THE ACCLAIMED, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE GOOD GERMAN AND LOS ALAMOS RETURNS WITH HIS MOST ABSORBING AND ACCOMPLISHED NOVEL YET -- A MESMERIZING TALE OF HOLLYWOOD, POSTWAR POLITICAL INTRIGUE, AND ONE MAN'S DETERMINATION TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS BROTHER'S DEATH.
Hollywood, 1945. Ben Collier has just arrived from wartorn Europe to find that his brother, Daniel, has died in mysterious circumstances. Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful career in the movies, and a heroic past choose to kill himself?
Determined to uncover the truth, Ben enters the maze of the studio system and the uneasy world beneath the glossy shine of the movie business. For this is the moment when politics and the dream factories are beginning to collide as Communist witch hunts render the biggest stars and star makers vulnerable. Even here, where the devastation of Europe seems no more real than a painted movie set, the war casts long and dangerous shadows. When Ben learns troubling facts about his own family's past, he is caught in the middle of a web of deception that shakes his moral foundation to its core.
Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Stardust flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller evoking both the glory days of the movies and the emergence of a dark strain of American political life. It brilliantly proves why Joseph Kanon has been hailed as the "heir apparent to Graham Greene" (The Boston Globe).
I'm conflicted; on the one hand, Stardust was an enjoyable book but on the other, it wasn't a great book. The main plot is about Ben who becomes an amateur detective to try to prove his brother's death wasn't a suicide. There were a few good subplots (the hunt for Communism in Hollywood and the tricky relationship between Ben and his brother's wife). The problem is that the subplots and main plot were sloppily put together. Also, the numerous main and supporting characters were hard to keep track of. When the mystery is finally solved I had to turn back to remember who exactly the culprit was. In a suspense/mystery novel this is a bit anticlimatic and therefor a letdown. All in all I still I am glad I read the book.
The entire time I was reading this I felt as if I was watching a black and white film noir. Ben Collier arrives in Hollywood to work on a film for the US Army and to try to piece together what happened to his brother Danny, who supposedly jumped off of the balcony at his rented apartment. Everyone thinks it's a suicide except Ben, and he aims to prove it. But the further he gets into his investigations, the more he realizes that maybe he didn't know his brother very well at all. As he delves into his brother's death, he becomes caught up in some pretty nasty business, none the least of which is a zealous congressman who's trying to sort out who's red and who's not, and eventually Ben comes to realize that there are others who wish he'd just let things lie.
Kanon has succeeded in evoking the post World War II Hollywood era very well. The big studios are in their heydays, movie stars are making their way to the top, and underneath the glamor lies the seamy underbelly of Los Angeles. However, I found parts of this book quite tedious with a few scenes that probably could have been omitted to make the story much tighter and to make it flow a lot better. Many of the characters came off as flat with no personality and this also detracted from my enjoyment of this novel.
I would recommend it to people interested in the time period, and to those interested in McCarthy-type politics and how they affected people in Hollywood. Overall -- a good read, but rather long and often confusing.
Joseph Kanan is quickly becoming one of our most reliable historical novelists. As "Los Alamos" and "The Good German" did before, "Stardust" also chronicles an important and controversial era--a time where ordinary men were faced with extreme moral ambiguities about what was best for the future. "Stardust" examines the beginning of the Cold War in a pre-McCarthy era and how mere accusations and inquiries about Communist affiliations start to break down and divide the foundation of the Hollywood studio system.
"Stardust" is set in 1945 when the country and the film industry are still adjusting to the end of World War II. Serviceman Ben Collier journeys to tinsel town to put together a documentary from his concentration camp footage as one of the last official acts of the war movement. But this trip also coincides with a personal tragedy, his brother Daniel (a successful filmmaker) has just died from an apparent suicide. Convinced that Daniel's death is a mystery that needs solving, Ben is soon thrust into an extravagant lifestyle. From an exiled community of German filmmakers to the biggest stars of the day, from studio heads to the powerful elite in the gossip trade, from Congressmen to FBI to assorted henchmen--Collier is quickly immersed into this new world of opportunity and danger. But the key to this mystery is held in Ben's own past, and understanding his own family is essential to unraveling the secrets of the present.
Morphing a detective noir into a meticulously detailed historical fiction, Kanon expertly weaves real people and real situations into his make believe world. "Stardust" is impressive in scope and ambition, but also serves as an effective and fast paced thriller. Anyone interested in the old-time glamour of classic Hollywood should appreciate Kanon's knack for description as he brings the period alive. But the underlying darkness that pervades both the novel and the history it represents won't soon be forgotten either. A definite recommendation.
