A review by alleseter
Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster

3.0

'Mr. Vertigo' comprises the memoires by Walter Rawley, alias 'Walt the Wonderboy', especially of his youthful years between 1924 and 1936. Despite being about a boy who has the capability of lifting himself into the air, the novel is a pretty straightforward story from rags to riches and back. The real treat lies in Walter Rawley's way of telling. Auster has made him a completely convincing product of the roaring twenties. Rawley's tale is full of peppy expressions and colorful slang from the 1920s and 1930s, instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with comics, movies and music from the era. In this way Auster manages to take the reader back to late 1920s and the depression days. Unfortunately, the story deflates during the last fifth of the novel, with Austers overlong and completely superfluous biography of baseball player Dizzy Dean as the novel's low point. In the end, 'Mr. Vertigo' turns out to be the tale of someone who has peaked too early in his life. If it ends rather disappointingly, what lingers after reading is the novel's great tone of voice, which made the first four-fifths a fantastic read.