MOON PALACE –PAUL AUSTER
This is the story of Marco Stanley Fogg, an orphan searching for love, his father and the key
to the riddle of his origin and fate.
Marco's mother was killed in a car accident when he was eleven years old, and he never knew
who was his father. Since then he had lived with his Uncle Victor in a small apartment on 112th
Street in N.Y. His Uncle was a part of a band who was named Wally Moon and preformed at
the Moon Palace diner.
When Stanley grew up he went to the University; Uncle Victor gave him for this occasion a
present, one thousand books. Afterwards, his Uncle had suddenly died. Then Stanley's
situation became worse; He saw his money dwindle to zero, he lost the apartment and wound
up living in the streets (He slept for three weeks in Central Park without food and with little
money). His friends David Zimmer and Kitty Wu had found him and took care of him til he
recover from his illness.
Staley lived in Zimmer's house until he had moved away to another apartment, then Stanley
searched for a new place to live and found a job as a live-in companion for an elderly
gentleman in a wheelchair. He lived with him for about half year until the gentleman died. His
name was Effing Thomas but his real name was Julian Barber. In the past he was a famous
painter but he stopped painting after the death of his brother and he changed his name after
being considered dead by mistake. Stanley and Effing were very bonded since Effing was like
the father Stanley never had.
Writing an advertisement for the newspaper trying to sell the book
First, I chose to advertise the book because advertisement sells. People will not go to
the bookstores and buy the book, unless they see this ad in their daily newspaper. It will
remind them that the book is available in stores and maybe they will even buy it.
Secondly, I chose to advertise the book like that, by giving quotations of known book
reviewers to affect the opinion of the readers to buy the book.
Last but not least, I mentioned that the price of the book would be low for this week,
to attract more buyers.
Dear Diary
June, 1967
Today I was again in Broadway Street where was Chandler's Bookstore. I had sold him
another box of Uncle Victor's book. Sure, I had already read them. I know that they
were the only memory, which was left from my uncle, buy I need the money to pay the
rent and to buy some food and eat.
August, 1968
Today I woke up early in the morning and got out to the street. As I was walking I saw
that the drugstore had been opened already, I entered and I dropped a penny into the
drugstore Exacto scale to see what was happening to me. From 154 in June, I fell to
139 in July and then to 123 in august. For someone who measured slightly over six feet,
this began to be dangerously little.
August, 1969
Today Fernandez, the owner of the building, threw me out my apartment. I took my knapsack
with a few odds and ends, tucked the clarinet case, that Uncle Victor had left to me, and
walked out the door… I don't know what I'll do, or where do I'll go…
October, 1970
Now I have just finished to type down the life story of Effing on the typewriter that he
had gave me.
I have copied it from the notes I had taken in those nights when we sat down after
supper. Me on the sofa and him in his wheelchair. He had told everything; Why had he
changed his name and why did he choose this name (Effing), why did he stop painting,
what happened to his wife and to his son. And eventually he told me that when he will die
he wants his body to be cremated.
December, 1998
YONI ESHEL