A Trip to the Stars: A Novel

By Nicholas Christopher

“A large, lavishly inventive novel . . . an American descendant of The Arabian Nights . . . erudite and artful entertainment.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
At a Manhattan planetarium in 1965, ten-year-old Enzo is whisked away from his young adoptive aunt, Mala. His abductor turns out to be a blood relative: his great-uncle Junius Samax, a wealthy former gambler who lives in a converted Las Vegas hotel surrounded by a priceless art collection and a host of fascinating, idiosyncratic guests. In Samax’s magical world, Enzo receives a unique education and pieces together the mystery of his mother’s life and the complicated history of his adoption. Back in New York, Mala only knows that Enzo has disappeared. After a yearlong search proves fruitless, she enlists in the Navy Nursing Corps and on a hospital ship off Vietnam falls in love with a wounded B-52 navigator, who disappears on his next mission. Devastated again, Mala embarks on a restless, adventurous journey around the world, hoping to overcome the losses that have transformed her life.
 
Fusing imagination, scholarship, and suspense with remarkable narrative skill, Nicholas Christopher builds a story of tremendous scope, an epic tale of love and destiny, as he traces the intricate latticework of Mala’s and Enzo’s lives. Each remains separate from each other but tied in ways they cannot imagine—until the final miraculous chapter of this extraordinary novel.
 
“A writer of remarkable gifts.”—The Washington Post Book World
 
“This labyrinthine novel . . . is animated by an encompassing lust for beauty.”—The New Yorker
 
“[Nicholas] Christopher is North America’s García Márquez; Borges with emotional weight. . . . This is one of those rare books that, by connecting the stars, catches you in its web.”—The Globe and Mail
 
Includes an excerpt of Nicholas Christopher’s Tiger Rag

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307799883

Nicholas Christopher

Nicholas Christoper is the author of seven novels, eight books of poetry, a study of film noir and the American city, and he has edited two poetry anthologies. He graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. He lives in New York City.

Reviews for A Trip to the Stars

[konastories · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Joy's review: Beautiful language, vivid descriptions, and a very inventive plot. The coincidences abound, but for some reason, I didn't mind this at all; maybe because despite the very realistic descriptions, it felt like a dream. The plot's rather hard to describe, so I won't even try. Christopher needs to do better research when describing particular places and events; he gets quite a bit wrong (and he has way too many female characters whose name starts with a 'D'. But if you can let that go, this is a thought-provoking book.

[memccauley6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to love this book. At first I was enchanted by all the star and spider references, the magical realism, the underlying theme of the search for lost things…. but after a couple of hundred pages it just seemed to fizzle out. I think it was the overly detailed descriptions of the inhabitants of The Hotel Canopus. I couldn’t keep straight the convoluted relationships of 3 generations of women, all of whom had names which started with the letter “D”. I just kept wondering why I should care about these minor characters, and the hundreds of pages spent on them made very little difference in the plot. And Mala’s temporary career as a clairvoyant was just bizarre and unnecessary. I gritted my teeth and finished, but I’m kind of sorry I did.

Update: while I was dissatisfied overall with this book, I am haunted by some of the images of Vietnam and the Cook Islands and every time I hear a lot of classic rock songs from this era I picture the stars over the South Pacific.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Christopher's work is always hypnotic, but in this case, the work is nothing short of intoxicating. Woven of a labyrinthine hotel, exotic jungles, and ordinary passions, it moves forward with a sort of supernatural momentum that has the potential for leaving readers breathless and out of touch with their own realities, lost in the novel's passages and grace.Beginning with the separation of two unique characters, A Trip to the Stars works as a web of personalities and subplots, all as frighteningly believable as they are fascinating. The novel's unique tandem of science and fantasy is entrancing, a masterful journey of passion and hope in every guise imaginable. While Christopher's writing is poetic and clever, the story here is, in itself, worth falling into over and over again. This isn't a book so much as a journey, and it is wonderful.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

coming of age, orphans, Vietnam war, hippie drugs, vampires, ancient history, casinos in Las Vegas, love, hate.. this book ahs it all. it is seems to be all over the place but while you are reading it, it makes sense. good writing style. keeps you engaged.

[lizzied_11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Trip to the Stars is the real deal, and Nicholas Christopher is quite a dealer. Ten year-old Loren is kidnapped after he and his adoptive aunt attend a show at a planetarium. That kidnapping was the biggest pill for me to swallow, but once down, I gulped all the rest happily. All the rest turns out to be a magical mix of star and spider lore, hotels, abstruse allusions to lots of religions and philosophies, and more - all served up in highly readable prose.The narration alternates between the aunt and Loren. Alma, who changes her name to Mala, tells her own story of her search for Loren and then for her lover whom she found on a hospital ship during the Vietnam War and lost almost immediately. Loren, who learns that his name is really Enzo, tells his coming of age story, which takes place in the Hotel Canopus in the desert outside Las Vegas, a hotel filled with lost people or people searching for what has been lost. Their stories sometimes parallel each other, intertwine strangely, yet are lived without any knowledge of whether the other is alive.Lovers of magical realism, rejoice! This is a magical book that, whatever depths it may or may not reveal, tells a mesmerizing story.

[afyfe_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a very good and interesting book. I loved that the overall theme kept relating back to stars and space, but very subtly. I loved the stories about both characters and trying to figure out when their paths would cross and how everyone fit into the story. Althoguh it might not look too long it felt very epic and so much happened so I think you have to be ready for that type of book. Just an overall great book I'd recommend to anyone who has even a slight interest in fantasy (although this isn't quite fantasy). I do think that there is something in this book to please everyone from love stories to action, and mystery. I hope everyone else will enjoy it as much as I did!

[cliffburns · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not quite as good as Christopher's VERONICA but a fine tale nonetheless. The plot is too involved to effectively summarize but if you like urban fantasy or magic realism, I think you should give this one a shot. Nicholas Christopher is an accomplished, intelligent writer, his word choice is impeccable and his dialogue pristine. And don't miss reading his book on film noir, SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT, it's a masterful tome.

[murraymint11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm finding it hard to make my mind up about this one. It seemed to me that this book had somewhat of an identity crisis - was it a fantasy genre or not? It left me feeling rather confused, with lots of loose ends needing clearing up - if I could just remember what they all were! I agree that the story would have been strong enough to do without all the woo-woo bits. I did however like the way the author scattered the text with words relating to the themes of stars and space, almost like little clues.

[aubreyfs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't put this book down! Involving issues of destiny, chance, nature, power and mysticism, the author alternates between two stories until they emerge together having really been one all along. The story begins with a kidnapping and follows with strange and amazing characters, star fascination, spider bites, estranged family, feuds, mind-reading.... mostly in Nevada and Hawaii. I already want to read the book again!