This is a story about what makes us ourselves. Some claim we are a collection of habits. Other a collection of memories. I think it is closer to the second one than the first. If I could forget my past, would I be a different person? Considering the state of my long-term memory, I am about as close as it could get without actual amnesia.

The marriage dissolves and just when Samson is waiting for something to do, a doctor gets in touch with him and asks if he wants to participate in a memory experiment. He flies Samson out to his desert complex and talks a good talk and Samson agrees. He is to be an input. Someone else is an output. Essentially, the doctor is working on a method of memory transfer. The memory he implants into Samson is the memory of a nuclear bomb test. It horrifies Samson and he runs. He tries to remember where he was heading when he originally snapped and was found in the desert.

Home. The home of his youth. He wants to find his mother’s grave. But who would know? Only a great uncle who doesn’t remember much himself. Samson finds the uncle and the uncle has just enough sense to be able to tell him that his mother isn’t buried in the family plot. Miraculously he remembers that he buried her in the yard under her favorite tree.

The whole book is kind of strange and disjointed. I suppose it was either from bad editing or to help us understand what it is like to be Samson.

I wish Nicole Krauss had written this book AFTER History of Love. A more mature author would have fulfilled the potential of this story and removed the sci-fi element that is reducing the believability of story and characters. It is nevertheless a readable book; Krauss is one of the more exciting young writers from the U.S., and it is well-crafted with some memorable scenes and quotes. ( )

The History of Love by this author, Nicole Krauss, is one of my favorite books. Man Walks Into a Room was her first book. I didn't expect to like it as much as the History of Love, and I didn't, but it was good. Her way of writing makes it hard to stop reading, she has a way of saying things that make you stop and think. I defanitley turned back to read paragraphs and phrases in this book as I did in the other, though not as often. I would recommend this book if for no other reason than just to experience the story itself. I don't want to give anything away, I think its one of those that if you dont know what it is it makes it even better, but the story is original and intriguing. ( )

A boring examination of loneliness. With an interesting premise one might assume that an interesting story would follow. This assumption was wrong and left me feeling cold. No part of this story made we want to continue reading to the end. Sure, some parts of it were sweet and moving, but did little to advance the plot or develop its characters. Oftentimes I found the supporting characters more interesting than Samson, and wished for their return after only a couple of pages. Do not get me wrong, Nicole Krauss writes beautifully and some might enjoy this story tremendously. For me it was probably just a case of the wrong book at the wrong time, or unfulfilled expectations of what may have been. ( )

I really liked this book ... until I got to the end. I don't mean I disliked it, but I realized that as I was reading it, I was really enjoying it, but that was sort of anticipatory of what I thought might happen near the end. Perhaps it was the misleading back cover (which I hardly ever even read!), or perhaps it was just my naive desire for a happy ending, but I really thought it would end differently.

It was fascinating, and really well written. I'm always surprised when a woman writes from a man's point of view, or a man writes from a woman's point of view, and it's believable. But it was, and was very well done. It was also interesting to read Samson's perceptions and observations about Anna, as she grieved for her husband and their relationship.

Sometimes when you're watching a movie, you notice something that is missing, rather than something that happens. It's when I assume that the scene that would have explained what I'm confused about must be "on the cutting room floor". The same thing happened at one point in the book. Samson is having a conversation with Lana over lunch, and he says, "I'd follow you in a paddle boat and shout encouragement." Her response: "Thanks. And if you ever decide to walk across the country again, I'll follow you in a car." This never comes up again, but I felt like it told us how he ended up where we first met him. Why isn't this discussed? Why doesn't the author follow up on this? Why doesn't Samson ask Lana more about this? Or tell Anna about it? I think the answers must have been edited out. This is the kind of thing I would ask the author about if I were a reporter.

There was also a use of "disorientated" that I thought should have been "disoriented": Soon the long corridor gave way to other long, equally sterile stretches of corridor and Samson became disorientated. The sour chemical smell in the air, so archly inhuman, and the vile light that cast everything in a flat and sickly hue were enough to lend the place a tense, unnerving quality... Maybe it's small of me to pick at that one word when the rest of the writing is so good (as illustrated by the words around it), but that bothered me!

I did like this -- don't get me wrong. But I wanted more hope at the end than I got. It won't usurp History of Love as my favorite of her books, but I'm glad I've read her first novel.