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152nd out of 352 books
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The Book of Air and Shadows
"A distinguished Shakespearean scholar found tortured to death . . .
A lost manuscript and its secrets buried for centuries . . .
An encrypted map that leads to incalculable wealth . . . "
The "Washington Post" called Michael Gruber's previous work "a miracle of intelligent fiction and among the essential novels of recent years." Now comes
...moreHardcover, 466 pages
Published
March 15th 2007
by William Morrow & Company
(first published 2007)
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This book seemingly has it all- Russian/Jewish mobsters, Shakespeare scholars, lying women, Jesuit priest/thug, intelligent and sassy middle aged women (wait, can anyone over the age of 25 be considered sassy?), ciphers, several conspiracty theories some twists and turns and a big finish. What it doesn't have is that undefinable quality that distinguishes it from all the other dime a dozen conspiracy books. The writing is adequate though not compelling which is why I can't rank it more than tw...more
I usually try to give each book the first one hundred pages before deciding to quit. If it hasn't hooked me by then, it's doubtful it'll hook me any time soon. I gave this book the first forty pages and gave up. It's almost mind-numbingly boring. Written in first-person, so we know the narrator makes it through whatever it is that's coming up, there is no hook early on to make me want to keep reading. The narrator rambles on about things not connected to the main lost-manuscript-of-Shakespeare p...more
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Just dragged myself through the first chapter and i'm already questioning whether i should continue reading. Its just not fascinating me. In addition i hate the writing style. For someone like me who loves proper punctuating, this guy uses a million commas, in all the right places, but still its driving me nuts.
OK! and thats the end of that. I just finished the third chapter and almost cried at the idea of venturing on to the fourth. The main narrator just rambles on page after page,...more
OK! and thats the end of that. I just finished the third chapter and almost cried at the idea of venturing on to the fourth. The main narrator just rambles on page after page,...more
I really wanted to give this one a chance, but it was so bogged down in meaningless details that very little happened within the first 100 pages. The style of writing is very meandering, so much that it detracts from the plot. Which is a shame, because the premise of the book sounded very interesting, but in the end it was just too dull for me to be able to get through. For me, it spent way too much time dwelling on the family of the characters rather than establishing a plot.
Picked up this book because it was a fictional mystery surrounding one of my all-time favorite writers, William Shakespeare.
Got halfway through this book. I ended up so bored with it that I just decided to not finish, which isn't something I do easily. I hate not finishing a book, but this one is just...poorly written. The characters are nothing great, most are not even believable and have a very base personality, the setting is rather dull and stupid, and overall the story is rat...more
Got halfway through this book. I ended up so bored with it that I just decided to not finish, which isn't something I do easily. I hate not finishing a book, but this one is just...poorly written. The characters are nothing great, most are not even believable and have a very base personality, the setting is rather dull and stupid, and overall the story is rat...more
a very enjoyable, but deeply flawed book...
flawed, because the gratuitous and largely pointless sexual content of this book almost causes it to founder...as a matter of fact, if you look at the majority of the reviews here and on amazon, many a reader could not get past it...
enjoyable, because the erudition and imagination that went into its creation are absolutely superlative...
the literary treasure hunt of the main characters and the prize itself are both filled with in...more
flawed, because the gratuitous and largely pointless sexual content of this book almost causes it to founder...as a matter of fact, if you look at the majority of the reviews here and on amazon, many a reader could not get past it...
enjoyable, because the erudition and imagination that went into its creation are absolutely superlative...
the literary treasure hunt of the main characters and the prize itself are both filled with in...more
Shakespeare, Russian gangsters, cyphers, antique books, sex and the English Civil War - what's not to like?
Well, nothing really. Of course there wasn't much that I found that I actually liked either. Actually that's a bit unfair to The Book of Air and Shadows. It's not as if I was bored by the book, it just sat on my bedside table for two months, half finished and ignored in favor of other books. I always intended to finish it. I was never so disgusted that I put it down with t...more
Well, nothing really. Of course there wasn't much that I found that I actually liked either. Actually that's a bit unfair to The Book of Air and Shadows. It's not as if I was bored by the book, it just sat on my bedside table for two months, half finished and ignored in favor of other books. I always intended to finish it. I was never so disgusted that I put it down with t...more
A rather thrilling story about the discovery of a letter that proves not only Shakespeare's existence but also the existence of another, previously unknown, play. The best part of the book is how the author told the story from alternating viewpoints - one as events are happening and one from the first-person perspective of one of the characters. There is ALOT of back story about who these two main characters are as a way to explain why they do what they do, although I don't know that it is so co...more
Julie:
All thrillers should be as smart, filled with compellingly flawed characters and as much fun as Mr. Gruber’s latest.
You can imagine the excitement of Albert Crosetti, an employee in a musty New York antiquarian bookstore, when he finds 17th century letters hinting at the existence of an undiscovered play by Shakespeare. Blindly in love with Carolyn Rolly, the store’s bookbinder, he succumbs to her charms and sells the letters to a Shakespearean scholar. Stupid...more
All thrillers should be as smart, filled with compellingly flawed characters and as much fun as Mr. Gruber’s latest.
You can imagine the excitement of Albert Crosetti, an employee in a musty New York antiquarian bookstore, when he finds 17th century letters hinting at the existence of an undiscovered play by Shakespeare. Blindly in love with Carolyn Rolly, the store’s bookbinder, he succumbs to her charms and sells the letters to a Shakespearean scholar. Stupid...more
My biggest problem with this book is the narrator's voice. Maybe I should say voices, because there are two. The first is in first person and as he tells his story he becomes more and more irritating due to his almost complete self-absorption, and I feel that the focus on his incessant and often pointless yammering detracts from the story itself. The second is a third person narrator. Having a first person narrator and a third person narrator in the same story irritates the crap out of me. Pick ...more
Were it not for a couple of flaws, I might have given this book 5 stars. I liked the premise and the way the plot was developed; there were a couple of surprises along the way, which is always nice. One enjoyable aspect of the book was the occasional acute observation on the part of the author. These were usually apropos of nothing; just an unexpected bonus that I found striking and something that makes the book more than a standard thriller. My principal complaints have to do with the clima...more
What a fascinating story Gruber has constructed. There is a manuscript from the 1600's used as padding in the covers of an old map portfolio found by the geeky book shop young man; the story of the bookshop man; the story of a lawyer who received the manuscript from a client and the client then was murdered for it; and multiple other storylines. The gist is there might be an unpublished Shakespeare play buried in England, written in his own hand. Since none of Shakespeare’s plays were even signe...more
This COULD have been an amazing book. If only the author had just stuck to his very interesting plot, instead of continually sharing pointless details and side stories about the characters. The main story was fascinating: Letters leading to a secret cipher that when cracked would lead to a hidden, and previously unread Shakespeare play. But for some reason the author could not seem to stay with this story. He seemed more interested in telling the story of the sexual pursuits of his various unlik...more
Take DaVinci Code, swap Catholicism for Shakespeare, improve the prose by a degree (but *only* a degree) and voila! The Book of Air and Shadows. Man, what a terrible title- hints at something much more grand and mysterious than what's offered here. There's nothing more sinister here than Russian gangsters.
As it went on, I couldn't be bothered with the old letters, impressive as they might be. A.S. Byatt did this sort of thing in Possession and while it was much more vital there, ...more
As it went on, I couldn't be bothered with the old letters, impressive as they might be. A.S. Byatt did this sort of thing in Possession and while it was much more vital there, ...more
Interesting concept for a book, but not the storyline was not interesting enough to keep me glued to it. I think I would have lost interest and the will to finish it, if it weren't our book club selection for the month of April...and I didn't have 8 hours of travel via plane to kill. The letters that are interspersed throughout the book were difficult to read, and so I started by-passing those completely very early on. It did not seem to impact my understanding of what was taking place. I di...more
I loved this book because it's written in several different voices; in fact I almost quit reading it because the first narrator's voice was super casual and seemed like a mindless pop fiction. but don't let it fool you. The style picked up and entertained me as soon as the other narrator emerged. It contains movie references -- which was fun for cultural references, and I loved deciperhing the allulsions. The book has been compared to DaVinci Code, but only because it's a suspense thriller, cros...more
I love a good thriller. And while this novel contained the requisite shady characters following their multiple subplots with ciphers thrown in for good measure, it lacked *something.*
Some of the character motivations and plot points didn't really make sense. And the main character, Jake Mishkin, is not very sympathetic. In fact, by the end of the story, I didn't particularly care what happened to him next.
That said, I liked the way Gruber supplemented the story with k...more
Some of the character motivations and plot points didn't really make sense. And the main character, Jake Mishkin, is not very sympathetic. In fact, by the end of the story, I didn't particularly care what happened to him next.
That said, I liked the way Gruber supplemented the story with k...more
'The Book of Air and Shadows' is not really a literary mystery. It's a regular mystery whose plot features a literary icon. I'm enjoying the mystery aspect, but I must admit that when the story centers on a potentially undiscovered Shakespeare autograph manuscript, I would like the meat of the story to be a little more worthy of the idea it's trying to sell. In this vein, I prefered 'Codex' by Lev Grossman and 'The Rule of Four' by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.
Part Possession part The Last Templar part Dan Brown and part lame. The language in this books shows such promise at first but deteriorates into an over ambitious confusing story. The parts where Gruber writes about cinema, life and art are breathtakingly brilliant. The parts where he dissolves the fourth wall are cringingly bad.[return][return]I thought the old English in the alternating chapters would give me a headache at first but the story was so captivating and humorous it pulled me throug...more
Wow...the Goodreads community is really hatin' on this one. I don't think it deserves quite such harsh treatment. However, I often have a fairly high tolerance for overly wordy writers. And I can stomach an unpleasant narrator from time to time. Any reader whose preference is an admirable story teller would get a belly full of Jake quick enough...he is a pig.
In my estimation, although slow going at times, the book merits 3 stars. The plot is convoluted in that the action covers ...more
In my estimation, although slow going at times, the book merits 3 stars. The plot is convoluted in that the action covers ...more
The Book of Air and Shadows falls into that curious genre known as the "literary thriller" - curious because most thrillers mostly contain poor to middling writing (read: Dan Brown) and focus almost solely on plot, and much less on character development or other things that you find in books that carry the "literature" label.
Since I am a fan of more literary works (yes, I am pretentious that way) but still enjoy a good plot every now and then, books like this one ...more
Since I am a fan of more literary works (yes, I am pretentious that way) but still enjoy a good plot every now and then, books like this one ...more
Scaling this book is akin to reading three different fictions at once. Lawyer Jake Mishkin narrates his own current-day personal, professional, and purloining exploits. We are apprised of the dealing and dodging of bookstore clerk Albert Cosetti. Interspersed within the two tales are the letters of Richard Bracegirdle, a 17th Century ironsmith turned accountant, turned spy on William Shakespeare.
Each element sets a pace toward a collision. Mishkin, a New York intellectual propert...more
Each element sets a pace toward a collision. Mishkin, a New York intellectual propert...more
I wanted to like this more than I did. The plot is potentially kind of cool -- two young people (Carolyn and Crosetti) who work at a bookstore that specializes in rare books find clues to a possible unknown Shakespeare play. The story is a mystery on two levels: present day New York and 17th C England. Both of these stories were a bit annoying though. The story in England is written in a set of letters about a person who is spying on Shakespeare. The letters are fairly interesting, and that stor...more
Susan
rated it
To sum up my impressions of this book into one word: tedious. I wanted to abandon it by page 50; had to repeatedly push myself to pick it up again and continue reading. I expect a best-seller to fascinate, compel and to alter my perspective, but this did not. There are plenty of English historical references, details of book-binder's craft and challenges of authenticating a manuscript, also political intrigues, historical as well as within academia and the world of gangsters.
The book follows 3 p...more
The book follows 3 p...more
This book is based upon a fictional account of discovering one of Shakespeare’s lost plays about the Queen of Scots.
It thrusts its’ main characters into a world of literary intrigue and adventure, complete with your typical Russian gangsters, ciphers in ancient cryptology, and double-crossing spies!
The main characters are an IP lawyer, Jake Mishkin, and a film school wannabe, Albert Crosetti. Although Gruber does a good job at propelling seemingly ordinary people into extraord...more
It thrusts its’ main characters into a world of literary intrigue and adventure, complete with your typical Russian gangsters, ciphers in ancient cryptology, and double-crossing spies!
The main characters are an IP lawyer, Jake Mishkin, and a film school wannabe, Albert Crosetti. Although Gruber does a good job at propelling seemingly ordinary people into extraord...more
I wanted to like this book, I really did. On paper it had all the elements of a great mystery. Similar in historical scope to the DiVinci Code, but set in the literary world so not as much of an obvious knockoff.
But reading the manuscript parts proved exhausting. What could have been, should have been the most intriging part of the story took sooo long to develop that every time I encountered a new section I got that oh no not again feeling. I have to confess I ended up skipping them a...more
But reading the manuscript parts proved exhausting. What could have been, should have been the most intriging part of the story took sooo long to develop that every time I encountered a new section I got that oh no not again feeling. I have to confess I ended up skipping them a...more
This is one of those books that seem to follow me around work urging "read me, read me", so I finally did.
The story is told in three voices: a 1st person narrative by Jake Mishkin, an adulterous Jewish-Catholic IP lawyer (father a jewish gangster, his mom, a nutso Nazi princess) who is a real tool; a 3rd person narrative that follows Al Crosetti, a young man who works in a rare book shop with dreams of being a great film maker; and the 17th century letters of Richard Braceg...more
The story is told in three voices: a 1st person narrative by Jake Mishkin, an adulterous Jewish-Catholic IP lawyer (father a jewish gangster, his mom, a nutso Nazi princess) who is a real tool; a 3rd person narrative that follows Al Crosetti, a young man who works in a rare book shop with dreams of being a great film maker; and the 17th century letters of Richard Braceg...more
Think of this as The DaVinci Code but revolving around a previously unknown Shakespeare manuscript. In Shakespeare's own hand, which if true, would be unreal and amazing.
This was the first Michael Gruber novel I've read, and I'm in love. I can't wait to go pick up The Forgery of Venus. The writing was fantastic and I loved the conclusion. My only complaint was that it took me a little while to get into the story. It took me awhile to acclimate with his writing style and the pattern of...more
This was the first Michael Gruber novel I've read, and I'm in love. I can't wait to go pick up The Forgery of Venus. The writing was fantastic and I loved the conclusion. My only complaint was that it took me a little while to get into the story. It took me awhile to acclimate with his writing style and the pattern of...more
Michael Gruber has written three perfectly good supernaturally-tinged thrillers, set in Miami–Tropic of Night, Valley of Bones, and Night of the Jaguar. He’s really raised the stakes though with his new novel, The Book of Air and Shadows. It’s much more ambitious than his earlier books, weaving together three narrative strands.
One is the first-person narration of Jake Mishkin, former olympic weight lifter, womanizer, intellectual property lawyer, mess. He’s entrusted with documents ...more
One is the first-person narration of Jake Mishkin, former olympic weight lifter, womanizer, intellectual property lawyer, mess. He’s entrusted with documents ...more
Reading this book (or I should say listening to this book) was a lot like watching a juggler who keeps adding more and more balls and somehow manages to keep them all in the air. Just when you think you've got things figured out, another piece of information (or frequently misinformation) is thrown in and your assumptions get tossed out - or sometimes tossed back in.
An IP lawyer with an addiction to adultery (I could have really done without that and skipped to the next track severa...more
An IP lawyer with an addiction to adultery (I could have really done without that and skipped to the next track severa...more
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| Literary thriller | 2 | 37 | Jul 07, 2008 10:00am |
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Michael Gruber is an author living in Seattle, Washington. He attended Columbia University and received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Miami. He worked as a cook, a marine biologist, a speech writer, a policy advisor for the Jimmy Carter White House, and a bureaucrat for the EPA before becoming a novelist.
He is generally acknowledged to be the ghostwriter of the popular Ro...more
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