Mr. Vertigo - by Paul Auster (Paperback)

About the Book

The author of Leviathan returns with a dazzling, picaresque, new novel in which Walter Claireborne Rawley, now an octogenarian, recounts his extraordinary vaudevillian adventures as "Walt the Wonder Boy" in 1924. "One hears every page of this novel, and sees it as well".--Washington Post.

Book Synopsis

"Nobody--nobody--has produced a better parable about the condition of the national consciousness at century's end."--The Boston Globe

An enduringly brilliant novel of trial and triumph set in America in the 1920s, from New York Times bestselling author Paul Auster

"A charmer pure and simple . . . Nothing less than the story of America itself."--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

Paul Auster's dazzling, picaresque novel is the story of Walter Claireborne Rawley, renowned nationwide as "Walt the Wonder Boy." It is the late 1920s, the era of Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, and Al Capone, and Walt is a Saint Louis orphan rescued from the streets by the mysterious Hungarian Master Yehudi, who teaches Walt to walk on air. The vaudeville act that results from Walt's marvelous new ability takes them across a vast and vibrant country, where they meet and fall prey to sinners, thieves, and villains, from the Kansas Klu Klux Klan to the Chicago mob. Walt's rise to fame and fortune mirrors America's own coming of age, and his resilience, like that of the nation, is challenged over and again.

Review Quotes

"A charmer pure and simple . . . Nothing less than the story of America itself."--The Washington Post

"Achieves a kind of sublime craziness . . . Nobody--nobody--has produced a better parable about the condition of the national consciousness at century's end."--The Boston Globe

"A rollicking tale of greed and redemption . . . Auster has created a character who will remain aloft in readers' memories."--People

About the Author

Paul Auster was the bestselling author of 4 3 2 1, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature. His other honors include the Prix Médicis étranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Burning Boy, and the Carlos Fuentes Prize for his body of work. His novel 4 3 2 1 was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. Paul Auster died in 2024.