Moonglow (novel)
{{Short description|Book by Michael Chabon}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Moonglow
| image = Moonglow cover.jpg
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| author = Michael Chabon
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| country = United States
| language = English
| subject = Memoir
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| publisher = Harper
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| pub_date = November 22, 2016
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| media_type = Hardback
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| isbn = 978-0-06-222555-9
| isbn_note = (Hardcover)
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Moonglow is a 2016 novel by Michael Chabon. The book chronicles the life of Chabon's grandfather, a WW2 soldier, engineer and rocket enthusiast who marries a troubled Jewish survivor from France and lives a challenging, wandering life in postwar America. Chabon tells the story using a mixture of strict memoir and creative fiction writing.{{cite news|last1=Scott|first1=A.O.|title=Michael Chabon Returns With a Searching Family Saga|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/books/review/michael-chabon-moonglow.html|access-date=December 1, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=November 18, 2016}} The narrator functions as a proxy for the author, Chabon.{{cite news|title=Michael Chabon's 'Moonglow' is a cunning dance with autobiography|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/michael-chabon-blends-fact-fiction-create-truth}}
Plot summary
The novel is about the story of the author's (Chabon) grandfather. Throughout the book, the grandfather's name is not referred to.
The story is sort of a memoir, jumping around in time. It starts with the narrator stating how his grandfather was arrested.
Reception
Sam Sacks writing for The Wall Street Journal appreciated the non-fiction elements of the novel in contrast to Chabon's other works. Sacks said, "Moonglow is a movingly bittersweet novel that balances wonder with lamentation."{{cite news|last1=Sacks|first1=Sam|title=Michael Chabon's Age of Heroes|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-chabons-age-of-heroes-1480104241|access-date=December 1, 2016|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=November 25, 2016}} For The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani found that, "Mr. Chabon weaves these knotted-together tales together into a tapestry that’s as complicated, beautiful and flawed as an antique carpet. […] Although 'Moonglow' grows overly discursive at times, it is never less than compelling when it sticks to the tale of Mike's grandparents — these damaged survivors of World War II who bequeath to their family a legacy of endurance, and an understanding of the magic powers of storytelling to provide both solace and transcendence".{{cite news |last= Kakutani |first= Michiko | author-link= Michiko Kakutani |title= In Michael Chabon's 'Moonglow,' Deathbed Stories Illuminate an Era|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/books/michael-chabon-moonglow-review.html | date= 14 November 2016|newspaper= The New York Times |location= New York City| access-date= 14 January 2017 }} In the Sunday New York Times Book Review, critic A.O. Scott wrote, "Whatever else it is — a novel, a memoir, a pack of lies, a mishmash — this book is beautiful."{{cite news |last= Scott |first= A.O. | author-link= A.O. Scott |title= Michael Chabon Returns With a Searching Family Saga|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/books/review/michael-chabon-moonglow.html | date= 20 November 2016|newspaper= The New York Times |location= New York City| access-date= 15 May 2025 }}
The book was discussed in January 2017 on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review.{{cite episode| title= La La Land, Manchester By The Sea, Michael Chabon, Wish List at The Royal Court, Charles Avery| series= Saturday Review| series-link= Saturday Review (radio) | credits= Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe; Interviewed guests: Kate Williams, Maria Delgado, David Benedict; Producer: Oliver Jones | network= BBC| station= BBC Radio 4| url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b087pfg5| airdate= 14 January 2017| minutes= 09:27| access-date= 14 January 2017 }}
Moonglow was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction.{{cite news |last1=Alter |first1=Alexandra |title=Zadie Smith and Michael Chabon Among National Book Critics Circle Finalists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/arts/zadie-smith-and-michael-chabon-among-national-book-critics-circle-finalists.html?_r=0 |work=New York Times |date=17 January 2017 |access-date=18 October 2019}}