Gentlemen of Space

This debut by Ira Sher was like nothing I've read before. It took me several pages to get into the groove of the author's writing style - he demands a close reading, choosing to pack in a sentence, say, what other writers take a paragraph or two to convey. But, the prose is gorgeous, the imagery beautiful and haunting. The book is about a boy's father who is chosen to be the first "non-astronaut" to walk on the moon. When his father goes "missing," the reaction is not exactly what you'd envision. The novel captures the lost innocence of a previous era, where America held wide-eyed wonder at man's accomplishments, yet it also foretells the squander of the crass and shallow emotionalism and misguided intentions of today's frenzied media exploitations. The novel is not for everyone: I would definitely classify it as "post-modern", for the ending is anything but tidy, but that is, perhaps, exactly what the author intended.

It's a taunting mystery. It's an ode to disillusionment. It's a heart-breaking story of a father lost and a son discovered. It's a thinking man's history of a country stretched to its limits with the exploration of space and the exploitation of the soul. It's an intense, poetic deconstruction of the spirituality of humankind. Is it challenging? Yes. Is it worth the effort? Beyond a doubt.This book will forever change your inner voice, and inspire you to live a smarter, more thoughtful existence.

A beautifully written novel by a talented new writer. I highly recommend it....especially for those who like a little mysticismmixed into their storytelling.

What a great surprise it was to pick up Ira Sher's book - after reading a great review in Time Out - to find a novelist with such wisdom and compassion and instinct for storytelling. The way he recreates the mood and mindset of a surburban family in the 70s is so impressive. There is a great narrative kick toward the end of the book that calls everything you've read into question and - though it will surely confuse some - if read carefully it illuminates great meaning as well as a the mind of a great novelist. Can't wait to read what he does next.

This is a phenomenal novel: big-themed, gorgeously written and strangely suspenseful right up until the last word. Sher's ability to capture the longing and hope of a son toward his absent father - amidst the spectacle of a failed space mission and resulting media frenzy - is stunning. From this foundation Sher builds a grand story that explores the broader human need to believe in and connect to entities greater than themselves (governments, space programs, politicians, and so on). There are passages so exhilerating, so charged with intelligence and invention that I felt as if I were reading a new Ishiguro novel written under a pseudonym. This is a brilliant debut; one that - like The Intuitionist from Colsen Whitehead - indicates a major mind and voice and very good things to come.