Books don't always have to make perfect sense, you know?
The Book of Air and Shadows, by Michael Gruber
I entered The Book of Air and Shadows with a feeling of doom, because it came to me via the same person who gave me both Michael Crichton’s State of Fear and Next. Needless to say, my hopes were low. Still, a free book is a free book, and The Book of Air and Shadows *does* concern Shakespeare, so I decided to keep an open mind and see what this Michael had to offer.
I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed The Book of Air and Shadows. It’s a little preposterous in places -- and, at times, even downright silly -- but it was nevertheless an enjoyable read. It’s odd that a reader can recognize silliness in a book and yet still find it enjoyable, but that’s what we have here. Allow me to explain.
Usually when reviewing a book, I try to focus on content as opposed to effect -- content is arguably more important, involving as it does such important devices like depth and form and characterization and so on. A book’s effect is much more subjective and less definable, as it varies from reader to reader. What works for one falls flat for another, even as readers of all tastes can recognize the literary merit of a piece. (Case in point: Jane Austen. As far as content goes, she’s brilliant, sure -- but nevertheless she bores me to tears. Sorry, Austen fans. Believe me, I’ve tried to love her. It’s not happening.)
Anyway, this discussion about the difference between content and effect is important because, despite feeling that the content of The Book of Air and Shadows is utterly ludicrous, I absolutely loved every second of it.
The Book of Air and Shadows is billed as a literary thriller, as several characters are involved in a chase for what could be a lost play of Shakespeare’s written in his own hand. Obviously finding such a manuscript would change the literary world forever, so there are lots of car chases, gun fights, mysterious disappearances, and the like as everyone and their mother (literally) tries to be the first to lay hands on the document. Nevermind that the manuscript might not even be real. It could all be an elaborate hoax, and the lines between truth and fiction are further blurred as red herrings are strewn along the storyline and lies pile upon lies.
The story begins as Jake Mishkin, an intellectual property lawyer, hunkers down in a remote cabin, awaiting Russian gangsters to descend upon him.
The gangster in question?
In the meantime, he bears his soul in an effort to come clean not only about his involvement in the Shakespeare affair but also about the sins of his personal life, most of which involve his philandering ways.
Soon, however, the story shifts to one Albert Crosetti, a clerk who works in the basement of a store that sells old and rare books. Crosetti is not enamored of literature, however; he’s simply paying bills until he can make it to film school, as he’s obsessed with movies and the effect they have on our lives. He hopes to make a great movie one day – until a fire in the neighboring building causes him to find an ancient manuscript, a manuscript which alludes to a lost Shakespearean play.
Suddenly Crosetti, together with Carolyn Rolly, his mysterious (and not entirely trustworthy) coworker, finds himself at the center of a literary mystery as he tries to track down the manuscript. Things get dangerous, people start dying, gangsters appear, and the whole situation becomes more than a little improbable. The effect, however, was dazzling, and as preposterous as The Book of Air and Shadows seemed at times, I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN.
The Book of Air and Shadows was the perfect blend of mystery, thrills, and information, as Gruber bestows tidbits of intellectual law and code-making along the way. We are also given further insight into the politics of Shakespeare's age, which adds further learnin' to an otherwise fanciful read.
In a nutshell: Fun, exciting, and fast-paced, The Book of Air and Shadows is dazzling even if it doesn't always make the best of sense.
Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars