Moonglow: A Novel

Moonglow, by Michael Chabon, tells a fictionalized history of his immediate family centered on being with his grandfather during the last two weeks before he succumbed to a painful cancer. His grandfather was a man not given to personal revelation, but under the influence of powerful painkillers and his imminent demise, he reveals the story of his life with Michael’s grandmother and mother. None of these key figures in Michael’s life are ever named, nor is his father. The reminiscences are possibly incorrect or self-serving as is Michael’s reportage. “Whatever liberties have been taken … they have been taken with due abandon.”

This novel takes the form of a non-linear narrative delving into the history reported by the grandfather on his deathbed. The grandfather was an engineer and has a history wound up in dreams of space travel from starting some time before WW II to the the landing on the moon and beyond. During WW II he was seeking to capture as much as possible of the Nazi missile program directed by Werner Von Braun. The grandfather helped liberate the V-2 complex and attendant concentration camps. He was an engineer enthralled by the possibility of space flight, sharing this dream with Von Braun and others, but his experience in the war showed him that Von Braun was not an innocent scientist and that the U.S. government was amoral in whitewashing Von Braun’s name.

The emotionally broken grandmother is a French jew who comes to the U.S. with a young daughter, Michael’s mother. Grandfather and grandmother meet at an affair at a local synagogue where the local yentas are trying to connect grandmother to the new rabbi, She is tormented by insane visions and is deeply loved by the grandfather. One day she breaks from reality once again, tormented by the image of a flayed horse. The grandfather is subsequently fired from his job and takes out his rage by choking his boss with the cord from a telephone. He is sentenced to 20 months in jail. While in jail he builds model rockets for the warden’s son. The launch of one of these rockets is witnessed by the Michael’s great-uncle who sees a market for these devices. Upon the grandfather’s release he becomes a partner in the company making the rockets for sale.

There is much sadness in this story as well as many secrets and lies. The grandfather is a brilliant and very private man with deep passions and a fascinating history. We never know the grandmother’s real or complete history. The mother is also complex and difficult. The father is more or less absent.

The narrative held my interest as it kept bouncing around in time, revealing a complex and beautiful story. The writing is spellbinding. It has both the ring of truth and the consistent flow of fine literature.

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