question is this really a fictional autobiography? or is it totally made up? The HarperCollins web site page for Chabon calls it "tour de force of speculative autobiography in which Chabon devises and reveals a secret history of his own imagination." It goes on to say, about the novel, itself, "A lie that tells the truth, a work of fictional nonfiction, an autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir, Moonglow is Chabon at his most moving and inventive." So I am still left with my question of is it based in truth or is it totally fiction. My guess is that Chabon doesn't want us to know for sure which it is, or what parts are totally fictional. He is being cagy with the truth and at times telling an outright lye.

As a librarian I hate books like this because they confuse the innocent readers who can't tell the difference between fiction and nonfiction on a good day with clear delineation between the two. As a reader I am finding this book to be great fun and I enjoy the exploration of the personalities involved.

>44 benitastrnad:

There's history, there's journalism. And there's storytelling.

How many books, movies, tv shows, and other entertainments are promoted as "based on a true story" or "based on true events". The assembled facts constitute a story, one that's really interesting. But as you sift through those facts, you imagine how it would play if the action took place in a slightly different location or setting. Or if the villain/victim were more or less likable. The facts become pesky things.

If you were to assert that the story was absolutely true, you'd have to have all the "facts" validated…footnoted…documented. But if it is "based on" true facts, well then, just about anything goes.

I think this is Chabon having fun making fun of that familiar trope.

According to the book's title page: Moonglow: A Novel.

I am nearly 300 pages into this novel and loving it more and more. The Von Braun, V2 section may be my favorite so far. I am also curious how much of it is fact or fiction but regardless, it will not affect how I feel about it, in the end. Chabon is such a terrific author.

Thanks to Kim, for getting this going.

>41 benitastrnad: Wow! Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Al? So, they celebrate him there? That can be awful tricky. He doesn't come off well in Moonglow.

>47 msf59:
He doesn't come off well in real life either. He was as nasty of a Nazi as they come. The statistics on Nordhausen Concentration Camp are appalling. He had a full time mathematician figure out exactly how many calories a day it took to keep technicians functioning, how long it would take them to starve to death, and how long of a useful functionality they would have on fewer and fewer calories. He was totally ambitious and probably without conscience. Practically the opposite of Robert Oppenheimer, who knew the consequences of what he was doing and had trouble reconciling it.

At the Space and Rocket Museum (also home to the highly advertised Space Camp for kids) you can see Von Braun's office. They moved it into the museum lock, stock, and barrel. It really grates on my nerves that the most successful city in Alabama is Huntsville, when it is where it is based on dubious morality just as much as Birmingham and Montgomery. Of course, the entire U. S. Space program is where it is because of a bunch of Nazis'. I don't think that the space program itself was a bad thing, but I don't like it that it was based on Operation Paperclip. Did we really need those guys when we already had the bomb?

Hi all - I loved this book and am enjoying all your comments. I'd like to suggest a very short Netflix documentary called "Camp Confidential." It's about a group of young refugees from Nazi Germany who joined the U.S. army during the war and were tasked to take special care of high ranking Nazis who were brought to this country in secret. Von Braun was one of them. My uncle, Arno Mayer, is among those interviewed (forgive his swearing if you watch it - he always had a way with words) and he tells a great story of having to shop for underwear for the wife back home.

Sorry I have been MIA. Real life in the way and all that. But you guys are the best! I am loving all the conversations here even more than the book! Please, carry on!

Here is a link to the song Moonglow composed by Will Hudson and first recorded in 1933. The song went to #1 in 1934 and is played here by The Benny Goodman Quartet. Moonglow is referenced in Chapter 11 (p. 120 in my hardback copy) when one of the characters is whistling the tune after he heard a Glen Miller set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dm3Ml9g_cs

>50 Berly:
Thanks for posting that version of "Moonglow." I listened to it and enjoyed the sound.

I finished the book this morning and I enjoyed it. Grandpa was a person I would have liked to get to know. Such adventures he had!

I have been thinking about this book for a couple of days and wondered if anybody else thought about the amount of repressed anger in the book? It seemed to me that the Grandfather had many people he could be angry at: He could have been angry at his wife, his brother, his son-in-law, without any of these people in his life he could have been successful and probably wealthy. He could have been angry at his country. The angriest he got was at Werner Von Braun. He even could have been angry at his jewishness. Towards the end of the book he tried to be angry at the snake and then it turned out the snake was Ramon! It says that after his time in Willkill he suppressed his anger.

And what about Sally's statement about him (page 423) in my hardback copy of the book. "He needed to fight. To wrestle. He needed to feel like he was working harder, carrying more weight on his shoulders, than anybody else. Everything had to be a wrestling match. Jacob with the angel. Even cancer, he was going to fight it on his own." I thought that he had decided to love people and he made decisions around those major decisions. I never thought of it as anger.

I had to pause on Moonglow because I was reading too many books at one time, and there were too many reminiscences of grandparents in too many of them for me to keep everything straight. But I'm looking forward to picking it back up now that I've wrapped up some of those other reads.