Moonglow

by Michael Chabon
430 pgs

To understand and appreciate Moonglow by Michael Chabon, it's useful to read it as a memoir written as a novel. According to the narrator, who appears to be Chabon himself, the story is based on conversations he had with his grandfather near the end of his life. His grandfather recounts the most interesting and slightly fantastical events of his life, and then instructs his writer-grandson to write it all down and "make it mean something."

The story Chabon tells describes his grandparents' marriage, two Jews who survived Nazism. It also tells of his grandfather's brilliance, which was instrumental in laying the groundwork for early rocket technology and ultimately, space flight. He also recounts his grandfather's pursuit of the Nazi rocket-builder Wernher von Braun at the end of the war.

The reason I said it's useful to read the book as a memoir...written as a novel, is because the book seems to be a combination of the two. It's hard to believe Chabon didn't take quite a bit of literary license in telling the story. And the story he tells isn't told linearly, it jumps around between different times in his grandparents' lives. But there are still aspects of the book that read very much like a memoir. It's told with a matter-of-fact style, without the buildup to a climactic ending you'd expect to have from a novel.

I'm on the fence when it comes to how I ultimately felt about the book. It's beautifully told, and die-hard Chabon fans should enjoy it for all the same reasons they're fans of his. But for me, there have only been two books that I can say I've thoroughly enjoyed: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Beyond those two, I've found his books a little hard to get into. I always appreciate his writing style and skill, but his stories have been hit or miss.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆