Talk:The Book of Illusions

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The film The Artist(2011) has a very similar plot line.

Auster had friends connected with Charles Ludlum and his "Ridiculous Theater". Ludlam was interested in silent film, and in developing silent plays; he even produced short silent films, including The Museum of Wax", he also played silent star Norma Desmond (in drag) in his play "The Big Hotel Bluebeard". Characters in "The Book of Illusions" mirror those around both Auster and the "Ridiculous" during that period (15-20 years prior to the publication of this book). The moralities of the late silent era and of the early AIDS period of New York theater are shown to parallel each other. The "illusions" of the title are those of both art and "progress"- the goals of art and artists only seem to be evolving towards some kind of clarification, while personal ambitions and expectations mask the real effects of time on individuals, and social morés prevent real emotions from coming to expression without distortion. The hunt for the lost grail- a master's perfectly realized last works of art- reveals only the machinery of illusion.Klasovsky (talk) 15:50, 12 June 2013 (UTC)