''Man in the Dark'' is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

published in August

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Its topic is a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n scenario of the present-day United States being torn apart by a new secession and civil war after the presidential elections of 2000. (The fictional division between the secessionist and loyal states is very similar to the " Jesusland" map.) This is told within a frame narrative of an aging journalist reflecting on his family and the death of his wife.

Editions

*''Man in the Dark'', Henry Holt and Co. 2008.

Reviews

*''California Literary Review'', by Garan Holcomb

*''San Francisco Chronicle'', by Stephen Elliot

*''The Telegraph'', by Ruth Scur

*''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'', by Michael Dird

*The Washington Post, by Jeff Turrentin

(Washington Post Best Books of the Year)

External links

Audio interview with Auster about Man in the Dark
by George Miller on Faber and Faber, Faber website 2008 American novels Novels by Paul Auster Dystopian novels Novels about journalists Metafictional novels Henry Holt and Company books {{2000s-sf-novel-stub