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The Age of Dreaming

by Nina Revoyr

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1098251,624 (3.79)3
"The Age of Dreaming is a masterpiece of the sort that doesn't just seduce the reader--it leaves you transformed. Nina Revoyr deserves to be counted among the top ranks of novelists at work today."--Jerry Stahl, author ofI, Fatty "This is a riveting, wise, and gorgeous novel."--Mary Yukari Waters "Brilliant and original. . . . The carefully restrained voice of its narrator recalls Ishiguro'sThe Remains of the Day."--Alison Lurie, Pulitzer Prize winner Jun Nakayama was a silent film star in the early days of Hollywood, but by 1964, he is living in complete obscurity--until a young writer, Nick Bellinger, reveals that he has written a screenplay with Nakayama in mind. Jun is intrigued by the possibility of returning to movies, but he begins to worry that someone might delve too deeply into the past and uncover the events that led to the abrupt end of his career in 1922. These events include the changing racial tides in California and the unsolved murder of his favorite director, Ashley Bennett Tyler. The Age of Dreaming is part historical novel, part mystery, and part unrequited love story. Nina Revoyr was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a Polish-American father, and grew up in Japan, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles. She is the author of two previous novels,The Necessary Hunger andSouthland, which was a Book Sense 76 pick, winner of the Ferro-Grumley and Lambda Literary awards, a finalist for an Edgar Award, and one of theLos Angeles Times' "Best Books of 2003." She lives and works in Los Angeles.… (more)
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Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
This book was so different from anything I've read, I don't think I could possibly have predicted anything that happened. Jun is a fascinating character: definitely a product of the 1910s with his formal, proper use of language; increasingly unreliable as you realize how self-absorbed he is/was, and how fully he blinded himself to what was incredibly obvious; but also admirable in a way, as we finally see him start admitting the truth to himself. I couldn't have imagined it ending so nicely, but I actually really enjoyed the way Revoyr wrapped things up. This book was also strange in that it's technically a mystery, but if you don't know that beforehand, you can be fully halfway through before you start to realize. I liked the format better than when the protagonist is a detective solving a crime from the outside; in this case, you don't even know that there IS a crime for a long time, and or what the protagonist's involvement with it is. It's a bit slow in places, mostly in the present when Jun is setting the stage for a flashback into the past. I read this for the FABC challenge because it was printed by an independent publisher, and I was impressed.
  mirikayla | Feb 8, 2016 |
I was disappointed in this book. I found the information on silent movies very interesting but I kept wanting the story to just move along. I did not like Nakayama and just couldn't make myself care about him. The character I did like and could connect with was Hanako but she appeared only sporadically. For me there was not much character development and I didn't care about the "mystery". Nina Revoyr writes controlled and unspectacularly. She touches on the prejudice in California toward Japanese and I think she could have done more with that. This book was rated highly by Amazon and Barnes & Noble but I could not find the excitement for this book. ( )
  bacreads | Jan 20, 2012 |
I really love this author. This book is different from the Necessary Hunger in every way, but still very compelling. Nina Revoyr is a Japanese-American woman who lives in Los Angeles, and this book explores the history of a Japanese-American silent film star. His rise to fame in a time when Japanese-Americans were reviled and discriminated against, and the personal struggles in his life that resulted in his choice to give up the acting work that he loved. There is a mystery involved, and yet this is not genre fiction. The story is told in the first person and slowly develops...the reader gradually comes to know more and more about the character of this man and the times and place he lived in. It is a unique and interesting read. ( )
  sumariotter | Nov 2, 2011 |
It's 1964 and former Japanese silent film star Jun Nakayama is looking back on his career in Hollywood. Why did it end so abruptly in 1922? Does he miss the glamour and limelight? What happened to the loves of his life? Nina Revoyr tells a fascinating story bringing Nakayama to life with grace and skill. Might be a good choice for reading groups. ( )
  ken1952 | Mar 5, 2011 |
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"The Age of Dreaming is a masterpiece of the sort that doesn't just seduce the reader--it leaves you transformed. Nina Revoyr deserves to be counted among the top ranks of novelists at work today."--Jerry Stahl, author ofI, Fatty "This is a riveting, wise, and gorgeous novel."--Mary Yukari Waters "Brilliant and original. . . . The carefully restrained voice of its narrator recalls Ishiguro'sThe Remains of the Day."--Alison Lurie, Pulitzer Prize winner Jun Nakayama was a silent film star in the early days of Hollywood, but by 1964, he is living in complete obscurity--until a young writer, Nick Bellinger, reveals that he has written a screenplay with Nakayama in mind. Jun is intrigued by the possibility of returning to movies, but he begins to worry that someone might delve too deeply into the past and uncover the events that led to the abrupt end of his career in 1922. These events include the changing racial tides in California and the unsolved murder of his favorite director, Ashley Bennett Tyler. The Age of Dreaming is part historical novel, part mystery, and part unrequited love story. Nina Revoyr was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a Polish-American father, and grew up in Japan, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles. She is the author of two previous novels,The Necessary Hunger andSouthland, which was a Book Sense 76 pick, winner of the Ferro-Grumley and Lambda Literary awards, a finalist for an Edgar Award, and one of theLos Angeles Times' "Best Books of 2003." She lives and works in Los Angeles.

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