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Mr Vertigo

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 4,769 ratings · 196 reviews

Paul Auster's dazzling, picaresque novel is the story of one Walter Claireborne Rawley, renowned nationwide as "Walt the Wonder Boy." It is the late 1920's, the era of Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, and Al Capone, and Walt is a Saint Louis orphan rescued frm the streets by the mysterious Hungarian Master Yehudi, who teaches Walt to walk on air. The vaudeville act that resul...more

Paperback, 278 pages

Published 1995 by Faber and Faber (first published 1994)

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Apr 27, 2013 Vanda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Há quem diga que está aquém do habitual deste autor...Não sei, pois não tenho termos de comparação com outras de suas obras. Quero referir que é um dos tais livros que me "agarraram".
Paul Auster possui uma prosa indiscutivelmente bela, lógica e cheia de imaginação.
Narrada numa 1ª pessoa, agora já idosa, de nome Walter Rawley, a história desfia a sua vida desde os 9 anos, por meio de analepses. As restantes personagens vão tecendo as partes de um todo harmonioso,distribuindo-se entre uma realida...more Há quem diga que está aquém do habitual deste autor...Não sei, pois não tenho termos de comparação com outras de suas obras. Quero referir que é um dos tais livros que me "agarraram".
Paul Auster possui uma prosa indiscutivelmente bela, lógica e cheia de imaginação.
Narrada numa 1ª pessoa, agora já idosa, de nome Walter Rawley, a história desfia a sua vida desde os 9 anos, por meio de analepses. As restantes personagens vão tecendo as partes de um todo harmonioso,distribuindo-se entre uma realidade violenta e uma outra fantástica; todas confluem para um encontro com Walt, com o nobre objetivo de o enriquecer como pessoa.
Mestre Yeduhi "vende" um sonho a Walt - se este for viver com ele, ensiná-lo-á a voar (literalmente). Acordo feito (forçado pelo mestre), eis que o leitor se inteira de todas as provações por que passa o rapaz prodígio, até conseguir voar. Sim, porque para se alcançar um sonho é preciso sofrer, ou seja, a determinação é tudo, mas não sem esforço. Esta é uma das mensagens que nos chegam, envolta em forte crueldade. É a América que se levanta como um paralelismo - América, a terra dos sonhos, o "gonna happen".
Menciono aqui duas das provações, pelas quais Walt passa com distinção e absurdo sofrimento físico, pois possuem uma mensagem universal.
Walt fica sem parte do dedo mindinho de uma mão que lhe é cortado pelo mestre. Este corte simboliza o passado que tem de ser deixado para trás, para que não interfira com o presente, ponte para um futuro, quizá, magnânimo. Mas, pior do que este episódio, foi o facto de o rapaz ter sido enterrado vivo, de novo pelo seu mestre. Nesta entrega à Terra Mãe, aprende-se a enfrentar a morte e, por conseguinte, a valorizar a vida e a entendê-la melhor.
A vida é dor e para voar há que senti-la. Alcançado esse sonho, Walt entra na adolescência e a situação inverte-se - o voar aprendido até aqui entra em declínio, provocando-lhe fortes dores de cabeça. A "queda" deste protagonista, que o obriga a desistir do seu voo, é representativo da queda da América com a recessão. Mas não se deve desistir... há que saber levantar-se, há que renascer e enfrentar outras situações probatórias.. Assim desliza a vida, até ao seu término.
E foi assim com a América; sofreu o castigo de actos racistas, violentos e injustos. Lembremo-nos do Ku-Klux-Klan que mata Esopo (o nome, seguramente que não foi escolhido ao acaso), um negro que que era o exemplo dos negros oprimidos, por força da sua educação, que mata a mãe índia Sioux (personagem representante da chacina dos índios) e o mestre judeu húngaro que se suicida, num acto de coragem louvável (iria morrer, de qualquer forma). Põe termo à sua vida, não dando esse prazer aos seus perseguidores.
Yehudi é uma personagem cheia. Faz-se sempre acompanhar do seu Espinosa - filósofo de origem portuguesa e judaica. O mestre simboliza as duas faces de uma mesma moeda.Representa o materialismo da América, a ambição, o dinheiro e o lado espiritual da vida, o interior, o querer que nos faz voar. Yehudi hasteia a bandeira da amizade e da solidariedade, o amor ao próximo, pois a maior das suas ambições é o que em nada se relaciona com o vil metal.
Paul Auster possui uma narrativa directa, contudo muito bem temperada de humanidade.
A grande provação na vida de todos nós, não será nem a subida, nem a descida; é sim, o equilíbrio, o manter a estabilidade.
Imagine-se o voo de uma águia a planar. Conseguiremos nós, essa proeza?
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Dec 31, 2007 Lorenzo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007-readings, american

When I was a young dumb teenager unaware of the complexity of the whole world, one of the hit songs I use to listen again and again and once more on a self recorded tape was "I wish I could fly" by Roxette.
Ehm.

Have you noticed that "When I was a young dumb etc." at the beginning of the sentence? Please do it.
Thanks.

This novel speaks about flying. This novel speaks about the hard training that a depaupered American child have to do to become a new kind of Barnum phenomenon at the service of a w...more

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May 22, 2012 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not sure how I feel about this book yet so I hope that writing a review will help. From what I can tell there are two things going on. First, it's a story about a boy who learns how to fly. Meet Walter: a begging, thieving, loudmouth little rascal. Austere uses Walter to narrate his story, constructing his story as a fictional memoir . What makes the book interesting is what makes Walter interesting -- that he can fly. Flight becomes Walter's passion and purpose in life -- the story chronicl...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-novels

I first read Mr Vertigo in the nineties, but picking it up again recently and reading the first page I was totally hooked. (Coincidentally Man on Wire was on TV the other day and they are almost the same stories told in different mediums.) Mr Vertigo has one of the best opening lines ever: 'I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water. The man in the black clothes taught me how to do it and I'm not going to pretend I learned the trick overnight...'

It is the story of Walter Rawley 'Wal...more I first read Mr Vertigo in the nineties, but picking it up again recently and reading the first page I was totally hooked. (Coincidentally Man on Wire was on TV the other day and they are almost the same stories told in different mediums.) Mr Vertigo has one of the best opening lines ever: 'I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water. The man in the black clothes taught me how to do it and I'm not going to pretend I learned the trick overnight...'

It is the story of Walter Rawley 'Walt the Wonderboy' - a smart mouthed orphan on the streets of 1930's St Louis and also our narrator for this fantastical old fashioned tall-tale. On the very first page he takes up with the mysterious magician and showman Master Yehudi who makes him a deal that: 'If I haven't taught you to fly by your thirteenth birthday you can chop my head off with an axe.' (this is also an amazing hook line for the first page of a book.) The rest of the story chronicles his adventures as the master teaches him to fly and they go on a vaudeville tour of America that starts in triumph and ends in disaster.

This first section of the book where Walt is learning to fly is totally engrossing, and beautiful heart in the mouth writing almost as good as you imagine the first flight is for Walt. Its a great mix of magic realism and Huck Finn and I love the fact that Walt has to put himself through such hardships in order to achieve his goal, it gives the story a gritty edge as opposed to the airy-fairy flying of Peter Pan. Yet there is still a sense of a young child's wonder and imagination in a world where anything is possible if you believe it is and this is mixed with the harsh realities of the time - the racism, crime, poverty and the Wall Street crash, albeit some of these effect Walt more than others.

The second (and less interesting) half of the book chronicles Walt's life as a grown up first as a big shot gangster and then as the usual everyman with ups and downs. It is only as an old man that he is finally able to come to terms with his failure and successes as a human being and reflect on his childhood. I found the very last section very moving especially Walt's last thoughts on what humans are capable of. I suppose his flight is a metaphor for the height of human achievements, learning a skill to such a high ability that you transcend the mundane and it becomes sublime and enlightening, what it is like to loose that ability - that brilliance and realise that you are just an average Joe like everyone else, but how there is always a chance, however slim, to regain it if you believe.
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Feb 09, 2011 Marcelo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fantastic. I read this in one sitting. Auster writes a fable of America's growth in the 20th century without losing sight of giving us a good story. By the end, I wished it would keep on going.

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Aug 06, 2011 Matthew added it · review of another edition

A spiritual journey for the soul of a nation. From humble beginnings in the bowery of St. Louis, Walter Claireborn Rawley, aka Walt the Wonder Boy, lives an adventure that most boys could only dream about.

After meeting the mysterious Master Yahudi, who promises to teach him the secret of levitation, Walt embarks on a rocky road to self awareness, as well as eyewitness to the unfolding of history. A makeshift family forms around Walt, his adopted brother Aesop, a brilliant Negro foundling, suffe...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Bandit rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having discovered and fallen in love with Auster's writing earlier this year, I have by now read most of his books. I liked them all very much and gave them all top ratings, but this book has really knocked it out of the ballpark. There is an epic quality to this story, a tale of a life that varies from strange to ordinary to strange and spans about eight decades. There are larger than life characters with grandness and pizazz and amazing supporting characters with so much kindness and love stor...more

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May 19, 2012 Luke Beach rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Trying to pick the right arrangement of words to succinctly describe the writings of Paul Auster, post-modern virtuoso of twentieth-century Americana is a difficult thing to do, I think because his ideas, his characters and his prose are so fluid and unique that trying to find a solidified, conscientiously agreed-upon meaning in most of his novels is kind of like trying to catch catch a cloud with a fishing net. I think that's why, aside from his surreal neo-noir three-part story collection The...more
Trying to pick the right arrangement of words to succinctly describe the writings of Paul Auster, post-modern virtuoso of twentieth-century Americana is a difficult thing to do, I think because his ideas, his characters and his prose are so fluid and unique that trying to find a solidified, conscientiously agreed-upon meaning in most of his novels is kind of like trying to catch catch a cloud with a fishing net. I think that's why, aside from his surreal neo-noir three-part story collection The New York Trilogy, Auster's name doesn't quite resonate with the mainstream understanding of contemporary fiction. On the surface, he's can perhaps appear to be too alien, too complicated, and he never promises to give a happy ending.

Published in 1994. Mr. Vertigo gives itself a sense of identity beginning with the cover and stretching around to the blurb and the quotes on the back, and confirmed in the first few paragraphs, giving the impression that this could be the most accessible Auster book that I've so far read. The novel tells the life-story of a young orphaned boy named Walt, who is one day whisked away from his nothing life by a mysterious man known only by the name of Master Yehudi, a mesmerizing Jew with promises of greatness for Walt. For if Walt follows every command from his new master (many of them seemingly pointless, some of them horrifically masochistic), then before his thirteenth birthday he will be able to fly.

Set in the nineteenth century in front of a backdrop of depression, racism and the American dream, Mr. Vertigo has a heart of pure Americana; Walt is an embodiment of the classic, lovable rogue on an adventure he just doesn't understand, like Huck Finn crossed with Holden Caulfield. Narrating the story of his youth as his elder-self, Walt spends many pages talking about his youthful adventures with Master Yehudi, before pushing forward into his future at varying speeds, reminiscent of Dickens on fast-forward. Acolyte of Auster I am, I found the novel compelling, but I'm not sure if other, non-fanboy readers would be so comfortable emotionally investing in these characters when it feels like Auster is liable to do a 180 degree turn at any minute and flip things on its head because he's that kind of writer.

The essence of Walt's journey towards hopeful super-stardom as the boy who could fly has many clear parables to the idea of the American Dream; like Jay Gatsby he comes from nothing aiming for everything, and it seems to me pretty clear that you could put your own spin on the notion of achieving your dreams and all that crap, but Walt's tale is too complex for me to really analyze it in that manner without spoiling everything and writing for a hundred pages myself, and I'm already over the three-paragraph limit I try to keep to on these things. I'll end by simply saying that Mr. Vertigo certainly isn't my favourite Auster book, and it's probably not his best, but it is a masterfully woven tale evocative of the time in which it is set but still retaining the unpredictability and vague sense of surrealism that Auster's has made his own.
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Feb 15, 2010 Larry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paul Auster almost always delivers a provocative mind-bending story. Mr. Vertigo is no exception – the story of a young boy, living on the streets in the 1920s, who is taken in by Master Yehudi, a mysterious older man who promise he will teach the boy to fly.

After a grueling series of physical tests and challenges, some of which almost kill the boy, the promise is realized. Walt the Wonder Boy is born – a 10 year old who can levitate and move through the air performing acrobatic tricks.

Master Y...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Jesse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I've always said about Auster, how I've always defended him and tried to explain to others about his novels did a 180 on me in Mr Vertigo. Maybe. What I try to explain about a typical Auster story is how he takes people and puts them in very awkward situations and has them endure massively ironic and coincidental occurrences but always in a very realistic manner, as if all of it could absolutely happen in the real world. Not in Mr Vertigo. Not when the protagonist is a kid who can fly.

On th...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Yara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was recommended to me by a dear friend of mine a while ago. I’ve often seen other books by the same author on the shelves and they seemed quite popular, so I reckoned he was at least a decent writer. Turns out he is far better than “a decent writer;” one sentence in and I was hooked.

Mr. Vertigo tells the story of Walt Rawley, an orphaned boy living with his neglectful aunt and uncle in Saint Louis, and how his life was changed when a man who calls himself Master Yehudi took him away an...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Once again if it had not been for the 1001 list this is a book that I would never have read and that it would have been a shame. To be brutally frank I had never previously heard of Paul Auster let alone Mr Vertigo.

Initially it took me a little while to get into this book and I also found it a little hard to particularily like any of the main characters but as I got further into the book the more it and they grabbed me, so much so that I found it a little hard to put down at the end. The fact th...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Shawn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Every time I search for a word to describe this book I think "charming". But then I wonder how I could use "charming" to describe a story in which a cocky gutter-rat of a kid is thoroughly beaten down, rises up to shine momentarily, has everything good taken away, turns into a scum bag, and then becomes an ordinary old man and dies.

The raw, in your face dialog and the fast pace are what drew me in. I also appreciate any glimpse into other cultures that I can get. I love historical fiction, and t...more

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May 23, 2013 Maciek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013, reviewed

'I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water. The man in the black clothes taught me how to do it, and I'm not going to pretend I learned that trick overnight.

Mr. Vertigo is the story of Walter Rawley, who recounts how at the age of nine he made a pact with the man who promised to teach him how to fly. Master Yehudi spotted young Walt on the streets of Saint Louis, sweeping the foul-mouthed and lonely kid off the ground with his promise. Yehudi swears that if he fails to teach Walt h...more 'I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water. The man in the black clothes taught me how to do it, and I'm not going to pretend I learned that trick overnight.

Mr. Vertigo is the story of Walter Rawley, who recounts how at the age of nine he made a pact with the man who promised to teach him how to fly. Master Yehudi spotted young Walt on the streets of Saint Louis, sweeping the foul-mouthed and lonely kid off the ground with his promise. Yehudi swears that if he fails to teach Walt how to fly by his thirteenth birthday he can hop off his head with an axe. After weighing his options young Walt decides to take the risk and go away with Yehudi, rather than live a gloomy life of an orphan on the streets Saint Louis. The year was 1927, just two years short of the stock market crash which started the Depression - the year of Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh, the precise year when night started to fall on the world forever.

Walt is taken by Master Yehudi to a farm in a remote region of rural Kansas, the big sky country - far away from everywhere, but not lonely. Yehudi introduces him to Aesop, a young black cripple of extraordinary intelligence for whom he predicts great things, and Mother Sioux - his housekeeper and a grandniece of Chief Sitting Bull. Being the kid that he is Walk soon tries to run away from his education, but no matter where he goes he always finds Master Yehudi waiting for him with a smile. Realizing that he cannot escape, Walt surrenders and gives himself in to Master Yehudi's Flight course in 33 stages. Yehudi believes that people are not able to lift themselves off the ground because they were taught that such things are impossible, and that only those tainted with little education can overcome their personal disbelief. Yehudi's lessons are hard physical and psychological trials, which include having Walt chop off a part his little finger to show his devotion, and have him to survive the horror of being buried alive to crush his spirit and hope. Only then, Master Yehudi believes, will Walt be able to let go of what he was, defy gravity and lift himself off the ground. Walt manages this in unexpected circumstances, and his new life takes off - he becomes Walt the WonderBoy, and walks on water for the first time in the same year that Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic.

Mr. Vertigo can be divided into two halves. The first part, where Walt meets Master Yehudi and lives with him and his companions in his Kansas estate is engrossing and full of mystery and a sense of wonder. Rural Kansas is far away from Disney's Neverland, and mastering the art of flight is a process full of hardships for young and unruly child that Walt is at the beginning of the novel. Walt is a strong willed, know-all street smart kid, not unlike Mark Twain's Huck Finn, irritated and fascinated by the inscrutable Master Yehudi whom he can't figure out. Walt's determination turns into a strange loyalty to Master Yehudi, and eventually becomes genuine devotion and admiration.

The second part which takes takes Walt across the country in with his flying theatrics remains captivating, but loses the joy of discovery that the first one had. Despite being fantastical it has an air of more seriousness, which is obviously understandable as Walt matures and learns more about people around him. As Walt soars higher into the air, characters which previously seemed to be larger than life are stripped from the cloak of mystery surrounding them and revealed as frail and fractured. Although this reversal serves its purpose, the sense of mystery which made the first part so readable is largely diminished. Walt's life remains adventurous, full of rumble and tumble of the 20th century and an evolving nation with its famous people and places, but there's a sense of loss penetrating the pages - it's unavoidable as characters and people mature and sometimes make bad decisions which have their consequences and can flip their lives on its head. Mr. Vertigo is as much about being able to move on after suffering a loss of something important as it is from being able to embrace it in the first place.

For such a short novel (it's under 300 pages), Mr. Vertigo is reasonably succesful, given the fact that it's Paul Auster's clearest attempt at writing a picaresque novel, with a likable rogue protagonist and a cast of memorable supporting character together with seamless employment of different themes which aim to mirror the development of a whole nation - and a great opening line to boot. Not much to dislike here, but possibly much pleasure to be found within its pages.

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Jun 26, 2011 Agnes Mack rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When people find out that I have a ridiculous hard-on for Roth, Updike and Bellow, inevitably they recommend one of two authors – Jonathan Lethem or Paul Auster.

I finally got around to giving Auster a shot and I have to say that Mr. Vertigo didn't do it for me. I can certainly recognize why people would enjoy this book – the plot is interesting and there are many twists and turns that kept me interested. However, the book was very plot heavy and way too light on character development for my tas...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Linde rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: university

Only two stars. It starts out OK and the trials Walt has to endure are convincing enough but after the first success of his flying act the novel becomes rather repetitive. Taking the old having to be up very high in order to fall hard. Or something. It didn't work for me much at all, too much of the same. Granted, the careers chosen were all different but they all went along the same trajectory. I was put off even more by the novel after the death of Master Yehudi who, for me, made the book more...more

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May 20, 2012 Agnes Fontana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

J'avais une petite prévention à lire Paul Auster, me disant que c'était sans doute un "grand auteur" qu'il était convenu d'apprécier pour faire "je connais la littérature américaine"... quelle erreur !! M.Vertigo est un livre d'une originalité folle, dont l'acriture ne ressemble à aucune autre. Un petit orphelin déjà semi délinquant est recueilli par Maître Yehudi, un Juif à la fois surnaturel et pathétique qui a décelé ses dons et va lui apprendre à voler, non sans le faire passer par toutes so...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books

I was pushing eighteen by the time I caught up with him. I'd grown to my full height of five feet five and a half inches, and Roosevelt's inauguration was just two months away. Bootleggers were still in business, but with Prohibition about to give up the ghost, they were selling off their last bits of stock and exploring new lines of crooked investment. That's how I found my uncle. Once I realized that Hoover was going to be thrown out, I started knocking on the door of every rum-runner I could...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Oceana2602 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1996, male-writers

I first read this book probably in 1996. It's an estimate, but it must have been around the time it was first published.

Then I forgot all about it.

No, wait, I didn't! The premise, human levitation, was so bizarre to me, and the execution so skifully done, that there were bits and pieces that I didn't forget through all those years.

Which is why 15 years later, when I was unsuspectingly reading a book about the history of Lhasa (by Peter Hopkirk, another recommendation), and the flying monks of Ti...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Ramona Depares rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The opening sentence of a novel can make or break it. So far, my top intros were "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again." ( Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca) and "It was a bright, cold day in April and the clock was striking thirteen." (George Orwell's 1984). A new intro has now been added to the list.
"I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water."
Pretty hard to beat as first sentences go and, though this kind of novel is definitely not my go-to genre, it hooked me enough to follo...more The opening sentence of a novel can make or break it. So far, my top intros were "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again." ( Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca) and "It was a bright, cold day in April and the clock was striking thirteen." (George Orwell's 1984). A new intro has now been added to the list.
"I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water."
Pretty hard to beat as first sentences go and, though this kind of novel is definitely not my go-to genre, it hooked me enough to follow through with the book. I didn't regret it. The intro segues into a rollicking tale that combines the gritty lifestyle of an America dominated by the KKK, by the Prohibition and the post-Prohibition era and by the emergence of the Chicago mob with... Magic.
A very unlikely combination, but Auster pulls it off. The tale revolves about the pre-pubescent Walt, who is recruited by the mysterious Master Yehuda and enrolled in a lifetime learning programme. The aim? To teach Walt to fly and to become millionaires in the process. The whole unlikely premise works mostly thanks to Auster's stark style. It is magic all right, for how else can you describe a gravity-defying teen? But it is not magic as we know it. It is magic that is shorn of its mystique and that is more akin to a scientific endeavor fueled by rigorous training than to the arcane.
Auster's book devolves into a tale that successfully makes us participants in the lives of a whole host of characters. They are not necessarily loveable, but Auster is a master at the depiction of human emotions and personalities and the varying shades of grey they come in. The tale is often a sad one: there is unspeakable cruelty, shock events, extreme poverty and unhappiness. But Auster colours this up with the little moments of joy and laughter, weaving a tale that can't help evoking a knee-jerk reaction as we follow Walt through his journey into adulthood, his rise to stardom and the eventual waning of his star into a mundane, but oddly satisfactory life.
Auster's capacity to create such an implausible, fantastical tale while keeping a firm hold on the realism angle is pretty amazing. Despite the impossible premise the novel is based on, he manages to make us suspend our disbelief. On occasion, he brings us crashing down to earth with his sheer cruelty, such as when he does a George R.R. Martin on two of the characters.
Auster's writing is immensely quotable and this adds to the appeal of the story. There are gems like "Once you've spent some time in the bowels of netherness, as I did that day, the world can never look the same again." Sentences like this stay with you and this is, ultimately, what makes Mr Vertigo an ever-green classic.(less)

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Aug 01, 2012 Stephen Barker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-ya-fiction

I feel compelled to write something to explain the fairly modest rating I've given for a novel that has received soaring reviews. I picked up 'Mr. Vertigo'as a potential for review on my website, but a children's book it is not. Though the main protagonist Walt is living through the last of his childhood and grows into his teens during the body of the story, Auster doesn't spare much when it comes to sex, violence and language. There would be some 'mature' kids who wouldn't bat an eyelid I guess...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Zac added it

i was surprised at how well the different themes in this book were told rather seamlessly. together, you experience fear, hope, loss, and excitement as the main character, walt, progresses through the joys and tribulations of growing up. there is a slight science fiction aspect to the book that doesn't take away from the other more-grounded topics discussed later on in the book. this book follows walt through his life very similarly to how "the legends of the fall" followed the brothers througho...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Edward Lui rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 11th-grade-adivisory

This book is exemplary to the phrase of how one can go from "rags to riches." Being born in the lower class in a town of poverty in St. Louis, Walt is taken and adopted by a man called Master Yehudi. With his mysterious and god-like features, Master Yehudi is able to help Walt obtain the ability of flight, through a couple of years of training and outrageous obstacle courses. However, this all pays off for them as Walt becomes a national celebrity and when money starts to collect in front of the...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Thais rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Walt il Bambino Prodigio e il Maestro Yehudi sono due personaggi indimenticabili. Il Maestro prende sotto la sua ala questo ragazzino orfano e impertinente e dopo durissime prove gli insegna a volare. Walt diventa così una celebrità, e quando, dopo mille avventure, si vede costretto a rinunciare al suo dono, deve imparare a cavarsela da uomo normale, con i piedi per terra.
Un romanzo di formazione strano e ben scritto, anche se non è ai livelli di Follie di Brooklyn. Si soffre e si gioisce con Wa...more

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Feb 05, 2010 Encryptic rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tbb-2010

First time reading anything by Auster - wanted to start with his New York trilogy, but the library didn't have it. I enjoyed it, but it definitely seemed lacking a bit of something. Walt is an interesting character and Auster can turn a phrase with the best of them, but I feel like the message he was trying to get at got a bit lost behind all the "telling" how Walt spent big chunks of his life. Maybe if the book had been longer and/or not quite so rushed-feeling, it would sit better with me.

Stil...more

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May 04, 2013 Linda Hali rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yowza- another intense novel delivers from Paul Auster. A friend brought me this , knowing I am a huge fan and have several of his novels in my personal top 10. This is pretty quirky- fable- not quite real to begin. I have a strange sense of Mark Twain pushing the boundaries of racism-politics thru language, and a more intellectual twist in the telling. Auster layers and is often somewhat dark, but he is also, as my friend who gave me the book said of Oracle Night - like creme brulee and scotch...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Alexandria Cintron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This happens to be the best book i have read this entire year, i really enjoyed this book and the characters, Walt who is just so blunt, brave, and inspiring and Master Yehudi who is completely genius. Some parts i have to admit did make me tear up it was such a good book. How you get to see each character grow as they lose people in their lives and also by the success they gain. Walt learns to levitate and fly into the sky which most people cant even dream of with the help of Master Yehudi, Aes...more

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May 25, 2012 Tony Zheng rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 11th-grade-advisory

This book is about a boy called Walt who meets Master Yehudi. He takes him to his home and says that he can teach Walt how to fly, who thinks that he's crazy. Walt tries to escape many times but always finds Master Yehudi. So he just gave up leaving and actually listened to the master. His training consisted of sitting in fire, cutting off his pinky tip, stung by bees, but with surprise, he actually began levitating. Master Yehudi plans a whole tour for him to debut as "Walt the Wonderboy" He ga...more

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Oct 17, 2009 Glenn Hinkley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: independent-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Mr. Vertigo, ironically, is about a boy named Walter who learns to fly. He starts off the book born in St. Louis, and living in Chicago, about ten to fifteen years before the great depression. Walt lives with an abusive uncle and his "yes-sir" wife, until Master Yehudi comes into Walt's life and shows him that his "family" doesn't really care, and promises Walt to make him fly before his 13th birthday. From there, the master takes Walt halfway across the continent to an out of the way farm in an...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Carlos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: papel

Ésta es la historia de Walt, el niño al que el Maestro Yehudi enseñó a levitar y a volar. La historia de un adolescente que se convierte en adulto y pierde la magia. La historia de un hombre que trata desesperadamente de reencontrar el sentido de su existencia. La historia de un país, Estados Unidos, desde los «felices años veinte» hasta la dura posguerra. Una vez más, Paul Auster, dueño de una prosa admirable y de una poderosa imaginación, logra atrapar y fascinar al lector con una novela que t

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About Paul Auster

Paul Auster is the bestselling author of Sunset Park, Invisible, Man in the Dark, The Book of Illusions, The Brooklyn Follies, and The New York Triology, among many other works. His books have been translated into forty-three languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/paulau...

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Quotes from Mr Vertigo

“Deep down, I don’t believe it takes any special talent for a person to lift himself off the ground and hover in the air. We all have it in us—every man, woman, and child—and with enough hard work and concentration, every human being is capable of…the feat….You must learn to stop being yourself. That’s where it begins, and everything else follows from that. You must let yourself evaporate. Let your muscles go limp, breathe until you feel your soul pouring out of you, and then shut your eyes. That’s how it’s done. The emptiness inside your body grows lighter than the air around you. Little by little, you begin to weigh less than nothing. You shut your eyes; you spread your arms; you let yourself evaporate. And then, little by little, you lift yourself off the ground.
Like so.” — 64 people liked it

“If your only motive is to be loved, to ingratiate yourself with the crowd, you're bound to fall into bad habits, and eventually the public will grow tired of you. You have to keep testing yourself, pushing yourself as hard as you can. You do it for yourself, but in the end it's this struggle to do better that endears you to your fans.” — 3 people liked it

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